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THE
government should wake up to the alarming signals
flashed by international surveys showing the
Philippines’ “falling economic competitiveness,” the
chairman of the Senate trade and commerce committee said
Tuesday.
Last
year alone, said Sen. Mar Roxas II, the Philippines
ranked 49th in terms of overall competitiveness among 61
industrialized and emerging economies surveyed by the
Swiss-based International Institute for Management
Development.
“Philippine competitiveness is still falling. In the
World Bank’s most recent yearly survey of ‘Ease in Doing
Business,’ the Philippine ranking slipped by five
notches—from 121st in 2005 to 126th of 175 countries in
2006,” said Roxas, in a speech before the Foreign
Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (Focap).
Citing
the same World Bank survey, Roxas said Thailand ranked
18th, Malaysia 25th and, Taiwan 47th. Even Vietnam, he
noted, ranked higher than the Philippines at 104th. Only
Indonesia, among the Asian countries, lagged behind the
Philippines
at 135th.
“What
word comes to mind when asked, What do people think
about the Philippines today? One Filipino word best
describes the country’s condition today: Sayang.
Its closest translation in English: What a waste. A word
that connotes regret, forlornness over what could be and
could have been,” he said.
Roxas
said Thailand passed the Philippines by in individual
incomes in 1981. Now, he said, the average Thai is at
least twice as rich as the average Filipino. Malaysians
are almost four times, and Singaporeans almost 20 times
richer.
“Meanwhile, Indonesia and Vietnam are breathing down our
necks,” he added.
Roxas
attributed the day-to-day erosion of the people’s trust
in the institutions to an increasingly “dysfunctional
political system.”
This, he
said, is the most glaring source of sayang in the
society today.
Roxas
cited the latest Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS)
survey that shows public satisfaction with all top four
government institutions significantly declining compared
with the previous quarter.
From a
net positive 32 rating in September, the Senate declined
13 points to only +19 in December, he lamented.
The
House of Representatives’ net satisfaction score fell
from +18 to +3. Even the Supreme Court dropped from +24
in September to neutral net +5 in December.
“This is
more glaring, given the fact that the tribunal has
enjoyed double-digit positive approval rating over the
past four quarters,” he said.
The
Cabinet went from neutral net +1 to -9, a steep plunge
that reflects the President’s own negative trust
ratings, he said.
“I fear
that a deepening estrangement from politics has made it
easier for the government—as the most organized and
powerful entity—to do as it wishes, having long
abandoned the need to have public opinion on its side.”
When the
government no longer cares about public opinion, Roxas
warned, “it begins to test the limits of abuse and
malfeasance.”
Corruption, he said, persists in almost all levels of
the bureaucracy, as bribery becomes a tool to get
foreign loans and local projects signed, sealed and
delivered even without public bidding.
“Smuggling—from onions to guns, from clothes to hot
cars—continues to undermine the viability of legitimate
growers, planters manufacturers and factory owners,”
Roxas said.
“The
truth is, we have become incrementalists! A little bit
here and a little bit there. No wonder we have fallen
into a rut, unable to pull ourselves out of our misery.
We want change—but not too much. We want order and more
security, but not too much...better tax collection, but
not too much. More traffic management and open
sidewalks...but not too much. The result: We grow. But
not too much. Incrementalists!” Roxas said. |
