Filipinos believe in the private sector
November 16, 2020by Orlando Oxales originally published in The Manila Standard
“We need a style of governance that encourages meaningful partnerships.”
As if we did not have enough problems, we get hit by a string of typhoons that in a few weeks left one of the most devastating catastrophes to hit our most economically productive and populous regions. As of Friday, the Department of Public Works and Highways announced preliminary estimates of over P4.2 billion in road infrastructure damage. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines reported scores of transmission lines that are still down all over north and south Luzon thus causing power disruptions to all distribution utilities.
Prolonged power outages and cut fiber optic lines in some areas have likewise caused intermittent to no signal for telecommunications services that since the lockdowns we have heavily depended on. Having been thru many natural calamities before and even with all the warnings that were broadcast thru media and online platforms it seems that many in the most vulnerable areas that already survived the deluge eleven years ago from typhoon “Ondoy” were again caught less prepared. Recently published news quoted the Department of Social Work and Development reporting more than 220,000 families in 8 regions affected by typhoon “Ulysses”, this is more than double the 90,000 families displaced by “Ondoy.”
We can anticipate damage assessment figures to go higher as more information comes in but already the extensive damage to our agricultural output, power, road, and telecommunications infrastructure is an unanticipated consequence that will further worsen an already complex crisis.
When the lockdowns that started more than eight months ago disrupted the livelihood and supply chains critical to the daily sustenance of millions of poor families in the Metro Manila area, quick to mobilize resources and take direct action on the ground were the big business groups in cooperation with civil society and local governments. After the most destructive cluster of typhoons to sweep across the economic heartland of the country, we are again seeing a surge of initiatives from private companies and civil society converging to fill the gaps of the already depleting resources, and I would think pandemic fatigued local government and agencies.
The compounding dimensions of the COVID 19 pandemic intersecting with more frequent and destructive weather phenomenon confirms the need for a new mindset that harmonizes universal healthcare, the environment, the economy, and governance. Although the government is understandably the instinctive focus for policy and direction in navigating these difficult times, it is actually the private sector that has the capacity, innovation, efficiency, expertise, resources, and developmental drive to get all of us out of this crunch.
I strongly believe the pace at which we will recover from this economic doldrum can be accelerated if the policy and regulatory environment is opened up to attract the right local and foreign investors that can develop our industries and infrastructure. We need to get over the protectionist mode of thinking and instead transform the country into an ideal host to innovative technological enterprises of the future. We need a style of governance that encourages meaningful partnerships rather than an antagonizing regime that reinforces gatekeeping and rent seeking.
A special survey recently commissioned by the Stratbase ADR Institute reveals a very encouraging sentiment wherein 85 percent of Filipinos believe that the national government should partner with private enterprises for economic recovery. The respondents agree that, “To recover from the COVID-19 crisis, government should engage in partnership with qualified and reputable private enterprises to build and operate key development public utilities and social service projects such as healthcare systems, electricity, water, roads, and mass transportation.”
The survey further reports that 9 out 10 Filipinos (90 percent) opine that private investors can help to create jobs in the country and 68 percent say private investors can assist in expanding livelihood opportunities and alleviate poverty (62 percent).
This survey conducted by Pulse Asia last September is actually the same one that gave President Duterte a record 91-percent trust rating. It seems that despite all the divisive invectives thrown against some of the most successful business groups of the country, this negative narrative does not resonate with Filipinos who on the ground have a more positive appreciation of the role of private enterprises.
Some hard data on the Philippine labor force can easily explain this. According to the July 2020 Philippine Statistics office Labor Force Survey more than 41.3 million were employed, out of this total Filipinos employed, there are only 1.7 million career and non-career employees in government (Civil Service Commission, May 2019). Hurting the private sector will definitely hurt millions of Filipino dependents.
Foreign observers and analysts have often pointed out the potential of our human and natural resources as being in the “sweet spot” but wastefully unharnessed. It is time to unleash our potential, but it can only be done with meaningful public-private partnership, even with this virus from Wuhan.