Every Citizen and His Brother Want A Progressive Philippines

       For as long as I can remember, I have on every opportunity, asked people from our country this one question. Do they believe that the Philippines will ever one day become progressive or financially wealthy? The answer is universal. They would like to see that day come but they are not convinced that it ever will. Their usual comment: ‘Not until the leadership in our country learns how to properly manage itself, the nation will remain impoverished, backwards, disorganized and mediocre.’ In short, we remain the eternal ‘sickest man in Asia’ until we learn how to really, truly manage ourselves and our finances.

     Some went as far as comparing the situation of mismanagement and corruption in the Philippines as that of a fishpond that has a runaway growth of undesired species of fish (the corrupt politicians). The desired kind of fish (the few good men in politics) is badly outnumbered and are being eaten alive by the bad fish. Recommended solution: Poison the whole pond and start all over with a new generation of good fish. Others recommended dropping an Atomic Bomb to rid of the corrupt officials then start all over! This may sound comical and unrealistic but the seriousness of our troubles has permeated our society so deep and for so long that most people have given up. One result is the never ending trek of millions of our citizens overseas to find employment. The result that hurts the most is the grinding poverty, the hunger of millions in our midst day in and day out. But the irony of the whole thing is that ALL that the leadership in the Philippines has to do is copy its Asian neighbors and in less than ten or fifteen years a truly financially successful nation can emerge! And this comment is based on what we have all seen and continue to see happen to nations who manage themselves well and excel economically.

  If and when our leaders finally ‘get it’, we would then be competing vigorously with our Asian neighbors economically. Our leaders’ present preoccupation is unfortunately NOT economic competition with our Asian neighbors. They are still living in the stone-age political culture of competing with each other, killing each other, outmaneuvering each other at every turn, outspending each other during elections , outdoing each other on who can get as much as they can from government coffers once elected and who can get the biggest cuts from contracts from foreign investors. Only a few have teamed up with others to focus on economic competition with our successful economic neighbors.

     Again if we asked our brothers in politics whether they wanted a financially successful Philippines, they would tell you that indeed they do. We all want the good life. Ask them what they need to do to bring the good life to everyone in the Philippines, they will give you a blank stare. They are clueless. But they can rattle off a list of things they can do to defeat their political opponents. They can tell you all kinds of tricks up their sleeves on how to stay in power. And mind you it rarely includes honesty. Neither does it list their own bank accounts to finance their election campaigns. They have on their lists for their campaign sources such things as fertilizer funds, allocations for the army’s supply of boots and so on.

      So here we are with Elections 2010. The number of overly-eager candidates running for office is, as usual, endless. Everyone wants to ‘lead’ or perhaps leadership is the farthest thing from their minds. So why is everybody pushing his way into office? For one, politics for at least six decades or more, has been our nation’s leading brand of ‘big business’. While our Asian neighbors compete with the world with real profitable businesses to enrich themselves, we in the Philippines enrich ourselves by getting elected and taking ‘profits’ from taxpayers’ money! And how can we miss this? Look around you and see if this isn’t true! Many of them who did not have a dime for themselves a decade or two now have wealth way beyond what their salaries could have brought them. Start looking at their possessions and property which they did not have before then ask yourselves how they accumulated these from their annual pays! It will not add up! Lifestyle checks? Will they work? Not a chance!

      Some folks from the CBCP have issued statements appealing for our politicians to come out clean and run clean and honest administrations and elections. Why do we in the Philippines plead for crooks to come out clean? In nations who have their judicial systems fully in place and enforced, these crooks are sent to jail! Or is it because the enforcers are crooks themselves?

       So, every citizen and his brother want a progressive Philippines! Then start with ourselves! If you are a crook, knock it off and start thinking about long term benefits of using taxpayer’s money properly. If you are not a crook, God bless you and tell your dishonest brothers to help you spread the word on the long term merits of a well organized, well managed, fully accountable, truly responsible, financially sound, ethically and morally grounded government . With this approach everyone will benefit from the nations’ wealth that will surely come in ten years or so, guaranteed! That is IF ALL of us focus on just that. Doing the right things so that the whole of the Philippines and not just a select greedy few becomes wealthy.

        So, I dare everyone to look past their noses and look at the LONG TERM benefits of a clean and well managed government. It is truly worth fighting for! Once created and sustained, our nation can begin to be one of the Economic Tigers of Asia. Our professionals overseas will have reason to come home, set up businesses and add to the emerging economy. The biggest bonus will be the foreign investors from around the world. When they start rolling in and staying in, our nation can then race with the economic giants of Asia and the world. Our lives will be forever changed. And no citizen of the Philippines will say no to such newfound source of pride and strength. Our present ways of running our affairs is our greatest weakness. Let us dare to change for our children and grandchildren. It all starts with all of us. Have these thoughts with you when you go to the polls this summer. Make your vote count LONG TERM!

Joe Joson, USA