EDITORIAL - Challenges

After the revelry, it’s time to buckle down to work.

The past year presented new challenges that must be confronted in 2020. On the public health front, the country recorded hundreds of deaths from measles and the return of polio after 19 years. For the first time, the country also registered the fastest rate of HIV infection in the world.

There are now two laws to prevent the spread of HIV and discrimination against persons living with HIV / AIDS. The challenge is their efficient implementation – which also goes for the Universal Health Care and mental health laws.

On another health issue, the country saw the arrival of African swine fever in 2019. The ASF threat continues to inflict damage on the local swine industry and needs tighter management.

Also needing urgent attention on the food front are the country’s rice farmers, who saw their livelihood devastated in 2019 by rice tariffication that allowed unlimited rice importation. While consumers welcomed the lower rice prices, the country cannot afford to be overly dependent on imports of its staple.

For the first time last year, the country’s 15-year-olds joined the Program for International Student Assessment. The PISA results were disheartening, with the Filipinos ranking last out of 79 nationalities in reading comprehension and 78th in mathematics and science. This is a continuing challenge for improvement.

Even the country’s top ranking in the 30th Southeast Asian Games poses the challenge of sustaining the exemplary performance in bigger competitions particularly the Olympics. There must also be accountability in the hosting arrangements as well as efforts to ensure that the Olympic Village in New Clark City won’t turn into a white elephant.

In Metro Manila, 2019 saw an acute water shortage and a persistent traffic mess that call for multipronged solutions, with the necessary infrastructure taking years to complete. Build, Build, Build must move faster this year to make up for the delay caused by congressional bickering over the 2019 national budget.

In 2019, Philippine offshore gaming operators created problems that the government must address with a clear policy on online gambling and the employment of foreigners. Related to this, the government must heed public sentiment, as expressed in surveys, for a stronger assertion of the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.

There are the continuing problems – the communist insurgency, Islamist extremism that now employs suicide bombers, a weak and compromised judicial system that makes law enforcement shortcuts acceptable to ordinary people. The war on drugs is being recalibrated as the scourge persists. There is much work ahead; at the start of the year, everyone must hit the ground running.