“Nothing is done and things can turn very easily if you don’t respect basics.” –Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris

At this point, words like “discipline” and “progress” are just meaningless buzzwords.
Politicians and commentators throw them around as if, by virtue of just saying the word, it’s already an accomplishment. The more the public sees the same words being regurgitated over and over again with no results, soon enough, they will know not take everything an elected official says as gospel.
Recently, with budget carrier AirAsia opening a route between Bacolod City and Manila, questions again arose about opening the city to international flights. Sure, it’s something everybody would like to see but why are the earlier recommendations made by Philippine Airlines being disregarded? One would imagine, if one carrier thinks certain aspects of the airport need to be upgraded in order to accommodate such a request, it would be the same for all carriers—at least, if those asking are honestly concerned about the safety and well-being of those taking flight and not just trying to make themselves appear to be an “innovator.”
Last year, Bacolod City officials appealed to Philippine Airlines to open regular service to international destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea from the Bacolod-Silay Airport. In response, PAL Vice President for Corporate Communications Josen Perez de Tagle pointed out several issues with the airport, such as the lack of fueling facilities, which would enable them to operate international flights more efficiently.
It’s been over a year since that statement has been made and no visible upgrades have been accomplished. Yet, when another carrier enters the market, the same question is asked all over again—What’s the saying? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”
There’s also the “Welcome” marker built as an imitation of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign—another means of trying to promote a façade.
Similarly, when Felino Palafox, Jr. was tapped a couple years ago to prepare a master plan for the city, local officials touted the architect as one of the creators of the master plan for Dubai, saying, “After 15 years, it had developed from a desert to [the] first-world.”

“Can you imagine if we can use his brains for Bacolod?” they noted.
There’s nothing wrong with having a vision but a bit of reality is also necessary.
Bacolod City is lacking in so many areas (despite efforts to make it appear as a “model city”) and one “master plan” will not magically erase everything that is wrong. There needs to be a focus on the basics before one can honestly look at real development.
Given the widespread traffic congestion, punctuated by innumerable traffic violations that go tolerated every day; the local population’s penchant for littering and public urination; frequent power interruptions; the lack of potable water; severely deficient public transportation systems; a pathetic domestic job market—it will take much longer than 15 years to honestly be considered “first-world.”
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines continually says, “There is excess power now [being] generated;” yet the city is constantly plagued by power interruptions and voltage fluctuations. If the flow of electricity is abundant, there must be a problem with the provider. However, they are left to proceed as usual, as if they are running a perfect operation.
This regularity of power interruptions doesn’t happen in the modern locales that so many in local government like to claim are equivalent to Bacolod City.

As mentioned in previous columns, living in New Jersey for 30 years, only experienced power interruptions twice during that time and they were because of disasters; plus, the local electricity firm there did not need to shut off power to “conduct maintenance.”
In an “Expat vs. Balikbayan” column published a couple years ago entitled “Unable to accept brownouts as ‘part of an average day,’” it quoted a piece from Deutsche Welle, where Chiponda Chimbelu wrote about the economic situation in Africa and noted how poor infrastructure, particularly for the service of commodities, like electricity, were creating an impediment for development.
“Power is Africa’s biggest infrastructure weak point, with as many as 30 countries facing regular power outages, according to a 2010 report by the World Bank and France’s development agency,” the article said.
The report also cited German Development Cooperation economist Matthias Grossmann, who said, “The majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa still experience regular power outages, which of course contribute to a low productivity of many firms.”
There is a parallel to the Bacolod City.

As much as the word “progress” continues to be batted around, when something as basic as electricity is not managed properly, very low productivity is possible.
The same can be said for potable water and ease of navigating the city.
It is the primary reason why almost everything elected officials says sounds ridiculous. They often forget they represent jurisdictions in the Philippines, not some wealthy Scandinavian nation or the United States or a technologically-advanced country like Japan or South Korea. They need to face the reality of the situation: the Philippines is still third-world and the mere act of cutting the ribbon to a hotel or putting up a gaudy flashing sign is not going to change things overnight.
The only thing that will spur real change is managing the basics—dependable electricity, access to water, proper infrastructure, domestic job opportunities (beyond call center agents), etc. Once those facets are secured, growth will happen organically and there will be no need to erect some façade of development./WDJ