...the Pinoy resiliency

Pinoys' resilience will enable Phl to surivive crises - Noy By Delon Porcalla  The Philippine Star March 24, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The time-tested resilience of Filipinos to overcome crisis would help the country survive the impact on the local economy of the civil war in Libya and devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

President Aquino, who visited Cagayan de Oro City, said local industries have managed to recover from turbulences in the domestic and international markets similar to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial meltdown.

“Resilient? Yes, I believe so. I always try to look at every problem as an opportunity,” he told Palace reporters. “We have industries that could recover after being adversely affected by the developments in the world.”

He cited the businessmen from the sugar-exporting province of Negros Occidental, who later became exporters of prawns and flowers.

“And then they diversified and they are back in (the) sugar (business) now,” Aquino said.

Another case in point was the tensions in the Middle East that resulted in higher prices of crude oil in the world market, thereby increasing by several pesos the prices of local petroleum products to the detriment of overburdened consumers.

“Of course there is a negative impact on the Philippines but that doesn’t mean it’s only the Philippines. The whole world is interconnected and global and will be affected by both of these occurrences,” Aquino pointed out.

He asserted that even developed countries have been adversely affected, mainly because of their dependence on the oil-producing countries, and which only means developing nations like the Philippines will definitely be bearing the brunt of the price increases until the situation stabilizes.