The Pride of Philippine Infrastructure?

On Hilary Clinton's first time visit in Asia last year, the media (and I, myself) was quick to note that the Philippines wasn't included in her travel plans. The Philippines, together with South Korea and Japan, has a historic security alliance with the United States, and is the most committed (and one of the oldest) American ally in south east Asia. Clinton, however, visited Indonesia where there existed bumpy times between the two countries. Is the Philippines getting increasingly shunned by Western nations?

The Philippines was once poised to be an Asian power. With a promising economy after the Second World War, the Philippines enjoyed one of the highest rates of GDP growth in the world and was second behind Japan in terms of economic and social development. Things went awry during the time of Ferdinand Marcos when he embezzled public funds, giving them to his cronies or even keeping all of them just for himself, and well, Imelda. As of today, the Philippines, still paying the loans wasted and stolen by Marcos, finds it hard to recover from an economic trough as a result of the first People Power and civil unrest.
Once the richest country in south east Asia, the Philippines has continued to lag behind in developments and has now been overtaken by other SEA nations (We're number four now behind 1. Indonesia 2. Thailand and 3. Malaysia ! Vietnam's next, God!).

There are other countries out there that are more economically important to the U.S. than the Philippines, in this case, Indonesia. So it's no wonder why the U.S. (and other prospective investors) is increasingly shunning the Philippines.

Our government has developed a system of political dynasty, which proved to be a bane rather than a boon. Rampant corruption has never left the Philippine government, and with numerous unresolved government scandals of the Arroyo administration, the image of our government and the nation as well continues to be tainted. We badly need a facelift.

A national facelift can come in a variety of ways. The frequent one we're getting is when Manny Pacquiao wins a fight. But this isn't something Filipinos can benefit from economically, unless Manny donates or invest those millions of dollars in creating businesses and jobs. The other one is infrastructure development, and this is the major facelift we need.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has just recently begun construction of the Manila Bay Tourism City. This is the Philippines' take on the casino fever that is currently sweeping the world.

Park amenities include:

• The so-called Manila Eye – A Ferris wheel larger than the London eye
• A large performing arts stadium
• An Oceanarium larger than that in Rizal Park (I'm tired of Oceanariums! Scrap this please)
• Universal Studios theme park (Please, don't change this into a Super-Inggo/ Pinoy styled theme park)
• Museums (Yahoo!)
• Kidzania (have no idea what's so special about this, aside from it's a kiddie theme park)
• Large theaters
• Various five to seven stars residences
• World class hospitals (May world class doctors naman kaya? Haha. Sorry)
• Casinos
• Sports Complex
• A high speed train that will connect the Tourism City to the Philippine International Airport

Various amenities right, but the center of attraction is the proposed 2,182 ft (665 meters) Pagcor tower that will be the second tallest structure in the world (The name sucks - ang baho. Can't the name be replaced with a famous Filipino hero?).

I have been told that Pagcor tower may not be included in the overall project, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed because if they don't include it, there will not be something of a luring aspect to the Tourism City and the project will be seen as something very ordinary.

The Manila Bay Tourism City aims to compete with gaming Meccas such as those in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. It will provide 225,000 new jobs and opportunities to Filipinos and will generate US$ 6 billion dollars in revenue. The project is worth US $15 billion and will be completely developed in 10 years with three phases. I've heard that phase two has just started, but I haven't seen any recent construction pictures near the Manila Bay area on the internet.

This could be the "it" facelift the Philippines need. With all the promises of the project Pagcor had said, this again arouses the Filipino's yearning of a better life and a better country. I am hoping that this won't become yet another politician's promise, which ALWAYS just end up being pinned on their ever expanding to-do lists. This project could bring the Philippines back again as the leader in south east Asia, or even better, bring back the good old days when we belonged to the list of the wealthiest countries in the world. Let's not let our hopes down and continue to aspire for a better Philippines.

More references:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagcor_City

A Yellow Promise

A boy from an impoverished area in Manila ties a yellow ribbon to a tree. Extreme heat from the sun and rain have poured on this yellow ribbon. Overtime, the yellow ribbon faded into white. The wind blew it out from where it was tied then it got stuck on a pole, making it look like a white flag – a symbol of lost hope, surrender, hardships and sadness.

The upcoming May 2010 elections is very important for us Filipinos and the Philippines. It will be the mark of what the Philippines will become in another six years. This election may be where the millions of poor Filipinos cling their hopes to get out of impoverished conditions and somehow experience the good side of life before dying. This election is crucial and every vote should be well thought out.

NoyNoy Aquino promises to eradicate corruption. He also claims to be an honest man and with a good morale. To be honest I do not know any of his other programs aside from just "eradicating" corruption. His fiercest rivals and the skeptics always say that NoyNoy received this overwhelming clamor to run for President just because of the mournful emotions that came out from the death of his mom and the large influence that his sister Kris has on the masses, which accounts for the greatest slice of the voting pie. It is true, and he admitted to it.

NoyNoy may be just offering the same good old promises told by the other presidents most of which up to now cannot be felt by us Filipinos, or at least the poorest of us. However, isn't NoyNoy all the more pressured to fulfill his promises because he carries the ever-so influential "Aquino" surname? Is NoyNoy not putting his father's name, heroic deeds and the promise of a better Philippines in jeopardy if he is not sure about running for the highest seat, like what most of his detractors are saying? I think NoyNoy is smart enough to know all the risk entailed by his candidature to be stupid, corrupt and heartless if he wins. I know he is feeling the pressure as well. He has his name to maintain clean.

Having track records are worthless compared to not having any allegations of corruption in the past. Saying "Nanggaling ako sa hirap!" (I came from the poor!) is even more worthless a proof of being capable of running the country. Someone who has been convicted of plunder and who said he'll not run again for presidency but doing otherwise already shows a clear sign of dishonesty.

You may have heard or read many information that may have caused you to think twice on voting NoyNoy or his ability to run the country. Nevertheless, let's give him a chance. He can't do all he promises overnight, but he may be able to fulfill them faster with our support and letting go of all the biases we have towards our fellow Filipinos and become one, united citizens under one goal – to rebuild our country abused by politicos lured by the promise of holding the presidency and the destructive power of money.

Let us not a raise a white flag on our country. There is and will always be hope for the better. If for some reason you feel tired because of all the political ruckus that have been going on for years, try to side with the "man" who holds the yellow flag and let its bright tint fill you with the heat of hope, as how the yellow sun does when it rises in the morning.