Cebu officials, biz leaders urged to think long-term, act before crisis
CEBU CITY — If they want to address persistent economic underperformance and crisis, local officials and business leaders in Cebu must adopt a long-term approach to development and move beyond short-term fixes.
Stephen Cuunjieng, veteran investment banker and corporate director, delivered this message as this year’s Cebu Business Month kicked off.
Cebu Business Month is the annual, flagship business and trade event of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
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Speaking during the Investment and Entrepreneurship Summit, Cuunjieng called on Cebu’s policymakers and industry leaders to prioritize strategic planning, infrastructure development, industrialization, and continuous improvement rather than reacting only when a problem turns into a crisis.
“The biggest thing we do everywhere in the Philippines is nothing, until it’s too late,” Cuunjieng told participants. “We wait for a shortage, we wait for a backlog — and only then do we act.”
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Structural underperformance
The country has long suffered from what he described as “structural underperformance” because of a failure to address fundamental economic challenges, particularly in key sectors such as energy, food security, education, and infrastructure.
According to Cuunjieng, governments should invest in infrastructure not merely to solve existing bottlenecks but to support future growth as well.
He pointed to the development of major airports in Hong Kong and Singapore as examples of long-term planning, adding that these economies built infrastructure ahead of demand rather than waiting for congestion and capacity problems to emerge.
Drawing parallels with Cebu’s tourism industry, Cuunjieng also said the focus should be on expanding critical infrastructure, such as airport runways, rather than concentrating solely on terminal improvements.
“Some things are more important than short-term profit,” he said.
Likewise, infrastructure should be viewed as a catalyst for broader economic development.
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Manufacturing
Beyond infrastructure, the veteran banker stressed the importance of rebuilding the country’s manufacturing base, arguing that industrialization remains essential for creating quality jobs and sustaining economic growth.
He noted that manufacturing generates significant multiplier effects across the economy, creating additional employment opportunities in logistics, services, housing, and supply chains.
“If we want to remain a predominantly Catholic country and continue to grow our population, we had better employ, educate, and feed that population,” he said.
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The veteran banker also challenged the notion that population growth alone guarantees economic progress.
While many policymakers cite the Philippines’ young population as a demographic advantage, Cuunjieng argued that such a dividend only materializes when workers are well educated, productive, and fully employed.
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“What matters is productivity and the quality of the workforce, not sheer numbers,” he said.
He cited countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and the Scandinavian nations, which prioritized education, industrialization, and productivity improvements as foundations for long-term prosperity.
Cuunjieng likewise urged the government to adopt a more deliberate industrial policy focused on sectors where the Philippines has natural advantages, including agriculture, food security, renewable energy, mining, mineral processing, and manufacturing.
As an example, he pointed to Indonesia’s decision to restrict exports of raw nickel and encourage domestic processing, a move that significantly increased the value of the country’s mineral exports while also generating investments and jobs.
The Philippines, he said, should similarly seek to create more value-added industries rather than relying heavily on exporting raw materials and labor.
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Meanwhile, he called for stronger collaboration between policymakers and technical experts in crafting legislation and economic programs.
“Stop reacting only in crisis mode […] Improvement is not a one-off event; it is a constant state of life,” Cuunjieng said. “If [Cebu embraces] long-term planning, true industrial policy, investment in the commanding heights, and continuous improvement, we can move from underperformance to genuine, broad-based prosperity.”
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