By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its implications on world economies, including ours, is heartbreaking.
It’s difficult to fathom how in the middle of a pandemic – when COVID-19 has claimed millions of lives and disrupted the very way of life of every man, woman and child on the planet – war and its accompanying evils could even be conceived and forced into action.
The death and destruction it brings will never be confined to Ukraine. With President Vladimir Putin sitting on a nuclear-armed Russia while verbalizing his threats on all nations poised to come in defense of Ukraine, the security and intertwined economies of the whole world are in peril.
Already, the fluidity of trade, oil supply, and the movement of money and stock markets globally has been affected. In addition, western, Middle East, and Asian militaries are working up their war chests, however silent they may be about it, as suspicions build up around various potential flashpoints whether perceived Russian allies like China, North Korea, and Iran are preparing for coordinated action.
How the world has come to this from a united voice barely two years ago against a common invisible enemy of humanity in COVID-19 is mind-boggling.
Unfortunately, our nation will always be in the mix of all these tragedies. This is because our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are spread out in every corner of the earth and our oil, trade, and loan requirements are tied to major economies in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. As a result, inflation will set in, beginning with today’s fresh hike in petroleum products.
So, when Pope Francis calls for prayer and fasting on Ash Wednesday tomorrow for the intention of peace in Ukraine, very much so is required of us who hold on to faith for solutions from Heaven. More so, because there’s not very much we could do at all if war comes marching up our shores.
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On a positive note, the declining numbers of COVID-19 situation indicators in the country encourage health and economy. And today’s shift to the most lenient of pandemic alert levels just yet is a booster shot to our bid to recover lost income opportunities in the past two years.
Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez has projected a restoration of 500,000 jobs in the country with Metro Manila – the center of commerce – and 38 other provinces and cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao downgraded to Alert Level 1.
A great sense of optimism is kept afloat by Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion that near-full reopening of the economy will power up our micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which accounts for 99.51 percent of business in the Philippines.
With economic activity dependent on micro-enterprises (88 percent) and small businesses (10.25 percent), we stand a chance to strengthen our economic resilience to what Concepcion calls the “storm of rising commodity prices” we are moving into – from the pandemic to the Ukraine-Russia situation.
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