Pinoys born optimists, but gov't must act - Loren

Senator Loren Legarda said today that Filipinos are born optimists and, thus, could weather the challenges poised on them by the global economic downturn now being felt more severely in the Philippines.

"Tough people outlast tough times. We, Filipinos, had been likened to bamboos swaying with the direction of the wind so as not to get uprooted," she said.

Loren issued the statement in reaction to a recent survey showing that more Filipinos believe that their personal quality of life will improve this year notwithstanding the global economic crisis. Commissioned by a business paper, the Social Weather Station survey conducted from November 28 to December 1, put at 30 percent the number of Filipinos who expect things to brighten up economically in 2009.

In contrast, 15 percent of those surveyed said they do not see their lot improving though. The SWS explained that net personal optimism, or the percentage of optimists minus pessimists, rose to a "fair" plus 16 for the period after ranging in the "mediocre" minus six and minus nine for the first three quarters.

Still, Loren warned that government must take note of the fact that 43 percent of the survey respondents said that their lives had worsened in the last 12 months while 19 percent said theirs got better.

The senator added that as the government undertakes economic pump-priming activities initiating livelihood programs and labor-intensive infrastructure projects, it must guard against corruption and ensure that the stimuli get to the intended beneficiaries.

"The government must provide safety nets for the poorest of the poor, provide all-out support to our agricultural sector and fast-track the implementation of the provisions of the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) Law," said Loren.

"It should also spend more on education and health care as these areas are among those severely affected during hard times. It can be surmised that the number of school dropouts increase when the economy is down, when jobs are being lost by the thousands. Healthcare, too, suffers, thus government must step in."

Co-authored by Loren, the MSMEs Law provides financial, technical and other support for upstart businesses both in rural and urban areas. Loren said that MSMEs generate much-needed jobs, which in turn increases the spending power of consumers, and results to more demands for goods and services.

"Economic stimuli are needed if we are to increase our gross domestic product (GDP) and avert recession," she added. In economics, the term recession generally describes the reduction of a country's GDP for at least two quarters.