Philippines, My Philippines

My boss gave me a copy of an article by Ms. Ana Marie Pamintuan of The Philippine Star in her column "Sketches" published last September 28, 2009. The article was titled "Made in China". By the title, I thought it was something about the Made-in-China-everything that scattered on the streets here in the Philippines. When I finally set my eyes on the first word of the article, I realized that it is really about China.

As I read the first three paragraphs of the article, I felt sad. Ok, not because it has some drama in it. In fact, the article was written in a matter-of-fact way. I felt sad because she mentioned that the FedEx hub previously located in Subic, here in the Philippines, was relocated in Guangzhou. That is the same FedEx I saw on TV the day its plane left Subic to serve its purpose for the very last time. As if the sadness invoked was not enough, she then continued by saying that in a market of fruits and vegetables imported by China from numerous neighboring countries, not even a single Philippine mango caught her eye amidst the sea of fruits and vegetables. For the reason that she later found out: Philippine-grown produces are exported in a minimal number.

I was left in awe, thinking that Philippines is an agricultural country. Meaning, fruits and vegetables are of abundance, enough to be exported to other countries. Philippines, regarded as a third world country should have had grabbed the opportunity of catering to the demand of China of agricultural products. The opportunity has presented itself to the Filipinos and yet the Filipinos has remained stagnant. Our farmers has been complaining about the imported products that the government has been allowing to enter the country. They said that these imported, and yet cheaper products are killing the local agriculture sector. Actually, if they are willing, and if the Philippine government would help these farmers, they should be exporting our products to the neighboring countries, such as China. Imagine, the country that has been providing us things that we already have, especially in terms of produces, are also importing from other countries. And why can't it be imported from the Philippines, for a change? I may not an expert here, but I think, if only the government would be firm on imports and exports of the country, many of our poor farmers and fishermen would be pulled out of poverty.

I am not a hypocrite, and I admit that I also patronize imported products. But, kung sasabayan lang natin ang ibang bansa by exporting our own products, knowing that there is demand, then I believe that even we are importing products from other places, our agricultural sector wouldn't be killed.

Just think of the profit that our country would be gaining. Look at the businesses that export christmas decorations. They are not big companies. And yet, they earn well. They do not need to build buildings, hire 100's of people to work on their products and yet they have the ability to export their own products. And from how much capital? They get their raw materials from the country, which is cheaper, paste it here and there in a creative way, and voila! Dollar-earning Christmas decorations bound to richer countries.

If we are going to shun away opportunities like this, there would be no doubt that each and every sector of this country would just eventually die away. The market is there, ever existing. If we still wouldn't give a damn, then Philippines would remain a third world country, generation after generation.

Look at other Asian countries that has been at par with the Philippines before. Look at Vietnam, we used to be better than them and yet, they are now more prosperous than us. Look at China, they are now catering to the needs of the world. From Philippines to the U.S. From shoes, and bags to computers and even manpower. I mean come on, while everyone is suffering from the recession, and even the United States has been declaring bankruptcy of their enormous firms,left and right, China has been thriving. Its almost saying that China beat the big R. In the middle of ailing economies here and there, China gained its ground and emerged succesfully.

I am not praising China just because I'm half Chinese. But I really wish that China would be Philippines' greatest motivation. I do not intend to boast on China's success but I want its story to inspire this country. My country.