By Hector R.R. Villanueva
“Ring out the old, ring in the new, the year is going, let him go, ring out the false ring in the true.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson
Looking down the road to 2018, the country appears to be in good hands, and the economy is expected to maintain its momentum.
With the imminent implementation of the revised tax reform law, and the acceleration of labor-intensive infrastructure Build-Build-Build, a consumer-driven growth should equal if not surpass 2017 GDP growth.
As icing on the cake, the stock market, has contributed to the economic optimism with the manufacturing sector waking up from its lethargy the surge of incoming foreign direct investments.
Moreover, with the holiday season and traditional uptick in inward remittances and with average OFW departure rate of 3,000 a day, and healthy BPO, revenues, the economy is relatively liquid and the exchange rate stable.
Having said all that, the road ahead appears clear and unobstructed.
However, as Murphy’s Law had ordained, “if something will go wrong, it will.
First, if 2017 was a “Year of Sorrows,” according to Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, with the destructive Maute-ISIS rebellion in Lanao and razing to the ground of Marawi City and devastating typhoons and landslides in Mindanao, will 2018 be spared from catastrophes?
Indeed, while climate change has become unpredictable, more violent and weird, Islamic jihadists of all stripes form ISIS to Al Qaeda, Indonesian Jemaah, Malaysian fundamentalists, MILF and BIFF are in constant search of new centers of conflict of which the Philippines is a ripe fruit to pick.
Second, granted that there is a need to modernize and transform the uniform services, increase the salaries of civil servants, and stamp out corruption in the bureaucracy, there must be several thousand new babies being born per day as these words are being written as the government procrastinate and drags its feet in decelerating the population growth rate.
Corollary, as population spreads out, the environment continues to be ravage and denuded.
Thus, Pres. DU30 is urged to pay more attention and priorities to the re-greening of the land and forests, the protection of the maritime waters, and the enforcement of strict land use.
Third, choosing war on drugs, anti-corruption, and anti-criminality as the main platform of reforms could be Pres. Duterte’s own undoing and could back fire on him if there will be no tangible, visible and remarkable success in the crusades as these are endless and open ended challenges.
When all is said and done, while the outlook in 2018 appears optimistic and sustaining, Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Roa Duterte cannot afford to be complacent, and should get out of his static syndrome of “when I was Mayor of Davao” and start being presidential.
Otherwise, 2018 should be another good year.
You be the judge.