Santa Banana, in the 1950s, the Philippines was considered next only to Japan in economic development.
Now, despite our increasing growth rate, we remain the slowest-growing Asean nation.
Peter Wallace, an Australian consultant who came to the Philippines many years ago, married a Filipina and became naturalized as a Filipino citizen, has this to say:
Since 1970 until 2016, Singapore’s gross domestic product has grown by 15,353 percent, Indonesia’s by 1,071 percent and Thailand’s by 5,637 percent.
The Philippines has grown by just 531 percent. We remain the basket case in the region.
Our GDP per capita is even worse. Singapore’s grew 6,377 percent, Thailand’s grew 2,973 percent, Malaysia’s 453 percent and Indonesia’s 315 percent. Philippine GDP per capita grew by a pitiful 119 percent.
This is ridiculous for a country like the Philippines. Forty years since we were deemed a promising nation, we are lagging behind our neighbors.
The big question—what happened?
Should we blame our leaders? Or is it the kind of government we have?
I believe it’s a confluence of events.
In this context, the fact that we have President Duterte as our leader becomes relevant. Recall that no less than 16.6-million Filipinos voted for him on the promise of change. During the campaign, Mr. Duterte told us that the country will be a better place to live in because he would crack down on drugs, criminality and corruption.
I myself believed him.
Two years hence, however, that change has remained a dream.
So what should be done? Does the President need to be given emergency rule so that he can deliver on his promises?
This is why I hesitate to endorse the proposal for federalism. This is a leap into the unknown.
I believe we are lagging behind because of the kind of politicians that we have. The country is ruled by the elite. Political dynasties are only for their own interests and not for the common good.
The late Lee Kwan Yew once said the trouble with us Filipinos is that we have too much politics. I agree. We eat politics for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
One look at the newspapers every morning and you will read nothing else but politicians bickering.
I am an incurable optimist. I always see the glass as half full. I choose to believe that between now and the end of President Duterte’s term, meaningful change can still happen.
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I woke up yesterday recalling memorable events in the 1960s. My first-ever trip to Australia upon the invitation of the Australian government, and then to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, when Lee seceded from the Federation of Malaysia and became an independent city state, and then to South Korea.
My trip to various places in Australia—Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra down to Hobart and Tasmania, and up north to Townsville and Darwin —was the experience of a lifetime.
At that time, Australia still had its ban on non-whites. That policy was directed against the Chinese. Australians felt the Chinese would take over their economy.
When we got to Sydney, passengers were sprayed with some kind of chemical just in case we came from a place with disease. The passengers had to rub their shoes against a carpet, also with chemicals.
Thank goodness Australia does not do that anymore!
I was billeted at a government hotel called The Australian. I was happy to be transferred to a Hilton hotel, more to my liking.
Seeing many places in Australia was great. I was told I saw more places in Australia than most Australians have.
In Brisbane, at Surfers’ Paradise, women in bikinis were giving parking tickets to visitors.
In Singapore, I was billeted at a hotel called Singapura along Orchard Road. There were no hotel chains yet at that time. At 4 in the afternoon, Orchard Road was closed to traffic because hawkers of all kinds gathered to sell their wares.
I was taken to Singapore’s famed open market, where you just pointed to what you wanted to eat.
I was with a group of journalists when we interviewed Lee. He told us about his vision of Singapore being a number-one industrial city state.
I remember going to a small cottage with stern-looking guards.
From Singapore I went to Kuala Lumpur, where we interviewed then-Prime Minister Tungku Abdul Rahman. He told us how he fought the communist incursion into Malaysia through “hamleting”—when government forces secure one village after another to prevent communist intrusion.
From mainland Malaysia, I was taken to Sabah’s Jesselton, now called Kota Kinabalu, and to Labuan Island. Here Muslims were allowed to engage in barter trade.
When I went to Korea, I saw the demilitarized zone. It was a learning experience. I stayed at a government hotel. Heating came from under the floor. I wrote about the DMZ for my newspaper.
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