By Joel B. Belinan
By June 30, we will have a new President in the person of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Bongbong Marcos or better still just BBM. As in any new government or administration, it ushers in a new perspective, and for those optimistic, hope. While for the pessimists, mixed feelings of what further hardships we will have as if there is anything lower than the pit this country is in. Unfortunately for the BBM government, it shall be met with the problems such as the huge debt crisis left behind by the Duterte administration which is readily blamed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The present crisis was caused by the skyrocketing prices of oil which is a direct impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the never-ending problems due to lack of food security and the always problematic agricultural sector.
While BBM was catapulted to power by more than 31 million votes, the highest in the history of this country, the new government must immediately impress the business sector and the general populace. Why the business sector? This is because it is what will have to infuse the much-needed capital or investments into the pandemic-battered local economy. Foreign business groups are just observing in the background before making decisions.
In the Cordillera, there is not much to talk about other than how the new government will deal with regional issues. These include the question of Autonomy, the environment relative to the mining and vegetable industries, and the its’s being the watershed cradle of northern Luzon which is not much appreciated. While indeed the Cordillera has given the highest percentage of votes to BBM, the region’s number of voters is very small compared to those of other areas especially the NCR, the CaLabarson, Region III, and the Central Visayas. But again, we are crossing our fingers that since BBM is from nearby Ilocos (although he can hardly speak Ilocano) we will get the much needed attention this time around. After all the Cordillerans speak Ilocano even if it’s the bastardized kind.
The Cordillera is highly dependent on Agriculture. Its little known industries are those based at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) here in Baguio City which generate at least 65% of the region’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) or the value of Goods and Services produced. The GRDP is one of the measuring rods to gauge the economy of the region and is also part of the country’s Gross National Product (GNP). Some of the manufacturing companies there are the Texas Instruments (TI) which produces high value semi-conductors and the MOOG Corporation which produces airplane parts accounting for almost US$200 billion of the annual exports of this country.
Talking about foreign investors, with the bad state of our economy caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot expect much. Our local businesses have been badly battered. Hence, any infusion of capital from the outside are most welcome. But we cannot expect much from our South East Asian Neighbors like Vietnam and Thailand as they are saturated by companies that left China during the height of the pandemic. In the micro level, this is where a business group like the Korean company with exports at US$32,000,000.00, CNK International Limited, should come in if and when they are convinced of the positive future of the country’s economy.
Just this week, the said Korean company’s chairman and president Choi Young- Woo sent here his advisor who happens to be a friend of mine (Mr. Sung Am Cha or Ami Cha as we call him) purposely for the following: market research by observing the localiy’s business and economic vibrancy after emerging from the more than two years of pandemic; and to make the necessary recommendations. “We are an export company specializing in the production of high-quality men’s suits and we are looking for big outlets like the Mall of Asia in Pasay City and other big malls in the metropolis, in Cebu, Davao and in Baguio City due to its good climate.”. Mr. Cha who has been frequenting the Philippines and Baguio City for the past 15 years told me that indeed, the Philippines is on the threshold of a new era that’s either a new hope, status-quo, or even shrinking further down the pit. He, however, saw some light at the end of the tunnel for us, saying that with an overwhelming (31 million votes) mandate given to BBM, if such support could be harnessed, it might be the much-needed driver for this country of 110 million people to rise like those of its neighbors– Singapore Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. **
