After the outburst of public anger, amplified by official outrage orchestrated by an unpopular government, Taiwan is sounding less bellicose these days. Perhaps President Ma Ying-Jeou and his advisers think they have forced the Philippines into a corner. They would be wrong.
A bowl of rice. Something so common can mean so much—a staple in our diet, and a symbol of our heritage. Steaming simplicity, which represents the ideals of community and sharing that Filipinos hold so dear. A people of faith, hope, and perseverance—what qualities of the spirit push us to achieve more?
The Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to avoid armed confrontations in dealing with fishing disputes. Henceforth, we will share maritime law enforcement, notifying each other posthaste whenever actions are taken against vessels and crews of one or the other.
We are in between worlds, established superpower America of the West and emerging superpower China of the East. It is a contrast territorially and ideologically. The contrast of sunrise and sunset had carried with it much conflict historically. When the West discovered the East, expansionism by conquest and/or trade was the order of the day. For several centuries, relationships were defined by violence and greed.
There was rejoicing when the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) triumphantly announced that the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.8 percent in the first quarter, up from 6.5 percent in the same period last year. The Q1 growth is the highest under the Aquino administration.
You could have passed them in many a neighborhood computer shop, hunched in front of glaring computer monitors, typing on worn-out keyboards, and posing in front of grimy 2-megapixel webcams—women (in this case a lola and her teenage granddaughter) waving happily to whoever was at the other end of their interaction, in front of another computer screen.
The Aquino administration has every right to crow about the country’s economic performance for the first quarter of this year. A 7.8-percent growth rate in real GDP is not to be sneezed at, particularly since we outpaced our Asean neighbors and China for the period.
The secret is “busting out all over,” as a 1956 Broadway tune puts it. The Vatican isn’t talking. Neither is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Ongoing at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris until July 14 is the exhibit “Philippines: Archipel des échanges” (An Archipelago of Exchange), described as “the biggest in scope dedicated to the Philippines in Europe.” It is a comprehensive survey of the rich traditions of precolonial Filipino art—in sculptures, pottery, textiles and personal ornaments from the Cordillera, Palawan, Mindanao and Sulu—attesting to our Austronesian roots and rich maritime history prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.
In the classic economic development story, a country at the early stages of development starts out as an agrarian economy where the agriculture sector dominates in both output and employment, relative to the other two major economic sectors of industry and services. As agriculture grows and productivity increases with technological change, the sector provides a growing market for the products of industry, and releases surplus labor that further propels industrial growth. The economy moves on to the industrialization stage marked by further rises in incomes and employment, supported by scientific and technological innovation. Wealth accumulates and the economy matures, eventually “graduating” into services sector dominance as higher incomes support growing demands for services of various kinds.
To my last column on the current conflict between the Philippines and Taiwan, a country with whom, until recently, we have had only friendly relations, a reader from Canada has written a most thoughtful rejoinder. He wishes to remain anonymous, but, with his permission, I will quote from the rich account he has shared of his experience as a former official of the Canadian department of fisheries in charge of enforcing maritime fishing boundaries. His job entailed protecting his country’s fishery from poachers coming from other countries.
Ten million tourists by 2016. Can it be done? Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez thinks so, and with a growth of 37 percent since he took over (or a yearly growth of around 12 percent) compared to an average annual growth in the previous decade of 5.6 percent, there’s a distinct possibility.
