By Farah G. Decano

 

THE battle for the next one hundred years began with the commencement of the campaign period for national candidates.  It will be a crucial struggle among Filipinos who are allies of the good, the egoistic ignorant, the pretentious braggadocio, and the swooning evil.  Whosoever wins as president this May 2022 will define the fate of the Filipinos for the rest of the century and the next.

Why will our collective decision this election have far-reaching effects up to a hundred years, and not just six years?  Because this winning presidential candidate’s economic decisions will have impact beyond her/his term.     We are at the moment on a financial tightrope.  One false move may cause the bankruptcy of our government.

Why are we on a tightrope?  The loans incurred by the Duterte administration have ballooned to massive proportions.  The present administration will leave to the next president a country steeped in debt projected to be P13.42 trillion by June 30, 2022.  Less than half of this total borrowings were incurred by the Duterte Government alone.  We are expected to pay billions of pesos per year.  This means that this huge amount will be allocated to service debt instead of building schools and houses for the poor, creating employment or improving our road constructions.  Financial management by the next chief executive has little or no leeway for learning curve mistakes.  Do we borrow more or do we ask for moratorium?  What economic strategies will pull us out from this rut?

Some economists would say that Filipinos must not look at the size of the borrowings per se because such practice is not unusual in countries.  We must rather focus on where these loans went and if our government is increasing its capacity to pay.

I am not confident about the use of these borrowed funds by the outgoing chief executive.  Think of the P42-billion corruption scandal that the Gordon Committee investigated.  I am outraged by the refusal of the president, who ran under a platform of clean government, to support the legislative inquiry.  Why the reluctance?  The Filipinos deserve to know.

To borrow means to take some resources meant for the future and use them for today.  A wise manager will take the loan in the hope that it will capacitate the future to pay for the debt and still have extra funds for other projects.  In other words, the present government must not cripple the next government by its reckless allocation of borrowed funds.

A wrong choice of president will not only negatively affect the values of the Filipinos during his or her term.  The impact of her/his action or inaction will reverberate in the future.  Presently, our nation is so divided and damaged by its constant exposure to hatred, misogyny, cancellation culture, disrespect and “kill” mentality.  Acknowledging that it is easier to ruin than build values, I pray that the next chief executive remains steadfast in bringing out the best in the Filipino.  I hope the future president can reverse the decline in our civic pride and patriotism.

\Lastly, the future president has to tackle the West Philippine Sea issue.  How will the Philippines take back unwritten privileges granted to China now that it has already built camp on some of our reefs?  While we recognize our need for trade with its nationals for cheaper materials and resources, we do not wish to wake up someday and realize that we already have become its province.

We need a new president who will lead us by example to remind us of the great and honorable people we used to be – a people with so much love for the country and their neighbors.  Our kabayanihan and bayanihan spirit must return.

Tara!  Ipanalo natin ang kinabukasan!

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