1) Wow, DoT.
a. From posters to packages, the Department of Tourism has done such a remarkable job. No one can complain. Not even when the number of visitors in 2003 went down by 4.3% from 2002. This, in fact, is an incredible figure compared to other Asian countries. In Beijing, tourism dropped 30%. In Singapore and Hong Kong, it dropped 25%. In Bali, the numbers reached a whopping 47%. The DoT deserves a round of applause for truly putting those travel advisories in their place.
2) $US683 million
These are the Marcos Millions. They are finally reverting back to the Philippine government after an excruciating 17-year legal battle that ended in July 2003. A proposed $200 million is to be awarded to martial law victims, but the rest are to be used for land reform. And that’s a whole lot of money for just land reform considering that it’s almost 1/5 of our national budget.
3) Text Capital
a. 2003 produced more innovations in cellphone technology than the past two years combined. The list includes: Polyphonic tones, Mp3 players, digital cameras and even colored screens. But even these were nothing compared to the grand daddy of all capitalist schemes: GPRS. As more and more people flocked to the church of MMS, cellular networks were only too happy to oblige. The frightening surge of sales in these immaculate phones prompted a major organization of GSM phone manufacturers to visit and study our race. They found out that we are indeed, making them very rich by being the most successful implementer of GSM data services in the world.
4) A soft year for music
a. It’s the rare year when artists like Paolo Santos and Nyoy Volante sell more CDs than their heavier counterparts. And it’s another rare year when soul crooners like Michael Buble, Mandy Moore and Boyz2Men show more balls than tattoo-covered rock artists by braving Asian flu and bullets for their concert-deprived fans.
5) Education
a. It was a huge year for children as technology boldly goes where no teacher has gone before. Television sets, audio tapes and PC screens teach mathematics to kids from far-flung areas, through President Arroyo’s E-learning program. Senators used their pork barrel funds to distribute school materials and build more classrooms. If everything goes well, and if Japan’s development money pushes through, the Philippines should finally achieve a 1:1 textbook to student ratio, and a 1:60 classroom to student ratio by June of 2004.
6) 18th Philippine Advertising Congress
About 5,000 participants from all over the country made their way up to Camp John Hay in Baguio City for the 18th Philippine Advertising Congress, which is considered to be the biggest advertising event to date. With “What’s the Big Idea?” as the theme, the aim of this year’s PAC was to provide a greater appreciation for the advertising industry as well as uncover fresh ideas that are distinctly Filipino. However, the true success of the event lies on the application of the ideas learned and envisioned by the delegates.
7) President Bush’s State Visit
President Bush became the first American president to address the Philippine National Congress since Dwight Eisenhower’s State Visit in 1960. Although he only stayed 8 hours, President Bush’s peaceful State Visit to the Philippines fostered stronger ties between our country and the United States, and proved to the rest of the world that the travel advisories issued against the Philippines don’t always hold true.
English as a medium of instruction in public schools
The Philippines may be the third-largest English speaking country in the world, but the fluency of Filipinos in English has deteriorated to the point where Filipinos had difficulty getting jobs abroad or filling up slots at local call centers because they failed the English proficiency tests. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo restored English as the primary medium of instruction in 2003, and her about-face will surely give us a more competitive edge in the global job market.
9) Lord of the Ring
A king was crowned in the Philippines when Manny Pacquiao became the New Featherweight Champion after defeating the feared Mexican featherweight Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas. Upon his return to the Philippines, he was given the “Congressional Medal of Honor Award” by House Speaker Jose De Venecia. The former bakery worker from General Santos City is the first athlete to ever receive this award. Pacquiao definitely serves as an inspiration to the impoverished youth of the Philippines.
10.) F4
The Taiwanese boy band, F4, took the Philippines by storm on 2003 with their soap, Meteor Garden and one can hardly go anywhere without seeing their faces on posters or hearing their songs on the radio. And while not all F4 members were able to grace their fans with their presence, Vanness Wu and Ken Zu Xiao Tian were able to hold a concert at the Ultra which sold out in spite of the exorbitant ticket prices, and Bench sales soared when they managed to get Jerry Yan as their image model.
