Challenges of Governor-Elect Pamela Baricuatro

Few days ago, I heard two reports coming from the fields of economy and politics. These are supposedly so unrelated events and thus are expected to have contrasting impacts in our society. There was for one this grim economic news that the Foreign Direct investments (FDI) fell to their lowest level in over four years in September, and for another there was the more recent earthshaking political reportage of a Cinderella-like emergence of an entirely fresh personality in Cebu Governor-elect Pamela Baricuatro. True to my optimist nature, I like to imagine that these reports rather than being completely alien to each other can somehow give countervailing effects with the positive second covering for the negative first.

The first news. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the FDI net inflows slumped by 36.2% to $368 million in September from $577 million in the same month a year ago. This decrease is huge as it is alarming. My little understanding of FDI is that as it increases, it expands export activities, promotes the transfer of goods and services, or increases access to technology, thus resulting in the increase of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). I have learned from the internet a theory that beyond its direct contribution to capital investment and employment generation, FDI can benefit host economies through knowledge and technology spillovers, which drive productivity growth and foster innovation. We must accept too that aside from the wages the local employees earn from foreign direct investors, most of the money would also become dividends and bonuses for foreign shareholders and executives which they spend hereabouts. These obvious benefits are much diminished with the seemingly low inflow of FDIs.

While we are proud to claim that the Philippines possesses such key factors that influence FDI as natural resources, market size, availability of cheap labor, interest rates and socio-economic conditions, the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., doesn’t quite inspire political stability. There is this open war between the Marcoses and Dutertes that undermines stability. This is heightened by the impeachment articles filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, the arrest and incarceration of former president Rodrigo Duterte in Netherlands, and the alleged irregularities of the annual budget. We are also getting informed that government policies toward foreign investment are becoming unattractive. There is reason to believe that these two key factors are the causes of diminishing FDIs.

The second news. Our election season is not unlike the way we celebrate Christmas. In fact, it is months longer than enjoying the yuletide. Even before the certificates of candidacies (COCs) are filed, about seven months before actual voting, we know the candidates already. Their names have been advertised. The one exception we had was Pamela Baricuatro. Almost completely unknown, she reportedly registered only 3% in the survey done after the last day of the filing of COC. Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was headed to an overpowering re-election. Pam could only scratch the trail of Gwen but as it unraveled, the challenger became the “giant killer”.

The euphoria that greeted Governor-elect Pam is wrapped by, at least, two things. The Cebuanos hope firstly that in running her administration, the new governor will depart from the recorded flamboyance of her immediate predecessor and use the province’s heralded wealth to deliver such basic people’s need as healthcare. Secondly, alongside the promised change, Governor-elect Pam must tap the brilliant minds and successful businessmen in order to help her craft policies and adopt programs that will encourage local investors to put their investment folio in industries where Cebu is known for or perhaps into new ventures. That way, she can protect Cebu from the harsh effects of diminishing FDIs. Indeed, while Pam is a newbie in governance, the kind of determination she showed in the campaign trail will hopefully continue to blaze the trail of her governorship.