CHAFF FROM THE GRAIN

“Only a strong government can keep the peace, build infrastructure, enforce contracts and provide public goods.” –  Jeffrey Sachs

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has all the sincere and able intentions, but he is not a hands-on manager by choice and he is running out of time.

He has Cabinet ministers and undersecretaries who are totally intimidated and petrified of the Chief Executive. Thy invariably wait for orders.

He has also appointed senior retired soldiers sometimes in unfamiliar civil positions because they readily obey orders like loyal soldiers.

This is apparently the general public’s perception of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s unorthodox style of governance.

Now comes the coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) pandemic that has caught the Administration, as well as the whole world, flatfooted and frantically groping for a miracle vaccine that will eradicate the disease.

First, while the incipient Malthusian population problem will be proven wrong eventually, at present, we have to pay the price of neglect by allowing the population to surge to 110 million and growing that will have to educated, fed, and sheltered.

Currently, the Reproductive Law is dormant and ineffective.

The problem is further complicated and compounded by thousands upon thousands of returning overseas works many of whom are contaminated by the virus that will need to be isolated and rehabbed and made more productive and gainfully employed.

There is the dilemma between containing the COVID-19 pandemic and resurrecting and reopening the economy.

It is conjectured that economic recovery will be slow and will take a long time to normalize.

Second, the Philippines cannot achieve maximum economic development if the economy is wholly import dependent economy.

It must achieve a liable manufacturing capability and technology.

It is hoped that during this coronavirus pandemic interregnum that there will be a restricting for the economy, ethical standards, and work habits.

To fully develop, the Philippines needs to have its own manufacturing capability of basic capital goods and affordable technology.

We want to popularize digital technology but we do not have the means of manufacturing the basic capital tools and investments.

While we cannot be at par with Japan, China, India, South Korea, and Singapore, we can emulate and learn from their varied experiences.

For these reasons, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte needs to assert this political muscle power to transform the country till 2022.

As Italian Nikki Giovanni remarked, “Mistakes care a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.”

You be the judge.