BRADBURY ESTATES—Former Philippine Senate President Manny Villar, who is vacationing here with family, told a small gathering of Fil-Ams last Saturday, January 3, that he is confronted with a decision to run or not in the 2010 Presidential elections.
Villar, who recently lost his Senate President position to Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile, said that he was unsure whether there would be a Presidential election next year. "I am confronted with this…we don’t even know whether there will be an election in 2010, and if there is going to be an election – which kind of election?" Villar posed. "Will it be Parliamentary, not Presidential?"
Villar said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "is dead set in pushing Parliamentary." He added, "We are really worried, and she can do it. She has control of the House, the Supreme Court, and now the Senate. It’s just a matter—in effect—of formalizing it."
Like Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, another presidential aspirant, Villar declared that the incumbent President "is afraid to go to jail." But he added that what’s important to him is the expected (economic) crisis that could affect the Philippines this year.
"We do not feel it yet, but we will feel it this year," Villar said of the global economic crisis. "And we don’t know how hard it will hit us because we have not seen the report. The companies are ready, yung mga kumpanya medyo stable naman, kasi fresh pa yung ’98 eh, so we don’t know how it will hit us, but I’m worried of the developments that will follow," Villar said. (The companies are ready and are quite stable because ‘98 experience is still fresh).
One of the results of the economic crisis is that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) would be expected to come home, and the first batch of college graduates in 2009 would feel the impact because, although the companies were not firing employees, they were not expected to hire new ones. "But I hope that the United States recovers soon because if it takes too long, if it lingers in 2009, the effects will be harder on the country," Villar indicated.
He hoped that the US recovers in the second half of 2009, or earlier. "That way," he said, "the effects would not be felt much in the Philippines, except in the stock market." Villar revealed that "so far these are the people that are suffering in silence; they lost a lot in the stock market."
"I told the President (before he was deposed as Senate President), Madame President, you have been very successful in reducing the gap between the rich and the poor because you have made the rich poorer now," he recalled, chuckling. "Maraming rich ngayon talaga na natalo sa stock market. So a lot of rich people in the Philippines became poorer, and so the gap has been narrowed significantly." (There are a lot of rich people who lost money in the stock market).
The good news is that the price of oil had dropped, and the Philippine Peso is becoming strong again. Villar said the US financial crisis had raised the Peso’s value from 41 to a dollar to 50 to a dollar. But, on the other side of the equation, the Philippines is not expected to recover as fast because it imports huge amounts of oil. "We buy a lot of oil and that uses a lot of dollars," Villar said.
The other good news is that remittances from OFWs and other overseas Filipinos have not stopped, and the OFWs have not begun to return to the Philippines. "Obviously, in the Middle East, they have deep pockets," Villar speculated. "Marami pa silang pera, and they will finish all their projects, and that’s good for us." (They still have a lot of money).
Villar believes that the service jobs (in the Middle East) would stay. "I doubt that the people of the Middle East —the locals—will take over these jobs. For example, the domestic helpers, the hotel workers. They are not ready to assume those jobs," Villar stated.
Retail sales, especially in December 2008 was brisk, unlike here in the US. "But in the Philippines, ang taas ng retail sales in December. Nagulat sila sa taas ng retail sales, according to an executive of SM Department Stores, because the remittances have not stopped, only the rates of increase had gone down. Positive pa rin," he said. (They were astounded by the increase in retail sales. They are still positive).
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to go down to 4.5 per cent, which would negate the progress achieved last year. "A GDP growth of 4 to 4.5 per cent is still OK, if it can be achieved.
I hope we can keep it that way, because below that, marami na namang magugutom sa atin," Villar lamented. (More people will go hungry).
( Published on January 7, 2008 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
