Hopes and dreams for 2017

NEWARK, California – It had been an exhausting year. It had also been full of surprises. This passing year could well be a turning point for humanity. This means 2017 will probably force us to make some hard decisions.

On the other hand, it may well be that the hard decisions have been made in 2016, leaving us with little choice but to live  with the consequences in 2017. The choices we made this year may have turned up the danger in our already pretty dangerous world by more than a few notches.

The world’s largest superpower elected an unpredictable man who is also unprepared for the job to be its president. We elected an equally unconventional man to be our president and the first six months has left anxiety levels high. Troubles in Europe are escalating... from Brexit’s implications to Italy becoming the next Greece and the impact of all these on the European currency and economy... and eventually the world’s.

China is fast emerging as our region’s superpower who seems to be growing stronger by the day not just economically, but militarily. The danger to world peace and regional security posed by the hermit regime of North Korea will likely increase in 2017. The negative impact of climate change on the quality of our lives and even on its potential to create conditions for wars for water and other resources can no longer be credibly denied.

It is no surprise that the times make us hope and dream for better outcomes in 2017. In some cases things are just out of our hands. In many others, the collective power of enlightened people can still shape the way things will turn out.

But predicting the future is a pretty hopeless endeavor. I remember the late Teodoro Valencia once telling me that as a journalist, I should avoid making predictions unless I absolutely know the outcome because it had already happened but not yet publicly revealed. The advice makes sense. The media landscape is confusing enough as it is with social media in play. No responsible journalist should aggravate the confusion.

So we are left with nothing more than listing what we hope and dream for in 2017. We just have to express our hopes of what should happen to make our lives less stressful.

First on my list is the hope that President Duterte will give the economic issues more attention in 2017. His focus on drugs and the peace and order situation is fine, but being president is not the same as being mayor of the entire country.

I know the President said he slept through his economics class in high school and college and copied from classmates like Sonny Dominguez. It is good he has trusted his economic team enough to uphold their positions when challenged by the Cabinet members from the left. But he must do more to encourage a positive business climate, even if only to stop saying controversial remarks that rattle investors.

He must also speak up to get broader support from his congressional allies on Sonny D’s comprehensive tax reform program. He has been too silent in that tobacco tax bill reeking with suggestions of corruption in progress. His allies are railroading that bill for approval, giving a very wrong impression of his administration’s priorities and anti corruption commitment.

Second on my list is for the President to have more nuanced public statements on the rule of law as related to the drug war. Sure, we want to eradicate the drug lords and their pushers. But statements saying he believes even the lies of the police suggests a lack of adherence to the rule of law. That makes us look like a police state at the mercy of a capricious president. That scares investors, local and foreign, who look at the rule of law as non negotiable in a country they risk their money in.

Third on my list is the appointment of officials who are competent in the functions for which they are being appointed. The president must cast a wider net to get potential officials who may not be personally known to him, not a member of his fraternity and not from his Davao crowd.

Critical appointments will be made this year to fill up Supreme Court vacancies and the governor of the Bangko Sentral. His fraternity brothers from San Beda already disappointed him at immigration. There are many competent and honest career public officials. He should pick from this group.

Fourth on my list is the hope the transport department will be able to get its act together and start solving not just our traffic problem from the gates of hell, but also the transport needs of the entire country which has been neglected by previous administrations. Hopefully they get their emergency power from Congress, but more importantly that they show more political will in making good decisions that must be made even if unpopular.

Fifth on my list is progress in our efforts to clear the diplomatic deck with China. The past six years had seen the relationship with this emerging superpower dive dangerously. As we now use direct diplomacy to repair ties with China, it is hoped China responds positively and reasonably. President Duterte has appointed a good and competent ambassador to Beijing in the person of Chito Sta Romana. And that is a good start.

Sixth has to do with the new administration here in the United States. Unpredictable and untested in handling matters of state, it is hoped the US president-elect doesn’t bungle the most important job in the world to the point of endangering world peace and the survival of us all. There are enough flash points in the world today that could spark a vision of Armageddon. I hope he realizes that danger before he unleashes a tweet that annihilates our species.

There are many more on my list than a column’s word limit can accommodate. Suffice it to say that we all have to hope and pray that the new year will not be as tiresome to our spirits as this passing year had been. For now, let us just bid goodbye to 2016 and to welcome 2017 with fresh hopes and dreams.

A very happy and prosperous new year to everyone.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco