Go Negosyo the lofty drumbeat; e-Sabong the harsh reality (Sabong News)

Its domineering presence, if I may use a cultural appropriation, is unequivocally stated in the Beatles song "Here, There and Everywhere." (Of course with apologies to Sir Paul, who is promoting the group's milestone docu "Let it be"). In the Philippine media landscape, there is no escape from the almost-suffocating media presence of Go Negosyo and Mr. Concepcion. The pandemic has failed to slow down the pace of its work and rein in the scope of its pre-pandemic activities at least on paper. Previously, in pre-pandemic times, it was essentially promoting and encouraging people to go into business: the young with big dreams and capital, the young with big dreams but with less capital, OFW (overseas Filipino worker) families and even serial failures in business. It also kept track of business success and appropriately recognized these success stories through high-profile award ceremonies. No success in business, in any part of the country, was outside of the vast radar of Go Negosyo. Mr. Concepcion writes a regular column in a major daily, all about Go Negosyo and its myriad activities. In these pandemic times, Go Negosyo has trebled its menu of activities. It was an early advocate of vaccine procurement and workers' mass vaccination. It conceived "Bakuna Bubble." It was pitching for support to small and medium-sized enterprises. In the broad spheres of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) economic recovery efforts, Go Negosyo was at the front and center of the national conversation. Go Negosyo should be given the grade of "A" for passion, intensity and sincerity. There are no questions on the lofty and sincere intentions of Mr. Concepcion. We are in dark and uncertain times and organizations and institutions should really possess both the passion and positivity of Go Negosyo. Here is the rub, though. There are no verifiable metrics to say, just even with the slightest confidence, that both its passion and its sincerity have yielded real results. And that its work had offered a quantum of solace to struggling small and medium-sized enterprises. In the urbanized areas of Central Luzon, which has suffered from fewer restrictions than areas in the NCR (National Capital Region or Metro Manila) Plus, all sorts of businesses are barely surviving. The so-called events places that sprouted like mushrooms during the pre-pandemic years, the thriving transport services that served the private educational system (from the universities to the Montessori pretenders), the hotels, the dental and medical clinics, the retail outlets and lively restaurant scenes are dying, in their terminal stages, or are all boarded up. Around 80 percent of original broiler contract growers of RFM-Swift in and around my Pampanga area in the 1990s and with a capacity of more than 1 million broilers had failed to transition from conventional buildings into the tunnel ventilated type. RFM was then the biggest poultry integrator in the country. And to its credit, the integrator with the best compensation package for partner-growers (measured in terms of FCR or feed conversion ratio). The business activities that really sum up the heart and soul and definition of the small and medium enterprises are on the verge of total collapse. Adding to this picture of business misery was the near evisceration of the once-thriving hog industry in Central Luzon (Region 3), which, with Southern Tagalog, used to be the two biggest hog-producing regions in the country. (A demolition crew descended on my former pig farm a few weeks ago to clear all the structures of my small piggery ravaged by African swine fever). The sight of an abandoned farm overwhelmed by wild grasses, shrubs, stray dogs and deadly snakes was heartbreaking. If there is a difference between what is taking place in the urban areas of Central Luzon and NCR Plus, it is this: there is more suffering on the part of business in lockdown-battered Metro Manila. In fact, Bayanihan 2 has identified certain sectors as "directly impacted," which was just a politically-correct term for badly battered. Transport (sea, land and air) and hotels were specifically mentioned. Last year, the country had the worst contraction among the major economies of Asia. At 9.6 percent, such kind of historic economic meltdown was only seen during the Marcos years, when the country was called the "Sick Man of Asia." This year, the expected rebound and recovery remain a question mark. The Bloomberg Resilience Index ranked us the 2nd worst country to be in, in these Covid times, in August. We were ranked the worst place to be, Covid-wise, in September and October. The Nikkei Index gave us the same unburnished verdict, the last among the 121 economies surveyed on overall pandemic response. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a mere 3.2 GDP (gross domestic product) growth for 2021. The September unemployment rate was a staggering 8.9 percent. So, what is thriving? A few things would always thrive even amid a great health crisis. While Go Negosyo is the hopeful and positive buzz, what has sprouted like mushrooms are the kinds of businesses antithetical to what Go Negosyo wants to thrive. In my area in Central Luzon, these are e-Sabong betting sites that you can't miss for their sheer dominant presence and ubiquity. Every sari-sari store, electronic shop, beauty parlor and carinderia seem to be hosting these e-Sabong betting stations. I do not know if the same thing is taking place in urbanized areas outside of Central Luzon but I will be surprised if we are an outlier region. Of course, the government has given the green light for casinos in Boracay. Organized gambling with state sanctions seems to be the flourishing thing. Mining, the tubong-lugaw mineral extraction that leaves ghost towns after operations shall have ceased, is being touted as another next big thing. Of course, there are no surprises. In a land where Ivermectin is worth government-sponsored clinical trials for its supposed Covid-curing prowess, expect quack cures and quick fixes to our great economic ills.