Has the ASEAN Summit Brought Something Good for the Philippines?

The ASEAN Summit has just recently concluded last Monday, January 15, 2007. The summit is the done yearly to discuss how to accelerate economic growth and promote regional peace and stability among the ten member countries and 6 dialogue partners.

The government officials are saying that after the summit, the Philippines’ economy will surely boost. But I still can not see the said development of our economy. Many people are suffering from hunger and joblessness and also many people do not have their own homes to live in. The prices of basic commodities are still very high and the government is not responding to the call of the Filipinos.

The Cebu province spent approximately Php 1.2 billion for all the stuffs needed for the summit including the CICC which is worth Php 515 million, the 1,083 decorative lamps along the streets, the improvement of the roads, and the very expensive spy cameras. The Php 1.2 billion can be used to supply the needs of the Filipinos. The money can be used to build houses for the homeless Filipinos, build industries that can employ the jobless Filipinos, and to help in the economic growth of the Philippines. Most part of the budget does not really go for the summit; instead it went to the pockets of the corrupt officials. Even though we could not see how they get the money but we can see it in the goods that the government have bought for the summit. One lamp costs Php 95,000 but the lamps were really not that good in providing light along the streets. These were merely for decoration. The budget for the CICC can be used in giving free education and health services to the Filipinos.

The ASEAN Summit also brought so many holidays. Many school days were wasted. These days can really make a difference in the knowledge of the students. The teachers can teach many new lessons to their student within those days. The companies are also not happy with the holidays. In those days, they can produce a large number of products that will be sold. Many sectors were really paralyzed with the summit.

When we look at the brighter side, after the summit there were some foreign investments. This includes the investment of China in the field of agriculture. Many foreigners also visited Cebu. So the summit promoted the tourism of Cebu. But these can not be compared with the bad things that happened to Cebu. These were only a very little part of the whole budget that Cebu had spent and the many days that were wasted.

And I can also say that the government officials benefited from the summit. They were very thankful that the summit was held here in Cebu so that they can get large amount of money from the budget. If there was no summit, the corrupt government officials can not steal the money of the people and spend these for their personal consumption and happiness.

Those were all my observations after the summit. So for you, has the ASEAN Summit brought something good for the Philippines?