Liwanag sa Dilim

I received a PDF file copy of "THE WALLACE REPORT" on my email. This paper was developed from an earlier one: "Does the Philippines Have a Chance" which was written in October 2002. As the paper claims: “All the points made are still relevant today. But this paper further advances the issues, and adds to them.”

The paper stated:

In the past 30 years the Philippines has averaged 3.1% annual GDP growth and a population growth of 2.5%. Which means almost no improvement for the Filipino over that 30 years. This is about half the rate achieved by other nations in Asia.

Why?

1. Politics - vested interest vs national good
2. Uncontrolled population growth
3. Weak educational system
4. Corruption
5. Inadequate infrastructure
6. An agriculture system that hasn’t improved in 30 years
7. An inadequate focus on job creation
8. A judiciary in need of major improvement
9. Security
10. Good governance.

If these 10, and it must be all 10 of them, aren’t fixed the Philippines will average 3.1% for the next 30 years too. The logic of this can’t be denied.

This is according to a paper entitled “WHERE TO THE PHILIPPINES? (OR, DOES THE PHILIPPINES HAVE A CHANCE?)” by Peter Wallace.

“THE WALLACE REPORT” presented a somewhat grim picture of the future of this country if the Government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo does not get its act together and if we don’t make some significant changes that would overhaul our country. I may not agree with everything he said but he did make a lot sense and I would have to agree with most of the points he made.

We really don’t need a reminder that things are getting worse around here. We can see that clearly every time we hear one of our friends planning to go abroad to work or to migrate permanently, or when we meet someone who decided to take up nursing so that they can get a job in the UK or in the US.

Yes, life is very difficult here. But I’m staying… The fact that things are going bad and sometimes it seems hopeless is the very reason why I think I should stay. If all the good people all pack up their bags and left, then this country would really be hopeless. We may not see things get better within our life time but I think we should still try our best to do what we can here and try to make things a little better. As I said before someone has to stay to man the trenches.

This reminds me of that song by Rivermaya. The chorus goes: “Isigaw mo sa hangin... Tumindig at magsilbing… Liwanag… Liwanag sa dilim…