Still in a Crisis

It was in 1997, when SouthEast Asia suffered what economists called THE EAST-ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS. This was two years after the Latin America financial crisis of Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. All US-dependent economies who pegged their currencies to the dollars and exercised liberal financial policies, even if they weren’t ready. Of course, each country had their unique circumstances. Nevertheless, all affected countries experienced economic downturn when western investors pulled out their hot money.

I remembered our Economics teacher in school lectured about this hot money. But I wasn’t really listening very well. I do remember she gave a comment that the government should’ve been prepared in establishing the Economic Fundamentals, instead of relying on highly liquid/transferable western investment money.

But that’s not the point of my post today. I don’t think I have enough credibility to discuss economics. Although I did manage to pass my economics class, I am far from being an economic analyst.

I had a chat with my friend who is based in Singapore and we started talking a bit about her life there. I was surprised with the currency exchange rate of Singapore versus how it was back in 1997. The value of their Singapore dollar doubled versus our peso. I remember, too, that back then the Thai Baht equaled one Peso, but not the Baht is stronger than our currency.

As I was driving to work, I realized it had been 10 years since that crisis. I decided to do some research on the countries affected by the 1997 and how they fare as they begin the year 2007.

Philippines:
GDP per capita/person: 1997 ($1700)vs 2006 ($1,060) or decline (-37%)

Indonesia
GDP per capita/person: 1997 ($3400)vs 2006 ($1,300) or decline (-62%)

Malaysia:
GDP per capita/person: 1997 ($4688)vs 2006 ($5239) or decline (+12%)

Thailand:
GDP per capita/person: 1997 ($2542)vs 2006 ($2930) or decline (+15%)

Mexico:
GDP per capita/person: 1997 ($4,250)vs 2006 ($6900) or decline (+62%)

I know I need to check on other countries before I can come up with a conclusion. But seeing some of the data above (I just gathered these from the Net, we still need to verify the accuracy of the figures) we can say that the Philippines is still directionally down. And while we’re slightly better off than Indonesia, no doubt our Malaysian and Thai brothers have already progressed to where they were before. So did our cousins in Mexico.

Malaysia celebrates their 50th year as a Nation, and already the country of 25 million gets up to three times as much as our GDP per capita. They only had 50 years of preparation. We had more than a hundred.

Please do take note that the figures above represent only GDP per capita. We know that much of the money is concentrated on 10% of the upper class. And while countries like Mexico have a few upper classes as well, half of their population naman is in the middle class. As for the Philippines, more than 80% are poor.

Recent events aren’t that encouraging. More and more I see in the news (although I rarely watch the news), Governors and Mayors being suspended a few months before the elections. The scandal-filled Arroyo administration is having a field day weeding out their enemies.

I am not optimistic that we will progress soon. Arroyo still has 3 years to rule this country and we do not have a viable opposition. While the major opposition doesn’t really represent anything concrete but the obvious desire to put the Erap-forces back in power.

I hope we learn how to take this coming election seriously and put serious people in power. This country needs change. And I am not open to an EDSA IV either. We, Filipinos, need to take responsibility for the choices we make (or our inability to guard our votes) and just deal with it.

It’s time to make our leaders accountable for real results. If companies look at the bottom line profit, our officials need to look at the bottom line too: QUALITY OF LIFE in this nation. All those press releases on the renewed strength of the peso, the GDP growth does not make any sense to the people who still have nothing to eat. It’s all marketing blah.

As for those who have nothing to eat. It’s also time to step up and do something productive. Hindi ko naman nilalahat. I know there are a lot of hardworking people who work and work and still have nothing. But then you just walk the streets of Manila and see TAMBAYS => those able-bodied individuals should get off their asses and start working, instead of just waiting for “hulog ng langit” or a magic prize from Wowowee.

I remember one of the campus politicians said in her campaign speech: the election should not be about a change of men (or women) but rather a change in men. I do agree.