Not just a slogan but also a self-reliance program

Aside from Fitch upgrading the Philippines to investment status, two other headlines jumped at me from among the business news of the Inquirer’s March 28 issue: “PH salvation lies in export sector dev’t, says BSP” and “Agro-industry loans surged by 150% in 2012.”

These reports affirm that the universe awaits and supports the long-delayed Philippine economic takeoff.

They prescribe agriculture and technology to anchor this emerging economy with value-added processing that transforms agricultural raw materials into export-grade products, and converge computer and telecom breakthroughs.

Oddly, that’s what former Sen. Ramon “Jun” B. Magsaysay Jr. has been saying in several interviews, but media have only picked up his “Magsaysay Is Still My Guy” mantra and haven’t listened closely enough to his economic message.

It’s the inclusive economic formula that many have been seeking. JunMag has quietly been preaching such a strategy, but it hasn’t been sufficiently sharpened so that more people can appreciate it.

In an earlier Senate stint, JunMag crafted and passed the e-commerce law that spawned call centers and business process outsourcing. As head of the chamber’s Committee on Agriculture, he capped his 12-year Senate service with an investigation of the fertilizer scam.

As he seeks a new Senate term, he has fused “Agrikultura at Teknolohiya” as an economic formula that not only produces growth but also disperses it to all sectors, especially to the rural folk and the youth.

It is hoped that JunMag can further explain his “Agrikultura at Teknolohiya” strategy (this could well be what is missing) so that people will understand that “Daang Matuwid” isn’t just a slogan but a self-reliance program that can involve all who wish to participate.
—JOSE OSIAS
jzosias@gmail.com