Big Business stepping up

Crises bring out the best in people. The 1986 Edsa Revolution showed how a fired-up group of leaders galvanized and rallied an entire nation behind a national cause. One of those in the forefront of the movement was Big Business.

Recent events suggest that Big Business is rising to confront and beat another challenge—the looming economic havoc that COVID-19 threatens to bring to our nation. This time it’s not a struggle for freedom, but a similar concerted effort to use massive financial resources to bring us economic relief. I can hear distant sounds of hope as Big Business starts to flex its muscles and take the bull by the horns. Ramon Ang, Manny V. Pangilinan, the Ayalas, the Villars, the Gokongweis, Lucio Tan, and many others are stepping up to the plate.

Saving our economy is not only patriotic, it also makes good business sense. The Filipino market generates wealth for our business titans, and I suppose they won’t allow adversity to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. When Megaworld donated prime property in Iloilo City for a convention center, they were not only being civic-spirited, they were also smart. Over and above mundane considerations is the wellspring of goodwill that suddenly springs out of one’s heart when the conscience is pricked and moved by something beyond the ordinary. You may call it destiny, reality, or even divine intervention, but we have seen that miracles do happen, like the one that occurred in Edsa.

The flame has been lit by Ang and other early birds. I may be overly optimistic, but I hope to see a bandwagon effect. I like to visualize the fire building up to a conflagration where politicians will cross party lines, businessmen will start giving back, and Filipinos will ask, “What can I do for my country?” One may talk to that seamstress in Batangas who made face masks to give away for free. One may also ask that motel owner in Pasig who once hosted seekers of fleeting pleasures but who has offered his place as a shelter for COVID-19 patients.

The motivations behind these acts of benevolence may be varied, but they all proceed from human goodness at its best. Hope springs eternal. I may neither be “churchy” in my ways nor scriptural with my language, but I believe in the grace of a Supreme Being delivering relief to those who seek it. May God bless the Philippines!

JOSE B. MAROMA JR.,
[email protected]