THE biggest hurdle that the Philippines faces right now is not driven by politics but its exposure to imported fuel, which has stunted the country’s progress over the years, according to Citi Philippines.
‘Let’s not forget that the biggest challenge for the country right now is not even driven by politics. It’s really external unfortunately because of our exposure to imported fuels,’ Citi Philippines CEO and Banking Head Paul Favila told reporters.
‘If you take that away, then maybe we would have made a lot more progress,’ added Favila.
He said this during a briefing on Tuesday in Taguig City, in the context of how the Philippines is ‘viewed from the outside’ after the bank hosted the Philippine Economic Team at its headquarters in New York in April-which he said was ‘right smack in the middle’ of the Middle East conflict.
‘As a Filipino, I’ve always also been curious about how we were viewed from the outside and compare it with how we view things on the ground,’ Favila said, adding that there was a ‘very strong’ message that he received.
The CEO of Citi Philippines said the first fact he heard is what the Philippines is going through politically ‘is no different from what we see everywhere around the world,’ especially in Asia.
‘Politics is politics-it lives in its own realm, if you will,’ Favila said. Quoting the person he was in discussion with, he said: ‘The one thing that makes the Philippines different is that your politics actually seeps into your economy.’
While this is the same case being experienced by most countries, he pointed out that the Philippines has ‘not gotten to the level’ wherein parliamentarians are throwing chairs at each other.
Favila explained this after he was asked a question on the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate against the Philippines’s Vice President Sara Duterte and how this will affect investor confidence and sentiment in the Philippines.
‘And I hope we don’t. But that has never detracted these countries from continuing to progress economically. And I guess that’s the message that we’re saying,’ added Favila.
‘We are not too fussed about politics because politics, that’s human nature. And we all understand politics from that perspective. This is about individuals playing politics,’ Favila explained further, adding that politics is an ‘industry in itself’ but it has no place in the economy.
‘Because politics does not know how to run an economy,’ Favila pointed out.