[New post] Salient Points in the Public Life of Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr.
Wilfredo G. Villanueva posted: " Interview by Wilfredo G. Villanueva October 21, 2023 Nominated by President Benigno S. Aquino III to be Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America on November 30, 2010 and confirmed by the Commission on Appointme" The Society of Honor by Joe America
Interview by Wilfredo G. Villanueva October 21, 2023
Nominated by President Benigno S. Aquino III to be Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America on November 30, 2010 and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on February 9, 2011. He formally assumed his position on April 2, 2011 and served until June 2016.
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Cuisia was Vice Chairman of Philam Life after having served the company as its President and Chief Executive Officer for 16 years.
Before becoming Philam Life's President and CEO, Ambassador Cuisia served as Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines and Chairman of its Monetary Board from 1990-1993.
"PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE TO HAPPEN" - CUISIA
It was painful to watch. The patient is distressed, but I had asked Ambassador Joey Cuisia, financial and management expert par excellence, to assume the role of chief oncologist to our moribund country. "How long will he live?" I asked. He winced, peering through thick, gold-rimmed glasses. "He will not live long if we don't do something drastic."
"We're headed south," he said when asked if we are nearer to Vietnam which has had economic gains in spite of having emerged from war, and Somalia, poster boy of a failed state. "I still have faith. I'm praying for a miracle to happen. We can't give up. Our strongest weapon is prayer, hoping that the Blessed Virgin Mary will find a way to perhaps make it possible for a new leader to emerge who will save us from total destruction. We need all the prayers we can get."
"But what if I were a Filipino who didn't believe in God or a Supreme Being? What is the point of my being a Filipino if all I have is hope?"
"Faith is not enough. We have to do our share. That's why we in the Makati Business Club, we are speaking out. I can't rest on my laurels, being a key figure in organizations that help the country."
Ambassador Cuisia is retired, has medically-controlled ailments, works out everyday, looking fit like a young daddy who can throw his toddler into the air for bonding. Yet, he is a lolo, has five apos, four here and one in the U.S. He's another candidate for bishopry, after General Ely Rio. (It is good. For where there are unpalatable characters, good men will come forward to help undo the bad. That, ladies and gentlemen, is itself a miracle in a country given to frivolity and lack of critical thinking.)
"I am concerned about a possible social upheaval. There is a growing number of people who experience lack of food as gleaned from a survey of Social Weather Stations, and yet you see excesses at the top, like a fashion show in Malacañang or a botched request for confidential funds," he said. The latter was strangled at birth in budget deliberations by Makabayan bloc in the Lower House, principally Kabataan party list Congressman Raoul Manuel in budget deliberations.
I asked him, if he were the teacher of the country as a whole, what would our grade be, in economics, history, all the humanities and business subjects. He was quick to reply: "Fail."
(NOTE: INSERT HERE BOXED ARTICLE TITLED: SWOT ANALYSIS ON THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY BY AMBASSADOR CUISIA)
A SWOT+PROMISE ANALYSIS OF THE PHILIPPINES BY AMBASSADOR CUISIA
Strengths:
A young and trainable workforce. This is the so-called demographic dividend. Our average age is 23. Ours is one of the youngest workforce in the region.
English-speaking workers. Can learn other languages, such as Spanish, Japanese, Chinese.
Good location. Accessible in three to four hours to points in Southeast Asia, world's growth center.
BPO or Business Process Outsourcing. 1.5 million workers; can grow by another million in the next 2-3 years. U.S.$33 billion earnings for this year alone
The Filipino diaspora or dispersion. In the Middle East, U.S., Europe, Australia, OFWs to the world. U.S.$32 billion a year in foreign exchange remittances to the economy.
Weaknesses:
Poor agricultural productivity; lowest in the region.
High poverty incidence; gone up by 20 per cent.
Widespread corruption.
Weak education system.
Poor health care system; vulnerable to various diseases.
Largest economic contraction in 2020 due to wrong policies that were adopted.
Opportunities:
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement, the Philippines being one of 18 countries participating.
Recent strategic free trade agreement with Australia and South Korea.
Membership in Philippine-U.S.-Indo Pacific framework.
Stronger relationship with Japan. Showcase of such a relationship: the Metro Manila subway being funded by the Japanese government which has a lot of experience in this regard.
Growing Intra-ASEAN trade.
Threats:
Continuing high inflation which leads to high prices of food and other basic commodities.
High poverty incidence.
High underemployment at 15 per cent.
Not enough job opportunities.
Wide disparity of income distribution.
Growing divide between the rich and the poor.
Shows Promise:
Eighty per cent hotel occupancy rates. Higher than the 72 per cent pre-pandemic. Tourism is growing: Boracay, Palawan, Bohol. More local than foreign tourists.
Continuous OFW remittances. Two to three per cent increases v. 5 per cent in the past, but still growing.
AI. Robotics, increasing Digitalization. We need to enhance the skills of our workforce. If we don't upskill, we stand to lose 600,000 to 700,000 jobs in the IT-BPM industry.
"You have been involved in an industry that caters to investment funds. What do you make of the Maharlika Investment Fund?" I asked.
"I cannot argue with its objectives," he said. "But why are we setting up a sovereign wealth fund? A country sets up a SWF when it has excess funds which can be used to provide for developments in the future. Where will the funds come from? P50 billion from Land Bank, P25 billion from the Development Bank of the Philippines, P50 billion from the national government, through Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. These government financial institutions have their own mandates; by investing these funds into the Maharlika Investment Fund, they will have P25 billion or P50 billion less to accomplish their mandates. Plans have to be delayed by a few years. I wonder if this is the right approach. They talk of higher returns, but this necessitates higher risk. I just don't know whether the country can afford such risks. We should be cognizant of the risk we are taking by having that kind of a fund, and I think this is why quite a lot of people are very wary about the intentions of this administration for setting up the Maharlika Investment Fund." (As of posting time, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has ordered a review of the objectives and mechanics of the fund.)
Ambassador Cuisia mentioned Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, which sustained paper losses. (Paper losses remain on paper unless it is monetized, by which time the owner of the wealth fund will realize his losses.) In Malaysia, former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found "guilty on all counts in the first of his multiple corruption trials over a massive scheme to divert billions from a state investment fund to several personal accounts, including his," this from NPR program stream of July 2020.
"Is President Marcos Jr. working for the majority of Filipinos?" I asked.
"Well, it's ah… I would say mixed. I think he's working for the interest of the Philippines in terms of the repivot to the United States by strengthening the Philippine-U.S. strategic alliance. Majority of Filipinos are in favor of that because they distrust China and they want a stronger relationship with the U.S. Fortunately, he's done a 180-degree turn. I give him credit for that," Ambassador Cuisia replied.
In this interview conducted by Zoom, the financial and economic genius in Ambassador Cuisia has been oncologist (not much time left to live), teacher (Fail). And if may be forward with my observation, he is also chief mechanic in this interview, if the country were a sputteriing vehicle in need of rescue. The spark plugs have encrusted deposits that spell C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N, as evidenced by the SWOT analysis. We just keep going back to the Big "C" consigning the poor country to the boneyard.
The problem of the country is corruption, plain and simple. He is impressed by the movement of mayors led by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, which directly addresses the problem.
"Given that you have that appraisal of our country as a whole, why are you still here? Why not enjoy the rest of your days in a comfortable place, free of worries over the fate of our nation?
"Like you, my family and I recite the Holy Rosary every night," he said. "I haven't given up on our country. Hope is where home is." Thus spake the oncologist, teacher and mechanic. He's only saying, from any angle of approach, from any discipline, that the country had better find a solution. Real quick. And to those who pray, you know what to do (Self-talk.)
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