How can philippines become a better country?

I visit the Philippines often, about 3 times a year. My wife is a philipina. My question is what’s wrong with the philippines?? Great people, beautiful country, plenty of beaches, freindly and hard working people, etc. But still, the country is a mess. I’m sure everyone is going to blame it on the corrupt politicians. But that’s taking the easy way out. I think the corrupt politicians are a product of the people themselves.
I think one big problem in Manila is the situation with the squaters. They’ve totally messed up the city. Not just short term either. No one wants to invest in Manila, because it’s future doesn’t look very bright. It’s a messy city which looks like will get only messier.
Please no hate answers. I want to get some positive solutions.

The Philippines acquired a huge national debt because of the Marcos regime borrowing from the world bank and the funneling of the monies to personal accounts. During the early 1980’s the Philippines was widely viewed as a potential economic world player. Then when Marcos fell and all the misappropriation of funds was realized, the Philippines economy crumbled. Every Philippine president since then has been faced with the daunting task of paying off the debt acquired by Marcos without the benefit of that debt being originally invested in the economy. In 2000, foreign debt interest payments alone account for 20% of the Philippines national budget.

Paying down debt, as an individual or a nation, requires either an increase of income (revenues) or a decrease in expenditures. For the Philippines, either are bitter pills to swallow. Increasing revenues requires taxing an already poor electorate. Decreasing expenditures means the poorest of the poor get left with no safety net. Doing either also means there is little left over for government investment in infrastructure, which is key to developing a strong economy.

The bright side, if you can call it that, is the Philippine GDP for the 1st qtr grew at its strongest rate in 17 years. The debt is being paid down. Foreigner investment (not loans) is starting to pick up from Japan, China, New Zealand and Australia. The Philippines has a very intelligent and economically savy president. But there is no quick fix to a situation that was years in the making, short of debt forgiveness from the World Bank, which is very unlikely. One can also not ignore the corruption that exists in the government. Although one can argue it has been lessened, it is still an epidemic, especially in the election process. The Filipino electorate must learn to use it’s voting power instead of participating in soft government overthrows when things are not going well.

But to blame a particular politician, to say it was because the US closed military bases there (which was actually much of the reason US President Carter pushed so hard for the World Bank loans and why Reagan was so oblivious to Marcos activities) or to blame it on the Filipino work ethic are not valid points. They only show the lack of understanding of the facts and the finger pointing that results from those who choose to ignore facts and look for the easy way out.

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