By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Statistics will show that the Philippine economy is growing based on the current parameters to measure growth. It is one of the fastest and highest growing economy in Asia, if not the world. It has been so for over five years now, they say. As usual, our officials are grinning from ear to ear. And who wouldn’t, even if such growth is due in large part to the remittances of OFWs?
Question is, many of our “kababayans” are still wallowing in dire poverty. This is very evident in the pictures accompanying our newscasts. Operatives of Oplan Tokhang invariably lead them to pursue targets in slums or very poor areas. When there are floods or other calamities most of what are shown are shanties or houses that look like shanties, indicating the obvious. Surveys reveal that more than 30% of Filipinos feel they are paupers, and this has been so for decades.
Where is the effect of that much ballyhooed high economic growth rate? In short the poorest of the poor in the Philippines are still the main victims of maladies. They bear the brunt of the furies of nature and the “gods”. They don’t feel the benefits. The growth stops short of even casting a shadow to those in want.
There is something wrong somewhere. We can easily attribute things to causes like greed, indifference and incompetence of concerned officials, selfish interests, the lack of initiatives by the people themselves especially the poor, and so on. The lackadaisical attitude of politicians– those in power surely exacerbates the situation. Bottom line is, there is not enough, concrete action being undertaken to remedy the situation.
It’s not easy of course to make things work as they should. Our officials always have the convenient excuse of lack of budget to pursue plans. It’s a bit disgusting to see officials taking the easy way out to get the much needed budget. It’s akin to providing a medicine for a high body temperature, without addressing the root cause of it. For example, officials are contemplating on levying tax on sweetened products like soft drinks, and make up materials like lipsticks. This is like the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Proponents are explaining that the taxes to be imposed will be primarily for those who have the means. Tell that to the marines. Fact is, the rich people hardly take soft drinks, and everybody uses lipsticks. The proposed tax will be another hammer blow to the poor.
I do not like to think that such officials are brain dead but that is what they are openly exhibiting. With such officials, there might come a time that even smiling in public will be taxed! What nincompoops. Why don’t they study countries like Switzerland where citizens do not pay taxes? (Am not sure though if that still rings true this 2017).
During my college days, we were informed that 20% of our population controls 80% of our wealth. And we were already aghast that time because of wealth disparity between the rich and the poor. Now it is said that only 1-2% of our population owns more than 80% of our wealth. This clearly shows that the high economic growth of the Philippines at present is only felt by the rich people. Every year that the Forbes magazine publishes the richest people in the world, the Philippines contributes a new member to the elite conclave of billionaires– in dollars at that.
I have no issue about people getting richer provided that they are doing it the proper way. The reality is that many people enrich themselves at the expense of others or through shady deals. A lot of people I know have been victims of such.
One way to somehow minimize the accumulation of wealth by only a few individuals, is to provide an environment for small businesses to prosper in a local arena. Along this line, maybe local officials should think about crafting laws that will limit the exposure of big companies like SM or Robinsons, in towns with less than 200,000 inhabitants. That is, if such companies will open in small towns, their building or floor space for business should be limited (as can be prescribed by LGUs) so local businesses can grow. Otherwise, all profits that can be there for the taking will be cornered by the big companies. Better still, big companies like SM and Robinsons should now diversify further and invest in manufacturing. If this is the case, then they can be allowed to have much bigger spaces. This would open up more sustainable jobs for the local people. People will then see them as being also concerned for the economic growth of the community. They will be seen less as a greedy lot, caring only for their bulging pockets and be counted as one of those filthy rich billionaires.
Opening big shopping centers even in medium-sized population centers will perpetuate the brain drain that we have at the moment. No college graduate in his/her right mind will just eternally tend to selling the products of others. A booming manufacturing sector will help people realize their dream of a better life right here in our dear country. It will stop the craving of young and middle-aged people to work abroad.
The published (in this paper) resolutions adopted by LT Sangguniang Bayan show that some of their members are very conscientious. Some resolutions are really good but I will not enumerate them here. What I found lacking are resolutions that will give incentives for inventions, new products and production processes, manufacturing and the like. Or incentives for OFWs (or any interested person for that matter) to open businesses in the locality. Let the butter be spread also to local denizens.**