8/8/2019 The Next 2000 Days (09 Ocober 2010)

1/1

OCTOBER ,20 O

THERE XI about2,190daysn a six-year residentialerm.The irst100days sualiy ecomefocalpointsof interest f mediaandotherob-serversollowing radition ootedn theUnitedStates,tarting ith hepresidencyfFranklin .Roosevelt.heUS aced evereconomicrises

PHILIPPINEAILYNQUIRER0prnqroNThenext2,000 avs

hard ressedogoonadifferentack." he isionpresentedt thatmeetings of a Philippinesn-joyinga high-growthconomysustainedt7 to8 percent tarting 011), eading o markedlylower evels f poverry nd higher evelsof em-pioyment, nd establishingts nichewithin acompetitive lobaleconomy n the key areasidentifieds tscompetitivetrengths.hiswouldbeaccompaniedy ncessantnddeterminedf-forts o eradicate mindset ndcultureof graftand corruption, reliance n heaithy artner-shipswith theprivate ector, nd he buildingofmuch eedednfrastructure.Thesix dentified eyareas re ourism, PO-IT services, lectronics, ining,housingandagribusiness.think his ist eflects realistic s-sessmentf hePhilippines'ompetitiveosirion-ing, eaning s t doesmore oward hePhilip-pines sa mainly ervices-ather hanmanufac-turing-basedconomyHowever, achof thesekey areasmustovercome erious onstraintsoreach o proceedoward ts respectiveromised1an0.The eyconstrainto ourisms heabsencefa beneficial penskiespolicy,he passagefwhichhadbeen hwartedimeandagainn thepast y strong rotectionistobbyrngnbehalf fPhilippine irlines,eavinghe governmentn-able o decide hethertspriorirywasprotectingPALor promotingoudsm.Sufficet to say hatwithout a sensible penskies olicy,we cankissthe ourism ream oodbye.As orBPO-lT ewices,ncluding iectronics,tis nowcommon nowledgehat his s apotential

boom ectoror hePhilippines.hegovernestimateshat as much asabout hree milsquare eters faddjtionalffice pace oulneededo accommodatehis ndustryn hensix years.Clearly, emands strong,The cstraint s supply-i.e., thenumbers f qualFilipinoshat hecountry anproduceachto meet emand. ere,hemajor reaso addare he needor aquantumncreasen approateeducationaloursesnd acilitiesndanemore ynamic ro$amof strengtheningurglishanguagedvantage.Miningneeds review f heMiningAct'plementingulesand egulations,swell astensified overnment-ledromotion f conousdialoguendeducationmongmajor ndtry participants,ocalgovernmentsnd chuleaders.Housingt heminimum ouldneed atioization f henumbersnd unctionsf hem(perhapsoo many)publicentities nvolvehousing nd heriseof appropriateousinnancialnstrumentss italDarts f hedomcapitalmarket.Finally,gri-businessiil remain pipe-dwithouta revisiting f thecountrjs and efstrategyhatneedso begino provide smemphasisn productivirys t doeson owsiiip.Smaller oldingsesultingrom edisttionshould eenabledoconsolidateo resueconomiesfscalehatarebasic uildins lotoward vibrant gri-businessector.Can heP-Noy rapu1lt off?Well, ndonjumped 0 anks p njust he ast ear fromto 44) in the Global,Cornpetitivenessankiwithbettereadershipndeffectivemplemetionof sound conomictrategies. ecurrerank85.Hasevenmatchingndonesiaecotallorder orus? hope otlRoberto.deOcompo a 'ormerinanceecreandwwFinanceinkter f heYearn 199 , 19and1997,

thenand henewly lected.residentoosevelt ObeftO E de OCAmpO ,.,,,1promised0put hingsn he ight rack ithin -..liijiihis irst100daysn office. hus,hebirthofthe"first 00 ays" edia ania.Well,P-Noy'sirst 100days renowup and hesurge f irst 00 days ommentaryloweth ver.am not partakinghereof.There'smore thanenoughruffon hatalready nd iean owardheview hatexcessivemportance iven o thefirst100days isks hemaintenancef a short-term,quick-fixmentalityhat ultimately ecomeself-deceiving,ehave igproblemso ix, nsrirutionstobuildor rebuild, alueso revisitand einvigo-rate,anappropriateichen theglobal conomiclandscapeo establish.ndwe need o rid our-selvesfapenchantorhopingorapolitical es-siah o solve ll ourwoes.P-Noy as epeatedlvstressedhat we areall in this bgethe4'thatiswouldnot be a presidencyurdenedy eitherMessianicelusion r self-importance.nd thattheoperationalode f govemanceouldbeanhonest ay'sworkon behalfof thenationand tspeopleatherhana continuingircus fflamboy-ance, hoto ps nd olitical achination.These rovide welcome oralone or hep-Noyadministration'seadership,ut tone s notenough.t must eaccompaniedyvision.noth-erwords, emay ehappyobe edbyP-Noy,uttoward hat? tameeting ithbusinesseaders,both ocal nd oreign, rior o P-Noy'sSvisit,thePresidentndhiseconomic anagersrovid-eda glimpse f theadministrarion'straregyorthenext ,000 ays hich opefully ill resultnthesortof positive hangen our country'suturethat n hisownwords il l provideaminimum f(good) overnancehatwill be at sucha levelthat any administrationubsequentlvill be