The time has come for us to ask from and of them the kind of results we had expected from the first year but willingly delayed demanding—because of what we knew they were up against as managers and leaders and what we were all up against as a people. `Matuwid na Daan` has made much progress but we are keenly aware of how far we still have to go given the extent and depth of corruption in our nation; as well as what we perceive as good governance lapses by members of the P-Noy team that promised us the straight and narrow road of good governance. Now, we need to build upon that 7.1 percent GDP growth we earlier posted, a growth rate that we seem to have come upon more by serendipity than design. Can we do it? I think we can. Ben Diokno estimates that some P500 billion needs to be invested a year to maintain that rate. Designing these investments in the next three to five years to achieve these rates is not difficult. The nature and extent of the infrastructure challenges we face have been spelt out by several experts like Ben (and Ciel Habito) and think tanks like the UP School of Economics, the UA&P and the PIDS. There are enough big infrastructure projects that, properly dispersed around the country, will result in a growth spurt in employment and then feed increasing ancillary and other economic activity. We will need these projects more in northern Luzon (especially northeastern Luzon—the Cagayan Valley), the Bicol Region, Mimaropa (yes, this sub-region), the Visayas (with emphasis on the poorer islands and provinces like Samar) and, very clearly, Mindanao. These will stimulate many local economies and spur the growth of ancillary services, relieving the pressure to migrate to metropolitan areas that can no longer bear the excess population.
