Yes! The Philippines Is Ready for the Next Level!

The infectious smiles of the Filipino People.

I am so happy I went to Church at Victory Christian Fellowship Angeles City, Pampanga today. Today was a happy day for me because of our Pastor's preaching about Nehemiah. The Pastor compared what happened to Nehemiah in Jerusalem with what is happening to our country, The Philippines. If you are going to read the book of Nehemiah, he, Nehemiah, have this burden to restore Jerusalem because his hometown went through a major disaster. Walls are torn down. All the houses were burned because of a war. There was major destruction in this city. And you all know what happened next. He asked the king of Persia, Nehemiah's boss, if he will let him go back to Jerusalem. Surprisingly the king allowed him to go back to help in restoring the city of Jerusalem. The king even sent men and construction materials with Nehemiah as a way of helping Nehemiah fulfill his desire to restore Jerusalem. 

The comparison of our Pastor to what happened in Jerusalem and to what is happening to the Philippines was strikingly familiar.

Our country has gone through a lot of disasters in the past few years. May it be natural disasters or man-made disasters name it we all went through it. Typhoons and the equally disastrous Monsoon Rains we just experienced last month was one of the worst. And Just days ago an earthquake just hit the eastern side of the Philippines. And tsunami alerts were raised. But thank God no one was hurt and no much damage was reported. So the tsunami danger did not happen. Thank You God! But these calamities and disasters have created destruction to our country. Most especially to the less fortunate citizens of the Philippines, they are the ones always badly hit. People who have weak houses and those who are living along the water ways were the most number of destruction had occurred. 

The recent monsoon rains has caused disastrous floods in
many places in the country

But after all these calamities and disasters happening in our country still the Philippines is alive and kicking, The Filipinos are always ready to stand and rebuild again from scratch what was left from these disasters. Like Nehemiah we are always ready to rebuild and restore our life. We are always relying on God's plan. Knowing that God is always in control of our country. Knowing that God will not give us these challenges for us to have pity and be ashamed of ourselves but to be stronger and become more wiser and ready. The Filipino people are very resilient there is no problem or calamities that we cannot face. And after these calamities we are always ready to pick ourselves up and start again. 

Yes the Philippines is ready! The Philippines is ready to fight again. The Philippines is ready for the future! The Philippines is ready to win the battle against poverty and corruption! The Philippines is ready!

The readiness of the Philippines is very evident in the country's economic performance. Let us all appreciate this.

THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY BOOM!

According to international standards like World Bank and the CIA Fact book and I quote "The economy of the Philippines is the 43rd largest in the world. The estimated 2011 Gross Domestic Product (purchasing power) was $389.8 billion (2011 est.). The Goldman Sachs estimates that by year 2050, the Philippines will be the 14th largest economy in the world and one in its lists of the Next Eleven economies. HSBC projects the Philippine economy to become the 16th largest economy in the world, 5th largest economy in Asia region by 2050. As a newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing. The Philippines is one of the Tiger Cub Economies in Southeast Asia together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

But wait there's more!!!

The Philippine economy grew in the first quarter of the year, creating 1.1 million jobs and making it Asia's second fastest-growing economy after China. Within Asean, the Philippines' economic performance was above the region's average of 6.7 percent, growing faster than Indonesia (6.3%), Vietnam (4%), Singapore (1.6%) and Thailand (0.3%). Growth in other Asian countries likewise was slower: India (5.3%), Hong Kong (0.4%), Republic of Korea (2.8%), and Japan (2.8%) (Source: Interaksyon Ngayon)

And there is more good news!!!

THE CALL CENTER BOOM!

The call centers has contributed $5.5 billion 
in the country's economy 

According to Business in Asia.com, "A report from IBM released in October 2011 said the Philippines had this year passed India as the global leader in business process outsourcing (BPO) in terms of the number of people each country employed in the sector. The Philippines has taken over the lead in the global ranking from India, after having challenged the top position for several years. The head of the government's information technology commission, Mr. Ivan Uy, said the Philippines had definitely bypassed India in call center revenues with $5.5 billion last year compared with India's $5.3 billion...The Philippines had more than half a million people working in call center and related services compared with 330,000 in India.

THE BLOOMBERG REPORT

Yes! The Bloomberg Report! An American multinational mass media corporattion based in New York City has reported just this January of 2012 that the Philippines is the Leading Asian Tiger Economy of the world and CNBC included it as one of the top 12 countries to invest in long term. Here is the video that says it all. Please view it. Well the reporter just said that the Philippines is the leading economy in Asia NOW! That there is growing confidence on the part of the investors on the Philippines for long term investments. We all know that if there is investments there is economic growth. And isn't that a way to start the year 2012.

IT IS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES

SO with all these good things happening in our country right now I can say with pride and joy that truly it is GREAT to be a FILIPINO again living in the PHILIPPINES right now. It is good that I have not abandoned this great nation in times of troubles and calamities. Sure there are bad times, but the GOOD TIMES are the best. I am just saddened that Migrant Filipino Workers abroad are not here to experience this, I am sure they have their reasons, but It is good to be home while the good things are happening. Surely it is more fun in the Philippines!

Thank You Lord for blessing this country of ours. Thank You God for continuously restoring this great nation the way you restored Jerusalem with the leadership of Nehemiah. Thank You God for taking control of our country and its people. Thank You God for making me a Filipino.

Lord God, continuously bless the Philippines!