8 things we learned from CNN's 'Eye on the Philippines' by Don Jaucian

MANILA, Philippines - There is only so much a tourism campaign can do. With clichéd pictures of white sand beaches, smiling locals forced to look courteous and whirring bokeh shots of the city’s night life, an image of a country is only as good as its soft power import, or its next travel advisory. But as CNN’s Eye On the Philippines feature proved, there are many things that even us Filipinos don’t know about our country. It takes a World Bank and CIA World Factbook to pry our eyes open about certain realities that have been relegated to blind spots and commentary thread fodder.??“I think Economics is not really a mainstream thing yet for the average Filipino,” explains Kim Quilinguing, media production specialist II of the University of the Philippines System Information Office.”Unlike our neighbors and those in Europe and the US, we rarely talk about the economic standing of the country with our peers in coffee shops, offices, classrooms, and much more in the streets.” ??As the CNN feature showed, the challenge of changing perceptions about the Philippines still remains.“Maybe, as we were wallowing in the mud over the past few years, we failed to see that portions of it have dried up. And that we can stand on those portions to eventually rise out of the pit we have been in since the Marcos years. Maybe, it’s time we face up to the changes and move on,” Quilinguing adds.??With this, we hit on eight things that the CNN feature sprung up on the rest of the country, or at least the social media freaks and trendy kids.
1. Average age??
An average age of 22.9 says a lot about the country’s economic potential, labor force and even population control measures. As opposed to countries like Japan where the population is generally aging, the Philippines’s young population is a potential for the country’s income, leadership, and cultural revolution that can be ignited by the youth’s ideologies. So if today’s kids grow past their grammatical mangling and ADD-fuelled travails, maybe the future would look bright.??
2. Total GDP rank??
he country’s total GDP is an indicator of how much we earn collectively from our recognized goods and services. Considering we’re 33rd out of 226 countries, it doesn’t really look bad. But historical data shows that the our GDP has been continually lagging for the past few years. A study in 2011, conducted by the International Monetary Fund, showed our GDP sliding from 12th in the mid to late ’90s to its current rank in the Asia Pacific region. Political uncertainty, high government debt and low investments are some of the elements that affect our economic growth and if all these internal turmoils catch up on us, there’s a big chance we’ll be finishing behind our neighbors.??
3. The Pacquiao Effect??
Upheld as a hero and national treasure, Manny Pacquiao’s stature has been a high pedestal of inspiration and patriotism. But as Philippines Olympic Committee vice president Manuel Lopez said in an interview with CNN, most boxers in the country have hooked up on the sport looking at it like a gold mine. Pacquiao’s name in the news has always been associated with the wealth that the sport has brought him, something has given a new generation of boxers wrong ideas about life in the ring. Like every bandwagon the country has jumped in (like the nursing boom in the mid-2000s), each is treated like a magical closet into Narnia of greener pastures. ??
4. A country of science underachievers??
In a report from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, only one percent of high school seniors receive qualifying grades in math and sciences. We’re terrible underperfomers compared to other Asians, especially since we’re in a region known as a breeding ground of math and science nerds. It takes a lot of pageantry to dress up an intimidating subject and make it palatable to students and with a strong Catholic grip, it’s still a challenge to further scientific ideas in a country which prides itself as one of the most literate nations.
5. Transitioning from agricultural state??
??Don’t let the fancy premium outlets fool you. Despite the proliferation of Starbucks, sprawling malls and call centers around the country, the Philippines is still largely an agricultural state. As BPOs and other services and investments push the country into an industrial state, 12.3 percent of the GDP is still coming from the agricultural sector. Maybe that article on organic farming that you bookmarked may still come in handy after all.??
6. Government efficiency??
Buried under scandals and dragging impeachment trials is a smoother government operation that should take center stage instead of sensationalized news that pollute our social network feeds. Reports from the Bureau of Internal Revenue show that tax returns have increased in 20 years with almost 30 percent. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism also reported that the overhauled bidding systems for public works have cut down government project costs by up to 30 percent. Now that’s the road to reform.?? 7. OFW financial literacy courses??
This windfall of money is all too tempting for OFWs and their families, particularly those who want to swagger around with LV bags and Saudi gold dangling from their necks. The government has been giving financial literacy courses to OFWs on how to invest their money in a sustainable future. The sight of six-figure bank accounts can send some people into a frenzy but as the economic collapse of other countries has shown, it’s not an unlimited source of income.??
8. Tourism is still hard-sell
As the Tom Parker Bowles’s article on Philippine food (which appeared on Esquire UK last year) showed, the Philippines is still a dark blot for tourists. In 2010, international flights only attracted 1.7 percent of tourists among the Asia Pacific region, which goes to show that the image of the country as a sex den, terrorist training camp and country of corrupt bastards hasn’t changed a bit. The Department of Tourism’s new campaign slogan may evoke a sunshiner outlook for the country but it’s one hell of a lifeline for our tourism industry.