The concept of economic development and promotion of economic growth is of great importance. There is a cycle of necessities of the development of companies, the consumer, active participation and the involvement of the State in order to form a cycle of all society to participate in the promotion of development and good governance. When promoting development the State must not be separated from orientation, being of the upmost importance the inclusion of financial policies, using the market and public investment in order to orientate and promote good governance and development.
During the course of this module, we examined different roles that a state (in this case the Philippines) in a middle-income country (MIC)[1]undertakes to promote development and better governance.
In view of this assignment there is a need to differentiate these two aspects of development in a country:
Promoting development
When we write about the promotion of development, we are referring to a need to develop policies connected to a more equilibrated development of a country, and not policies that privilege the absorption of communitarian funds in financial terms.
The defence of the environmental quality and of the natural resources will permit the privileged development of the rural tourism and fishing. There is also the necessity of promoting the growth of the mining sector, industrial and services, as well as agriculture and the craft sector will be able to be developed in the picture of an integrated politics of reliveliness of the rural world, valuing the great historical and natural inheritance.
In promoting development, a state has to come up with policies that can promote the creation of more workstations versus unemployment, and accelerate the process of democracy, has discoursed by Morre (2001) that ‘ the socio-economic structure associated with a productive or ‘ modern’ economy supports or stimulates good government…’, meaning that there is also a need to structure a business plan and its operationalism in order to identify the business opportunities and partnerships. The State can promote the straight investment in the economy of energy and protection of the environment industries. As well as traineeship in the market for the culture of thrift of energy of the industry of environmental protection, the government should do something, the form of straight investment can be encouraged doing a great industry and of the market. And the use of public green systems to promote the change in the standard of economical growth and to accelerate the cycle of economical development
Promoting better governance
When talking about governance or better governance, we find ourselves, in face of a ‘ political culture, the structures and the processes through which governing takes place and it is also about other actors besides the government, including the private sector and civil society’ (Nickson, Andrew 2009).
According to Kofi Annan “ gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.” (Kofi Annan, 1997-2007), meaning that not only it is important the achievement of economical growth of a country but also of gender equality, that takes an important role in the development of a state in a MIC.
Background of the country
The Philippines is a country located in the South East of Asia, with a total area of 300. 000 km², and a population of 85, 9 million (2007 estimate). The country is divided into thirteen provinces, having has capital the city of Manila and the Filipino is basically of Malay stock with a sprinkling of Chinese, American, Spanish and Arab blood (The Official Government Portal of the Republic of the Philippines 2010).
According to the Country Assistance Review elaborated by the World Bank ‘ The Philippines has made solid economic and social progress since 1985-the last year of the economic recession coinciding with the end of the Marcos era’ (Zanini, Gianni; The World Bank Group, 1999).
The executive power is in the hands of the chief of the State, President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO (since January 2001).
The country has in the Aquino[2]era, various changes in the structure and in the reforms of the policies namely by: ‘(i) enhancing economic efficiency, (ii) reducing government intervention in productive activities in favor of private sector participation, and (iii) focusing more heavily on antipoverty and employment-generating efforts, particularly in rural areas, and accelerating agricultural production and exports’ (Zanini, Gianni; The World Bank Group, 1999).
General overview
The economy of the Philippines is supported by its sector of services and foreign remittance. The principal challenges that the government of the Philippines faces are the bad distribution of the rent and the high growth of the population. Its economic functions with industries, electronics, clothing, pharmaceutical products, wood products, food process, refinery of petroleum and fishing.
One of the main aspects of commerce is the exportation of oil, semi-conductors and electronic products, transportation equipments, products made of cobber, coconut oil and fruits. On the other hand they import almost the same products as they export plus iron, steel, plastic and chemical products.
As for the environment, in statistics of 2005, the percentage of terrestrial area was covered by 24% of forests, and the percentage of population that used clean/treated water was of 93% (a pretty high number showing that the policies used by the state were making a positive difference in the process of promoting development). By 2006, 78% of the population used sanitary services (The Official Government Portal of the Republic of the Philippines 2010).
Despite the constant rise of taxes, the Philippines are among the countries that have the lowest cigarette prices in all Asia. The publicity of products made a list to the smoke in printed media and in the packing’s of cigarette includes warnings referring to the health. The spread of products made a list to the tobacco is not allowed in printed environments when the juveniles of age and billboards were destined they are not allowed near to schools and little parks. Judicial continuous processes set up by defenders of the control of the smoke look to guarantee the implementation of laws existent-daily pay what they restrict propagandas on the smoke in extern environments and other priority areas.
In the Philippine society, the woman, as much paradoxical as it may look, is the one that takes the economical initiatives of the house and has the last word in when conducting business, besides keeping the money of the family. However, the man is the chief of the family, as well as it is the priest who “ tells” in the parish, even if the women are the great strength of the Church. As a matter of fact, the question of the feminine work is a complex fact in this society that is not bothered of seeing the woman going out from the country to look for job, even that that means exploration and prostitution.
Role of the State (Promotion of development and better governance)
According to the Country Assistance Review of the World Bank, the changes in the state policies and economy started with the Aquino era, when she decided to ‘ implement a major reform to simplify the overall tax structure, reduce its burden on the poor, and improve collection performance’ and besides this reform it was an era of achievements because with the liberalization of the trade and the removal of the import restrictions on a variety of products, the level of exportation of products of the country increased, as shown in the table 1, the solid increase of exports from the year 1995 to 2005.
Table 1 (Economy Watch)
Still according to the Country Assistance Review of the World Bank, and in the Aquino era, after reducing the dispersion and the number of tariff bands and lowering overall protection in stages, with the aim of bringing the import-weighted tariff rate to 14 percent by 1995, it also removed quantitative restrictions from all nonagricultural commodities except petroleum and coal products.
Conclusion
It is important to take note that the truthfulness in the relations of the rulers with the governed ones, the transparency in the public administration, the impartiality in the service of the public institutions, the respect of the rights of the political adversaries, the protection of the rights of the accused face to processes and summary condemnations, the just and honest use of the public money, the refusal of equivocal or illicit ways to conquer, to maintain and to increase to the whole cost the power, are principles that find his primary root like also his singular urgency in the transcendent value of the person and in the moral objective demands of government of the States.
How do governments promote development and good governance?
I think that it is very easy to tell the economical growth for you to be only the great factor so that one manages to reduce the social inequalities, but this is a speech “ neoliberal”, in other words, of persons whom they value highly more for the market of which since you are human. They believe that the market gets alone regular soldier to life of the persons of a just way, and that does so that all the politics is turned to the market, setting aside the public politics that are made necessary for the cultural and social growth of a population, like the investment in education, culture, leisure, job, valuable formation, etc.
Therefore, I think that, so that it is possible to reduce the social inequalities, we should have formed persons through the valuable transmission who are important for the society, such as the respect, the tolerance, between others. That will be only possible if the politics to change of direction or there will be a popular organization that presses so that that happens.
The last hypothesis is very difficult to happen, since there is no much hope which the persons stop the comfort of the nuclear family or which they are lacking one day in the work in order that a protest carries out, or even that they stop being consumerists, since they exist pressures what the persons suffer of whose several institutions you link are adopted (the work, the family, the religion … the certain one is not exchanged for the doubtful one and, consequently, it does not take a risk in search of another way of life).
Finally, I think that there must be the promotion of awareness so that the people are not more deceived by speeches demagogues. The economical growth is not enough because the market is not just in distribution of income and he does not humanize, but it forms competitors and consumers. Therefore, return difficult the persons organize for a cause, since they are competitors to whole life and each one fights for the personal success. The way owe to be changed of thinking, the form of acting owe to be changed and the State must change the focus: to stop having the market like the great modeler to focus in the persons and in his cultural values through the investment in education and in social projects of awareness for respect among themselves.
