Yt Framework

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2, the Holy Bible).

RP IMPROVES RATING IN GIVING PROSPERITY TO PINOYS: Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, in his Facebook account, reported a very good news last Thursday, 06 September 2012, showing that the Philippines’ “capacity to provide high levels of prosperity to its citizens”, or its global competitiveness index, jumped to 10 steps higher compared to last year’s rating, and 20 steps higher two years ago.

The first part reads: “We are pleased to announce that the Philippines has jumped another 10 spots to No. 65 out of 144 economies in the World Economic Forum’s 2012/2013 Global Competitiveness Report from No. 75 the year before.

“This is the second year in a row that the country has risen by 10 ranks in the report. The Philippines is only one of two countries worldwide which has made a double-digit jump in the last two years.

RP NOW IN TOP 50% OF GLOBAL COMPETITIVE INDEX: “Coming from No. 85 only two years ago, this also marks the first year that the country has broken into the top 50% of the world rankings since it was first included in the report in 1994. The country once ranked in the bottom 25% of the world’s economies.

“In last year’s report, we reported that the key drivers for improvement in the rankings came in the areas of Macroeconomic Environment, Technological Readiness, Market Efficiency for Goods, and Institutions or Governance. The key constraints came in the areas of Institutions and Governance, Infrastructure, Innovation, Labor Market Efficiency, and Education.

“Over the last year, the government---through the National Competitiveness Council, working in partnership with government agencies across a broad front---concentrated its efforts on building up the competitiveness position of the country. That work has begun to gain some traction and has resulted in improved rankings in 11 of the 12 categories covered in the Global Competitiveness Report.

RP POSTS IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN GOVERNANCE, SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: “In the area of Institutions which measures governance, security, private sector ethics, and accountability, the country recorded its largest gain, up 23 positions from No. 117 in 2011/2012 to No. 94 in 2012/2013.

“The largest gains were made in the areas of property rights (up 31), less diversion of public funds (up 27), higher trust for politicians (up 33), less irregular payments or bribes (up 11), more fair awarding of contracts (up 19), less favoritism in government decisions (up 31), less wastefulness of government spending (up 23), more transparency in policy formulation (up 23), ethical behavior of firms (up 31), strong audit and reporting standards (up 21), and stronger minority shareholder interests (up 27).

“However, the judiciary and security situations continued to be rated low by investors. Judicial independence was rated No. 99 while the quality of judicial decisions was rated No. 111. The efficiency of the legal framework in settling disputes was rated No. 107. The business costs of fighting terrorism, crime, violence, and organized crime were all rated below No. 100...” More of this next issue.

REACTIONS: Please call me at 0917 984 2468, 0918 574 0193 or 0922 833 43 96. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.

BY ATTY. BATAS MAURICIO