Morality isn’t grey

by Peter Wallace

THE current argument is that if the President did cheat she 1) had to because the system demands it; 2) everyone does it so why single her out. Both statements are true, but they ignore (as so often in the Philippines) the fundamentals.

The fundamental this time is — morality. In this regard I’m most disappointed with the churchmen.

They are, or should be the guardians of morality. So their statement on the issue should have not been “Therefore, in a spirit of humility and truth, we declare our prayerfully discerned collective decision that we do not demand her resignation. Yet neither do we encourage her simply to dismiss such a call from others.” What they should have said was: If (stress on “if”) she did cheat then she must step down. She must set the example for others to follow. But they didn’t. Their statement was too weak, so the last sentence was easily overlooked. There can be no compromise on morality. This is not a political issue where the Church should stand aside, but a morality issue where they must be involved.

Today could be a watershed for the Philippines, a country that has sunk to the bottom in Asia over the last three decades. Done so because the corruption of the system has destroyed any chance for honest growth. And I don’t just mean theft of public money, but also corruption of the system through loss of the ethical and moral underpinnings of society.

It is time to put a stop to the unending corruption. Both financial corruption and corruption of the soul. The moral values in the Philippines have been badly debased for decades by leaders that have lost their moral footing.

Financial corruption is always listed as one of the top three disadvantages of doing business in the Philippines. Financial corruption emanates from moral corruption. It is so bad today that a President can be accused of cheating yet instead of unequivocally calling for her resignation, many talk first of what’s the alternative: Vice President Noli de Castro doesn’t have the capability to lead, so better to keep her.

Morality isn’t a comparative thing. It’s black and white. You’re moral and act in a moral way on all issues, or you aren’t, and don’t. Practical considerations of what comes next are irrelevant to this, what I must again stress, most basic of societal fundamentals: morality.

The President has been accused of, or suspected of having compromised the high moral standards demanded of leadership for the desire to get to, and remain in power. She must dispel that perception in the soonest possible time if the economy, and society is not to greatly suffer.

If Congress makes the serious mistake of suppressing the impeachment case this country has no hope, and I stress this, no hope of a decent future. It will sink below Cambodia. Vietnam is already destined to overtake the Philippines (on GDP/capita, according to an ADB forecast, it will do so in seven years). Like most people I’m willing to hold judgment on the President’s guilt. But I’m not prepared to see it swept under the rug, because if that happens the Philippines will sink off the international map and the potential for civil unrest rises dramatically, unrest that could quite possibly turn violent.

The President’s strategists should stop focusing on winning the battles (even though they’ve been quite successful at this) and concentrate on winning the war by proving the President is innocent.

The President is under serious threat, and has lost the support of those who can think dispassionately and have sufficient awareness of what has happened. So the present situation cannot continue as it is or it will bring the economy to its knees. As one resort owner told me, this is the worst period they’ve had since they bought the resort eight years ago. How many other businesses are suffering similarly under a questioned leadership.

The question must be removed as soon as possible. I’d have thought the President would want to clear her name quickly, that she doesn’t seem to want to can only lead to one conclusion.

Surely she doesn’t want that.

And I do wish she’d spend her time working with her Cabinet secretaries on taking their departments into the future in well-defined directions. Spend her time lobbying into Congress to get the laws passed she needs to move the country forward — although why they can’t do it without prodding I really don’t know.

Visiting markets achieves nothing (in fact, in my case it thoroughly turns me off the President) except to maybe excite a few dozen people. Support from politicians is of no consequence at all, since they’ll back whoever it’s expedient (for them) to support. At the moment their bread is buttered (actually the jam added too) by the President, so she gets their support. She can lose it just as easily. The meetings she does have should be with businessmen, small groups, large meetings, anything, but meet and talk with business — both ways.

Businessmen invest, that investment translates into thousands, millions of jobs which Ms. Arroyo needs to encourage. But because she and Mr. Estrada have been unable to, businessmen are not investing in the Philippines. Just look at the numbers.

Year 2004 is only up because of one major power plant; without it foreign investment falls to less than US$1 B.

Admittedly the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 was a factor, but all other countries have recovered, it’s only the Philippines that hasn’t. Thailand had $2 billion in foreign investment last year, Malaysia $3.5 billion, even less-favoured Indonesia garnered $1.1 billion.

She claimed in the Sona to have created 4 million jobs, she didn’t: she didn’t create any, businessmen did. And the 4 million was 1 million short of what was needed, so 1 million more people were relegated into poverty because businessmen didn’t have the confidence to invest in the Philippines. SWS says 20 percent of people are unemployed, and I’d rather trust their numbers than government’s. One in five people without a job, that’s terrible. Even the government number of 11.7% is bad enough.

Foreign investment in the first four months was a miserable $103 million which is the lowest I can ever remember. And that was before the scandals erupted. What, one wonders, can it be like now.

Jobs need investment, investment needs confidence. I reiterate my point — the President should concentrate on one thing only: Providing a stable, predictable, efficient environment for business. She would greatly strengthen her position if she did. The President should stop listening to the image-makers, we don’t want image, we want reality. A president who is at work leading (not micro-managing).

The President needs to single-mindedly concentrate on wooing business, get back their confidence. That won’t be at all easy based on the surveys but it’s not impossible. It won’t be achieved without very active, positive action by her. She is the one that has to reach out, I hope she does.