Economix: Big and small

Quadruple whammies

AS of this writing yesterday, the Philippines has experienced four extra-ordinary incidents  adversely affecting its economy. They are the war on Maute Islamists  in Marawi City which has raged for three weeks now; the Resort World attack by a crazed gambling addict resulting in more than two dozen deaths, wounding of scores of others, and the continued closure of the  casino resort hotel;  the loss of Qatar’s diplomatic ties with seven neighboring nations in the Middle East; and the series of ISIS attacks in the Europe, latest of which was the rampage of terrorists in the iconic London Bridge last Sunday.

All three incidents –the Maute incident in Marawi, the severance of diplomatic relations of Qatar by  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya (eastern-based government) and the Maldives and the continued Islamist militants’ assaults in several European cities are somehow  intertwined with the worldwide Islamic terrorism. Mercifully, the Resort World Hotel’s heist was not related to Islamic militants.

However, all four have serious economic implications to the Philippines and the Filipinos who are into the country’s burgeoning tourism industry.

Already, the Maute challenge has impacted negatively on tourist arrivals and interest of investors in Mindanao. This normally happens in a major law and order disruption.  Of course,  everybody and his uncle agree the situation could have been worse had President Duterte not proclaimed a two-month Martial Law in the island region. ML is expected to boost public confidence in the government’s capability to quell the brewing Islamist rebellion about which the previous PNoy administration seemed clueless, just like the horrible illegal drug problem.

The temporary severance (actually suspension) of diplomatic ties by seven countries from Qatar, which hosts 250,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) — practically a tenth of that oil-rich country’s population of 2.5 million, will have serious implications on the Philippines in terms of fossil oil prices, inflation and OFW remittances. All three are being watched by the Bangko charged  Qatar with  assisting Islamist militants belonging to the ISIS, an accusation Qatari leaders vehemently denied.

Equally worrisome is the series of ISIS militants’ attacks against European countries like Britain, France and Germany whose much-vaunted security systems are now beginning to be questioned. Before the last story could be written about the May 22 bombing Manchester Arena wherein 23 people were killed, including several children, came the slaughter of seven people in the famous London Bridge last Sunday. As we all know, both the cities of Manchester and London are in Great Britain.

Thousands of our OFWs are deployed in Europe, not to include Filipinos who have already settled as citizens of these countries .

These quadruple whammies teach us once more how interrelated and inter-dependent nations have become. Yes, indeed, our problems have become global. And we can only ignore them at our own peril.

BPI glitch

Depositors anywhere in the Philippines, and probably abroad, too, could not transact with the more than century-old Bank of the Philippine Islands (Banco de las Islas Filipinas to centenarians) starting yesterday morning. Depositors could not withdraw their money, but they can make deposit only cash (although they could not be posted as yet).

They call the problem “systems glitch.” Dabawenyos wish this is not euphemism for “computer hacking” which will lead to losses that cannot be recovered. Any which way one looks at it, this is a crisis which BPI management must explain satisfactorily even before the dust settles down.

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