Monday, August 11, 2008 Valdehuesa: GNP, GBP, patriotism By Manuel Valdehuesa Street Talk
Educated people know something about the Gross National Product, or GNP, i.e. the total value of goods and services produced by the country during a specified period.
The President and Neda are obsessed about it, manipulating it, securing foreign borrowing on it, or spreading its largesse to calm a jittery populace. But it's not enough to leave the worrying to them, not especially if they let plunderers steal from it and abscond with their loot.
To secure the nation's economic well being, we at the grassroots need to do our part. One way is to tend to our GBP, or gross barangay product. We must strive to increase it and as a community strive to prevent its exploitation by operators at the top. It's also the way to build a truly strong republic.
The barangay economy must be the bedrock foundation of the national economy. Any weakness or leak in the barangay is like a leak in the hull of the ship of state. It will slow the pace of its journey towards development and progress. Weak local economies do not produce a vigorous national economy.
All the nation's wealth and resources are found in some barangay or other. Except for the abnormal ones in the poblacion - which are small areas - a typical barangay comprises several square kilometers. It has all manner of natural resources: lowland or upland, seacoast or hinterland, flat or hilly, forested or mineral-rich.
Apart from the households in its neighborhoods, it is home to many corporate citizens - business, industrial, agricultural, and social institutions like schools, churches and foundations.
There are professionals, artists or artisans engaged in all sorts of productive activities and services -- including expatriates or overseas workers who contribute to the local economy through their remittances. This is an economy in the real sense.
If it is to grow and prosper, it needs to be managed efficiently and productively. It shouldn't be difficult because the barangay government is also a corporation with requisite powers and facilities.
The residents are its stockholders, many of them with untapped equity that could multiply its earnings to capitalize community projects and enterprises. Things wouldn't be so bad if everyone pitches in. But they must also attend to their officials, to offset their weaknesses, and reinforce their competency.
Japan, Korea and China are referred to as tiger economies because their social, economic, and political systems are firmly anchored on their villages, which are like our barangays.
The only difference is, unlike ours, theirs are well managed, the residents productive. Their households operate like a corporate entity. Their village is a virtual conglomerate. Their town or city is a virtual mega-corporation, while the upper level government serves as a mammoth support system.
Theirs is a system that makes their villages a solid base on which their politics and economics rest. It is why the world refers to "Japan, Inc" when they describe that country's economy. China, too, is fast catching up, and its village-based system has a lot to do with it. There the village holds the key to one's ancestry and citizenship. Every Chinese, wherever he may be, can trace his name and family roots to his village.
In our case, we pay little or no attention to our home base, our barangay. If it's poor or poorly managed, instead of rescuing it, we move away to where it's already developed, leaving the poor neighbors to their poverty. We have no sense of community, of caring for the weak and needy in our midst.
Remember when Korea was in the throes of economic hardship? Koreans of all stripes came to the rescue and offered their jewelry and other valuables to the government so it could pay for the nation's international obligations. Now that's patriotism! Right, Gean Tulang, Cynthia Abanil?
A former vice chairman of the Local Government Academy, Manny heads the Gising Barangay Movement. He writes Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. (valdeman_esq@yahoo.com)
