Looking Back, Looking Ahead

We are now again standing on a time divide where we can look back on what has happened in a full year and look ahead on what will and can possibly happen in the coming year. Funny thing is, vision is much clearer at the backside; hindsight, after all is 20/20. Where we are right now will be where the point of separation will be invariably cited — you know, 2009 as “last year” even if it’s separated only by a day or so from 2010.

Looking back, the past year had been an economic challenge, to say the least. Businesses around the world continued to struggle due to drastic upheavals of the global economy, seriously impacting both production and consumption. There were pockets of exclusion or at least of lesser effects, however. Fortunately, the Subic Bay Freeport is one. For although 2009’s foreign direct investments are much lesser than 2008, local investments are aplenty. In fact, SBMA posted a record income for 2009 triggered mostly by increased tourism and seaport-related activities. Unemployment is almost unheard of here. The workforce consists of 87,000 people, more than double the employment when the Freeport was still the largest US naval base outside of the continental US.

Looking ahead, although the faltering world economy is not expected to hit bottom until the second half of 2010 at the earliest, the Subic Bay Freeport will still be a bright spot for investments and business in general. We expect booming construction from various projects with Ayala Land, Ocean Nine, Neocove, and Hanafil at the forefront.

Looking back, social, political, and environmental issues also took the stage in 2009. The high cost of energy, food problems (the Philippines is now the biggest importer of rice), lack of confidence in the government, climate change, and environmental disasters are but a few that grabbed headlines.

Looking ahead, things will probably get worse in 2010. Population will continue its staggering increase; more commerce and industry that will mostly still rely on non-replenishable petroleum will inevitably add to pollution and, therefore, will have effects on the earth’s climate. Possibly more disasters due to climate change and not much we can do about it in the short term as evidenced by the failed Copenhagen climate summit.

The political climate up to the middle of this new year, on the other hand, should be, predictably, a circus of sorts. Note that the change in top national government positions will, most likely, effect a considerable change in the SBMA administration also — for better or worse, no one knows.

Looking back, the Chamber faced numerous challenges as well. An all-new staff, several changes in the composition of the Board of Directors, and numerous issues that we had to face kept us on our toes. In 12 months, we have organized various events including the locator’s congress, State of the Freeport Address, midyear and annual general membership meetings, golf tournament, blood drive, Christmas party, and several mixers and networking nights. We have attended and participated in more than two dozen various other events and forums. Together with SBMA, we have formed working groups dealing with marketing and promotions, the environment, workforce development, land use, regulatory, and change management.

We collaborated and had memorandums of understanding with various organizations including the Belaurus Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Subic Bay Tourism Bureau, the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce, the Philippine Retirement Authority, and have become a member of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce. We have freshened up our newsletter and have set up an Online Forum to improve information dissemination and communication exchange between Chamber members. We have also penned no less than a dozen position papers regarding various issues facing us all including those for BIR, ERC, DENR, BOC, BCDA, BOI, and many for SBMA.

We were also at the forefront of donation gathering and distribution during the calamities that hit the country. We have distributed truckloads of relief goods to Manila, Pangasinan, Olongapo, and Botolan several times.

The year 2009 was indeed a busy year for the Chamber.

Looking ahead, the Chamber hopes to get more active participation from its members. We constantly have issues to face and have more projects than we have the manpower to accomplish. Some more volunteers joining our committees and working groups would be of tremendous help.

However, we need responsible men and women. People who are not only looking for an additional title attached to their names; people who would act rather than just comment; people who would act and not sit still.

Let us remind ourselves that looking back does not mean moving backwards; that moving forward is more effective done together; and that a collective is stronger and our voice louder.