Tuesday, 04 May 2010 00:00
BY BUDDY CUNANAN
Fellow Filipinos, by this time next week (assuming that the specter of election failure doesn't materialize), voters would have cast their ballots and the fire, smoke, and brimstone from months of the bloodiest exchanges in Philippine politics would have begun to settle.
It's now clear that this election is down to two candidates—the Liberal Party's Sen. Noynoy Aquino and the Nacionalista Party's Sen. Manny Villar. The country is at a crossroads and our choice for president will have a vital impact on our future.
We've heard it often enough—the Philippines, once second only to Japan, is now the sick man of Asia.
The country has fallen far behind its neighbors. Compared to China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the Philippines is the poorest performer in Real GDP growth, Per Capita GDP growth, Net Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Investment. The first two indicators show how much wealth is being generated in the country, while the last two are a gauge of local and foreign business confidence in the economy and the competitiveness of the Philippines and its labor force.
The Philippines ranks 105th out of 182 countries in the UNDP Human Development Index, down from 77 in 1997 to 84 in 2003, and it's getting worse. The HDI takes into account life expectancy at birth, knowledge and education, and standard of living and shows that the situation is deteriorating. The HDI is not the only statistic that's going downhill. Every other statistic is weakening.
But I don't need to cite statistics. The evidence is all around us, from the growing ranks of the rural and urban poor to the thousands of Filipinos fleeing the country everyday in search of greener pastures.
The next president will inherit a country that is facing a staggering amount of problems. Upon inauguration, he will have to hit the ground running and won't have time to "learn the ropes."
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Noynoy is leading in the surveys, due to sympathy for his late mother, President Cory Aquino, and his supporters' belief that he is the Philippines' salvation. However, it is difficult to see how Noynoy can solve the country's problems when he hasn't accomplished anything. In his 12 years as a legislator, he has not passed a single law nor has he contributed to development in his congressional district. Furthermore, Aquino has never managed any company or enterprise—not even a family, the most basic social unit.
Meanwhile, his drumbeaters continue waxing nostalgic about Cory's administration when it was, in fact, a dismal failure on all counts—land reform, peace process, energy security, economic development—and did nothing to stop the corruption of the Cojuangco-Aquino relatives, who were responsible for the term "Kamaganak Inc" ("Relatives, Inc). This same cast of characters is behind Noynoy's candidacy. If Cory couldn't or didn't control them, how can Noynoy?
Villar, in contrast, has lived a life defined by challenges, overcoming and breaking through invisible barriers and ceilings, and accomplishment. Through hard work, he rose from humble beginnings in impoverished Tondo to become the biggest low-cost property developer in Southeast Asia. He parlayed his achievements in business to a successful political career as a legislator from Las Piñas, and later Speaker of the House and Senate President.
Unfortunately, the black propaganda hurled against Villar have made people forget that the Upper House, since its re-establishment in 1987, was most productive during his watch, passing numerous landmark laws and instigating investigations into the alleged wrongdoings of the Arroyo administration, most notably the NBN-ZTE scandal. People also forget that when there were overseas Filipino workers that needed to be brought home, Villar was the only politician who did something about it. As Speaker, Villar was the one who railroaded the impeachment charge against then President Estrada to the Senate. Without him, there wouldn't have been an Edsa 2.
But perhaps the strongest argument for a Villar presidency is that the man has the energy, vision, and experience to competently address the country's problems. He has demonstrated that he can perform under pressure and has the necessary managerial skills to be the nation's CEO. Furthermore, he has a track record of outstanding performance in the public and private sectors. With his experience in industry and government, Villar can create an atmosphere conducive to entrepreneurship and local and foreign investment, which is exactly what the Philippines needs to create more jobs—GDP growth.
I have never met nor spoken with Villar or Aquino. My decision to vote for Villar is based on an objective analysis of their track records, life experiences, and tested capabilities.
For the first time since Fidel Ramos, we can elect a man who can get the country back on its feet, to correct the mismanagement of the Estrada and Arroyo administrations. Let's not waste this chance.
neighborsnbn@gmail.com
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