THE VIEW FROM RIZAL

Before the end of December 2023, the research organization Social Weather Station released the results of a survey that said that almost all Filipinos are hopeful that 2024 is going to be a better year.

According to the survey results, some 96 percent of the respondents said they are welcoming this new year “with a positive outlook”. The SWS said the record number of “optimists’ among the respondents is one percent higher than last year’s 95 percent. The record 96 percent marked last year was obtained only twice before – in 2017 and 2019, according to the SWS.

The record low was in December 2004. That year, only 81 percent said they were hopeful that the new year would be better than the old one.
It appears the SWS survey did not probe the answers of the respondents in its latest survey.

The survey report did not state the reason for the remarkable “optimism” displayed by those who were asked in the poll. Perhaps, the SWS had presumed two things: first, that “optimism” is generally a “feeling” or an “emotion” that need not be explained; second, that “optimism” is “natural” to us, Filipinos – the survey just wanted to find out how much more optimistic we are in the new year compared to the previous one.

Interestingly, the level of “optimism” among Filipinos has been reached at a time when there are major uncertainties in the region and the world.

For example, our giant of a neighbor appears to be saber-rattling in the waters off our western coast. The war between Russia and Ukraine has not come to an end, posing a continuing risk to our energy supply. Israel is fighting the longest war it has ever entered into and the end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not in sight. Are our countrymen oblivious to the presence of such risks that they can be highly optimistic in the face of threats to our national security?

We believe that, while the SWS may not have probed the underlying reasons for the hopefulness of the Filipino, the sense of optimism is not without basis.

There are reasons to be filled with hope that life in 2024 will be even better than it was in 2023.
Here are some reasons to consider.

One is the aggressive infrastructure development program of the national government.

Before the end of 2023, we heard the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announce that it is “all systems go” for the North-South Commuter Rail (NSCR) project. Based on statements issued by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Undersecretary Jeremy Regino the department intends to finish the project on time, despite the humongous challenges it faces.

The NSCR is the 147-kilometer railway system that will connect Calamba City in the south and New Clark City in the north. It promises to be able to transport international air travelers coming from Alabang south of Metro Manila to the Clark International Airport at 160 kilometers per hour or in less than two hours through its Airport Express component.

To regular commuters, it promises a fast and comfortable journey from Calamba to business hubs in Central Luzon without the hassle of dealing with traffic along EDSA and the occasional jams in the present skyways.

This project, we recall, was originally conceived in the 1990s, went off to a rocky start, suffered several setbacks along the way, and had to be shelved by the national government several times. There were disagreements on funding in the early years of the project, which was followed by allegations of overpricing.

For a while, we were under the impression that this dream railway system would never take off. Recent assurances from Secretary Bautista and Undersecretary Regino that this project is, indeed, green-and-go should add fuel to the optimistic outlook of our countrymen. We salute President Bongbong Marcos, Jr. and the leadership of the transportation department for having the will to make sure this project finally pushes through.

The second reason is the soft-launching last December of the first phase of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) project of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT). The NFB, once completed, will make internet services available to national government agencies and local government units. This is also the key to the fulfillment of the national government’s commitment to establish Free Public Internet Access.

Access to the World Wide Web, especially when it is free, enables people to obtain relevant information and use these in their business, advocacies, mission, and life. The internet is a powerful gateway to a huge market and to the constituencies we serve. The availability of this gateway creates vast opportunities for businesses and livelihoods to thrive, and for the quality of our service to the public to reach unprecedented levels of excellence.

There are several more steps and actions taken by the national leadership that may account for the impressive positive outlook that our countrymen have for 2024. We will continue sharing them with our readers next week.

Meanwhile, we would like to say, we feel that the year is off to a good start. We hope we will stay on track. ([email protected])