Lessons from Japan

So many things are happening in Cebu City nowadays that people, whether in or out of government, are overwhelmed by opportunities that have unfolded for our beloved city and province all at the same time.

Consider the preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit, a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies which is slated to be held in the Philippines on Nov. 27, 2015.  Although Manila is the main venue for the international gathering, Cebu City, Kalibo and Davao are prepping their respective facilities in the event a typhoon will hit the capital city.

I gathered this from Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale at the Capitol Social Hall last Monday. I was able to chat with Ma’am Agnes, who presided over the Provincial Board hearing to quiz non-government organizations applying for accreditation with the provincial government. I sit in the board of the Cebu News Workers Multi-Purpose Cooperative and joined colleagues in presenting to the Provincial Boars the co-op’s thrust and why we could effectively help the province attain its goals towards poverty alleviation.

Speaking of the amiable vice governor, she has recently interfaced with officials from different national agencies who made ocular visits here to evaluate local resources.  Ma’am Agnes is quite certain Cebu will have a slice of the 2015 Apec economic bonanza assuming the province will not be hit by a major calamity.

Next year, the Augustinian congregation will also celebrate its 450th year in the Philippines.  Although this is a sectarian event, local government officials are expected to cooperate with the religious sector in plans related to the milestone. I always think the Augustinian celebration is a good dress rehearsal for the International Eucharistic Congress, which is scheduled a week after the Sinulog festivities and three months ahead of the 2016 national elections.

If this is not heady enough, Cebu City has placed a Japanese retirement home project in the drawing board.

The P1.4 billion facility exclusively for Japanese retirees will be built in a 1.25-hectare property inside Lot 7 of the South Road Properties. The three-tower, 855-room facility is expected to attract more than 1,000 retirees whose stay in Cebu City is guaranteed by Japanese state subsidy of at least US $2,000 or P100,000 a month per pax.

The city is expected to generate P32 billion in 25 years through taxes and other fees, not to mention employment generation, value and supply chain benefits that will build up once the construction goes in high gear and the facility becomes operational.

The administration of Mayor Michael Rama sees a classic win-win, but he faces a hurdle in the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan BOPK-dominated council.

BO-PK partisans will not allow Mike to control the SRP, but on the other hand Osmeña allies cannot reject or attack the proposal without appearing as a bunch of ingrates (the SRP was built through a loan extended by Japanese banks) or even anti-economic development.

Thus, the BO-PK strategy is to push for a floor price of P50 per square meter rental. That’s P30 more than what the administration is offering the Japanese consortium. The Rama tender of P20 or US $.50 per square meter rental fee attracted the Japanese investors but with the City Council proposing 150 percent more than the initial offer, foreign investors will most likely take one step backward, which means placing the proposal in the backburner unless of course Mayor Rama has Plan B designed to win over BO-PK councilors to his side.
Buried under partisan issues is the question, why would aging Japanese want to retire in the Philippines?

The answer is found in Japan’s statistical data on population.
Japan’s current population is pegged at 128 million but population trends show the figure will fall by 30 percent  by 2060.

“In 2006, Japan reached a demographic and social turning point. According to Tokyo’s official statistics, deaths that year very slightly outnumbered births. Nothing like this had been recorded since 1945, the year of Japan’s catastrophic defeat in World War II,” according to Nicholas Eberstadt, who holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute and is a senior adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research.

He adds, Japan is now a “net mortality society,” wherein death rates today are routinely higher than birth rates.
The acceleration of the graying population and low birth rates will see Japan shrink from 128 million to 86.74 million in 46 years according to a 2012 study released by the Japanese government. The frightening demographics means Japan’s resources are groaning under the weight of retirement benefits for 23 percent of its population.  Meanwhile, birth rates in a country which has embraced artificial contraceptives since 1949 is at 1.39 per woman. The demographic freefall can only be reversed if birth rates will rise to 2.07 per woman.

Japan’s depopulation will result in the loss of its natural resources, meaning its own people, which, in the truest sense is any country’s most valuable asset.
The experience of Japan should be a stark lesson for our leaders who think that because the Reproductive Health (RH) Law is purportedly backed by majority of the population, it is the right thing to do or a moral stance to adopt.

I hope that in resolving the validity of the RH Law, the Supreme Court will reference the case in the context of lessons from Japan and strike down the law as not only unconstitutional but more importantly, a menace to human society.