Even if one doesn’t know about this year’s December 31 deadline for the integration of economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), there is at least one very obvious clue on the country’s preparations for its imminent reality.
It has been at least two (three?) years since the Department of Education (DepEd) conducted a massive information campaign on the K-12 program that is supposed to put the country’s educational system at par with the best in Southeast Asia and even around the world.
Implementation of the K-12 program has been objected to by a lot of sectors, especially the militant students who feel that universal, across-the-board access to education for Filipinos should be prioritized first before the country adds an additional two years to the basic education, bringing the total to 12.
But with the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings and Pres. Benigno Aquino III’s participation in the Asean summit, it is quite apparent to the public that it won’t be business as usual for the Philippines in relation to its neighbors in Asia, specifically in Southeast Asia, for long.
Under the Asean economic setup, certain fields are now open for employment across all countries in the region. Filipinos cannot just apply for lowly jobs like domestic helpers but for job openings that require specialized skills like engineering.
One of the reasons behind the turtle-like pace of the billion-peso reconstruction of the areas damaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda is the lack of engineers who would prepare the program of works and estimates and supervise the actual physical rebuilding of homes and structures damaged by the calamity.
With the Asean integration, Filipino engineers who were employed en masse by countries like Thailand for their infrastructure buildup will find no problems for job openings.
Conversely, this would affect the country since the government will be forced to hire engineers from other countries at higher pay rates. Similar to the nurse shortage in which the country’s hospitals lacked nursing personnel or staff to help attend to patients, we may see an exodus of highly trained Filipino professionals to other countries for higher pay only to be replaced by highly trained foreigners who expect higher pay for their work.
And that’s just one profession and we’re not even talking about industries like the banking sector which will be forced to compete with other banks in the region and comply with new restrictions based on global standards agreed upon by all member nations in the Asean.
As usual, time is not on the country’s side when it comes to Asean integration, but the alternative to not joining is likely worse.
But as shown by the acclaim received by Cebu’s designers and industries in the just concluded APEC meetings, the country can compete in the world stage.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
