Quoting the words of President Arroyo during the ASEAN conference in Thailand recently, the country is allegedly an “island of calm amid the storm.” To speak generally of the situation in the whole country, I will not agree with the President. But to speak for the situation in Central Luzon, especially inside the Clark Freeport Zone, yes I would in a certain extent.
Although I admit that compared to other countries in Asia, the national government is keeping its toes and shows more courage in the face of a global meltdown. And while other leaders of nations talk about hopelessness, we see President Arroyo bravely faces each day with an air of confidence and authority. That I will give to her for it is in these times that we want to see that kind of a leader.
But again as I have said I will not agree that the country is sailing calm because we have our own storms to brave. The scandals and scams continue to surface while the poor remains poor, particularly in the Mindanao region. The Abuy Sayyaf are still raising wars in the said region that causes downtrend in business and investments. Our exports are experiencing an all-time low.
The National Statistics Office has reported that export receipts fell 41 percent to $2.494 billion from $4.231 billion in December 2008. It was said that our exports continued to fall for the second straight month in January to an eight-year low. Reports further said that January’s export receipts were the lowest since April 2001.
Aside from our plunging exports, the number of workers being retrenched continue to pile up. In central Luzon alone, about 10, 300 worklers were affected by the gloibal crisis. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reported 3,554 lay-offs and 6,837 others working less hours in some 47 companies. AS for the whole country, lay-offs were already pegged at 16,000 as of last month.
The only consolation we have is the fact that Clark Freeport Zone and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport are sailing smoothly amidst the crisis. In the past column of Sec. Edgardo Pamintuan, he said Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) Executive Vice President Alex Cauguiran recently said that Samsung, the largest cell phone manufacturer in the world, will sign a contract with Clark to establish its distribution center in South East Asia.
It was said that the 100,000 cellular phones manufactured and assembled in Korea will be transferred in Clark where it will be packaged and shipped all over the world. Meanwhile, several export firms allegedly copes well with the economic turmoil. Demand on imports used for production increased inside the Freeport zone. Imports for capital goods totaled $152.8 million in January or almost double that of the $80.1 million in January 2008.
Of course, we will appreciate it more if the Clark Development Corp., (CDC) shows its export volume rather than the imports. But we still believe that imports are indications of demands and demands mean more production. At least the Clark locators are still bullish despite the crisis.
Also, the regional government agencies are doing their best to augment the impact of the crisis. DOLE is giving out loans to retrenched workers, DPWH is holding jobs fairs while the DTI continues to hold forums for us to better understand the situation.
This is helping the people in small ways but not enough. We want to see a more aggressive approach from the national government and the local governments too. But sad to say, this early, some politicians have already started their campaigns for the 2010 elections. Heard about the revival of murder cases that are hurled against Senator Ping Lacson? How about the issue of Legacy pre-need insurance scam? Senator Mar Roxas seems to be debating everyone on this. And for what? Sincerely, where will these Senate probes lead us?
I am just quite glad that the people of Central Luzon, especially in Pampanga, are learning to detach themselves from the national government. I laud the most the private sector groups who relentlessly launch programs and projects for the poor, for the environment and for livelihood. The businessmen are also helping themselves to cope up. The chambers of commerce in Pampanga, Angeles, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Aurora are doing a good job training and informing their people about the global crisis.
This is what we need. More optimism and more action. I am not just sure if the President is sharing our optimism. She was seen a lot in Pampanga lately. Is she busy thinking about Cha-Cha or clearing her name against the accusations of Gov. Eddie Panlilio? I don’t really know. But it is good to see her in her home province anyway, whatever her reasons may be.
Although I admit that compared to other countries in Asia, the national government is keeping its toes and shows more courage in the face of a global meltdown. And while other leaders of nations talk about hopelessness, we see President Arroyo bravely faces each day with an air of confidence and authority. That I will give to her for it is in these times that we want to see that kind of a leader.
But again as I have said I will not agree that the country is sailing calm because we have our own storms to brave. The scandals and scams continue to surface while the poor remains poor, particularly in the Mindanao region. The Abuy Sayyaf are still raising wars in the said region that causes downtrend in business and investments. Our exports are experiencing an all-time low.
The National Statistics Office has reported that export receipts fell 41 percent to $2.494 billion from $4.231 billion in December 2008. It was said that our exports continued to fall for the second straight month in January to an eight-year low. Reports further said that January’s export receipts were the lowest since April 2001.
Aside from our plunging exports, the number of workers being retrenched continue to pile up. In central Luzon alone, about 10, 300 worklers were affected by the gloibal crisis. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reported 3,554 lay-offs and 6,837 others working less hours in some 47 companies. AS for the whole country, lay-offs were already pegged at 16,000 as of last month.
The only consolation we have is the fact that Clark Freeport Zone and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport are sailing smoothly amidst the crisis. In the past column of Sec. Edgardo Pamintuan, he said Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) Executive Vice President Alex Cauguiran recently said that Samsung, the largest cell phone manufacturer in the world, will sign a contract with Clark to establish its distribution center in South East Asia.
It was said that the 100,000 cellular phones manufactured and assembled in Korea will be transferred in Clark where it will be packaged and shipped all over the world. Meanwhile, several export firms allegedly copes well with the economic turmoil. Demand on imports used for production increased inside the Freeport zone. Imports for capital goods totaled $152.8 million in January or almost double that of the $80.1 million in January 2008.
Of course, we will appreciate it more if the Clark Development Corp., (CDC) shows its export volume rather than the imports. But we still believe that imports are indications of demands and demands mean more production. At least the Clark locators are still bullish despite the crisis.
Also, the regional government agencies are doing their best to augment the impact of the crisis. DOLE is giving out loans to retrenched workers, DPWH is holding jobs fairs while the DTI continues to hold forums for us to better understand the situation.
This is helping the people in small ways but not enough. We want to see a more aggressive approach from the national government and the local governments too. But sad to say, this early, some politicians have already started their campaigns for the 2010 elections. Heard about the revival of murder cases that are hurled against Senator Ping Lacson? How about the issue of Legacy pre-need insurance scam? Senator Mar Roxas seems to be debating everyone on this. And for what? Sincerely, where will these Senate probes lead us?
I am just quite glad that the people of Central Luzon, especially in Pampanga, are learning to detach themselves from the national government. I laud the most the private sector groups who relentlessly launch programs and projects for the poor, for the environment and for livelihood. The businessmen are also helping themselves to cope up. The chambers of commerce in Pampanga, Angeles, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Aurora are doing a good job training and informing their people about the global crisis.
This is what we need. More optimism and more action. I am not just sure if the President is sharing our optimism. She was seen a lot in Pampanga lately. Is she busy thinking about Cha-Cha or clearing her name against the accusations of Gov. Eddie Panlilio? I don’t really know. But it is good to see her in her home province anyway, whatever her reasons may be.
