PAGBABAGO
Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid
Tomorrow, the country commemorates its 124th anniversary. Like in the past two years, let me dwell on some highlights in the life of the country, citing observations on gains and losses and options in some critical areas of development.
It comes after six years of President Duterte’s tenure and the beginning of the same for incoming President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. It marks three years of struggle with the challenges presented by the Covid- 19 pandemic, the effect of a highly divisive electoral process, and the uncertainties felt in many aspects of national life.
Although the Philippines is seen as one of the least vulnerable to stagflation among emerging markets, and even as the country continues to deal with rising commodity prices, Oxford Economics ranks us as second to last among 18 emerging markets in terms of vulnerability to stagflation, it still faces considerable threats with a score of 4.5 out of nine. Stagflation is a situation where a country is facing persistent high inflation with high unemployment rate and low economic output.
But even with today’s inflation rate pegged at over five percent because of rising food prices, a Bangko Sentral Survey shows confidence in 2023 with more jobs, and higher pay. While the country had felt the effect of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia (both are agricultural powerhouses which generated 12 percent of the world’s farm exports), we were not as badly hit as Malaysia, Indonesia and India which had to halt exports of certain products to protect local consumers. Asian countries are more exposed to food insecurity as we spend more than half of our income on food whereas American families spend less than a tenth of their income on food, according to the Asian Development Bank.
Now, nearing the end of his term, President Duterte faces the challenge of addressing the surge of food prices by lowering tariffs for pork and rice and increasing fuel subsidies to PUV drivers. A much welcomed news is that government may now tap ₱75 billion of the coco levy fund for the utilization of the farmers.
Too, the incoming President said he would honor the arbitral ruling in the West Philippine Sea thus giving our fisherfolk fishing rights, and other countries freedom of navigation.
But, a greater challenge for the next administration and the Filipino people is that of how to brace up for the years ahead with regard to our national debt which had ballooned to ₱12.76 trillion.
The outgoing President will still have to face the International Criminal Court which will investigate his “crimes against humanity” during his war against drugs. We still have to hear specifics on how the incoming President would approach this war, the continuing red-tagging of indigenous peoples, activist groups as well as lawyers and journalists.
Thus, we hope that with past experience in the area of known impunity and violations of people’s rights, extrajudicial killings, lack of access to justice and freedom by minority groups - women, children. LGBTQs, indigenous peoples, and the aging, we shall have learned that we cannot achieve peace unless we develop an inclusive society. Existing legal provisions on rights, safety and security of these groups, must be accompanied with more action.
With the exponential growth of the digital media and information technology, we have seen positive outcomes in terms of expanded knowledge about the world. But it has also contributed to disinformation and fake news. The battle for truth between the true journalist and the fake counterpart has been drawn. How to address this threat is not only the responsibility of academics through their media and information literacy courses, fact-checking and the like, but by every institution of society – developing techniques for discerning the truth from the fake. The move to accredit vloggers will not help develop responsible journalism.
A general perception about the state of our democracy here and abroad is its continuing attrition with growing populism. With a supermajority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it is also feared that the most important test of a democracy which is that of checks and balances would be eroded. The recent political exercise had given rise to a citizen-led electoral campaign. The over two million who actively participated had emerged with new political and negotiation skills which will be especially useful in reaching the underserved. The Angat Buhay Foundation which will be launched this July should be able to work on a strategy of critical collaboration and complementation in development priorities – poverty alleviation and climate change. We trust that the incoming government would allow the flowering of these vibrant nongovernment organizations, cooperatives and voluntary initiatives.
The incoming administration will have to come up with creative and innovative strategies to respond to our educational crisis. While we were still coping with how we could enable our students to be more competitive by equipping them with critical thinking and life skills, the coming of Covid-19 forced the school system to shift to online learning thus affecting some 28.5 million students.
The signing into law of the Creative Industries Act that would establish a Creative Industries Development Council augurs well for the development of a creative and entrepreneurial culture.
The most difficult challenge for any new executive is dealing with endemic corruption. Must we continue to admit that it is endemic or should we be challenged to address it with more vigor and will?
My e-mail, [email protected]