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IF we begin 2009 the way we ended 2008, we have a lot of reasons to be optimistic. I got this sense as I joined the rest of the country in watching the thunderous victory of Manny Pacquiao over Oscar de la Hoya. I caught it in a Makati movie theatre where the infectious, nationalistic energy of the audience pervaded the whole eight rounds. During the whole time we were not just observers but participants: we stood in attention during the anthem, we grunted whenever the Pac-man was hit (which wasn’t often), and we cheered whenever he hit back (so just imagine the noise). The whole ruckus was actually refreshing for it has been quite a while since our people have been this united – if only it were for greater reasons, but we work with what we’ve got. And when we look ahead to 2009, the resounding national question is whether it will be Ricky Hatton or Floyd Mayweather next. Manny Pacquiao assures us that all he’s waiting for is who challenges him first; he’ll be ready either way. But can we, the very people one with the Pac-man, say the same? Can we share in the same optimism when we look forward to 2009? The previous year has been quite a ride. Jun Lozada. The rice crisis. The Sulpicio lines disaster. The burdening increase of the price of oil. The botched Bangsamoro deal. The global recession. Obama’s election. The overthrow of the Thai prime minister in yet another yellow uprising. Job losses. And a more expensive Christmas. In my mind, the past year emphasized the unique growing pains of a country that is becoming increasingly global in its reach while remaining vehemently domestic in its concerns. True, all politics is local, but little by little we are realizing the global consequences of our actions – and the impact of global events on our lives – and this will be a recurring theme heading into 2009. Our immediate concern in the New Year is the threat of losing up to 50,000 (could be more) overseas jobs due to the global economic downturn. Around 1,200 have already been lost in 2008 and with OFW remittances accounting for a staggering 11.6% of our economy, now is not a time for complacency. Not that there ever was. Sending our human capital abroad has been the keystone of our foreign policy since the 1970s, but the world today forces us to rethink this strategy. Interestingly, the government is now providing for a P250 million livelihood fund for skills training and microfinance programs for all those forced to return home. This is good but it begs the question – why only now? Why couldn’t we be similarly aggressive in pushing policies that keep our people home in the first place? If the world – especially the United States – paid a price for its addiction to oil, that too may happen with our addiction to export labor. Our President is correct in asserting that the Filipino worker is a valuable commodity. Some may argue that we are becoming too valuable – skills training programs and salary regulations make Filipinos more expensive – that we can no longer afford to grow our economy here at home by sending our people abroad. We simply can’t afford to continue wagering 11.6% of our gross national product on the buffeting winds of the global economy, and the rice crisis last summer underscored the need for us to be self-sufficient. Addressing this is even more urgent now since the global economic crunch is felt strongly here at home. Multinational companies are laying off workers, rural banks are beginning to look into their viability, and our national inflation rate is soaring. People will always move towards greener pastures, even if all pastures are getting less green. We can’t keep our people here at home if we don’t give them reasons to stay. So as a country we need to set our priorities straight. We will always find comfort in knowing that we sent another 1.08 million Filipinos abroad in 2008, and that many more jobs can be found in Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Bulgaria and Australia. But how much longer can we find confidence in that? For 2009 and beyond, we have to bring HFWs – Homeland Filipino Workers – into our national lexicon. Yet what happens next will be up to politics. And what characterized the Philippine political history of 2008 were the fall of one man and the rise of another – Jun Lozada and Barack Obama. The former is every bit familiar to us, and the latter comes across as so idealized that he becomes not just foreign but alien. And the former symbolizes the victimization we feel in these politics we strive to move away from, and the latter represents the hope that democracy promises yet remains so elusive. We closely watched and sympathized with Jun Lozada’s travails in the Senate, hoping for all of it to just end with somebody else’s ouster. From afar, through the Internet and all forms of new media, the emerging Filipino middle class watched Barack Obama’s gradual rise to power, hoping for his story to be true here too. As we head into 2009, the discussion now becomes whether we can get from point A to point B. And there will be many ways to answer that. Some will say we can’t, some will say it depends. Others will introduce points C, D and E. A lot will promise a quick fix, and a deluded few may promise that we’re already in point B – “if you vote for me.” There will be many false prophets and false starts, but one thing is sure – politics as usual has to come to an end. What makes 2009 a year to watch is the advent of the campaign season heading to the presidential elections in 2010. Not a lot of people are heading into it with much hope; more are resigned that things will just stay the same. Pessimists and realists are already designing Noli-Vilma T-shirts, while optimists and idealists continue converting to pessimism and realism. But kidding aside, we have to be pragmatic and honest. Now, more than ever, the year before election year is not just a time to watch politics but to get involved. After almost a decade under a President many now dub as the most corrupt since Marcos, there is no better time than to stand up and demand for change. However, the problem with this is the usual problem – how do we get involved? Finding an answer to this question will be a major theme in 2009, but let me point to one possibility. The blogging community in the Philippines is on the rise. Heading into 2010, bloggers from all corners are spearheading initiatives into enhancing poll monitoring, voter education, and election discussion via various forms of new media. More ambitious bloggers are working to unify these initiatives, hoping to make it wider, more responsive, and ultimately more effective. For those Filipinos living away and abroad, this provides an extraordinary way to get involved. Even though we may not yet have a candidate we can all get behind, we can be vigilant together. By sharing stories of politics across different shores, we can think together. And by discussing issues and identifying common interests, we can vote together. As a developing country on the cusp of becoming global, there is much to take away from having so many of our compatriots abroad and having the technology to bring them and us together. These are the twin challenges we have to face in 2009. The global economic downturn has implications for all Filipinos whether at home or abroad. And the coming election year will provide new opportunities for us to rediscover what we can do as one people. Perhaps, when we triumph in these we will have new things to be proud about. If we believe we can turn the page then perhaps we can be optimistic about the challenges we face. Until then there will always be the next Pacquiao match, but we can’t let it be just that. As a country we have to face our Hattons and our Mayweathers too, and either way it will be quite a fight. If you have any feedback, reaction or comment about the article, please email buzzwordmedia@yahoo.com.
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