A rich country pretending to be poor

The phrase has been attributed to a number of public figures over the years.

One oft repeated version dates back to the 1980s, when a senior government official reportedly used the phrase while defending his purchase of an expensive Momi Momi massage swivel chair for his office, an expenditure that had attracted public criticism.

The remark was ridiculed at the time, and the official was removed from office. Yet the phrase has survived, acquiring an unexpected relevance today.

Behind that bravado lies a deeper irony. We are, in truth, a rich country mischievously play-acting at being poor.

We are richly endowed with natural resources, ranking among the world’s five most mineralized countries, as well as abundant talent and potential. Yet somehow, we have remained poor in delivering the outcomes that matter most to ordinary Filipinos.

We have a demographic advantage, abundant natural resources, significant mineral wealth, talented and entrepreneurial people, hardworking OFWs and professionals whose skills are valued around the globe.

The sacked official was telling the truth, albeit in a twisted way. We are indeed rich, but largely in potential rather than prosperity.

The painful reality is that despite our wealth and potential, too many Filipinos remain poor. Many of our best and brightest leave because they cannot find sufficient opportunities at home. Our natural resources have been depleted and damaged by decades of illegal mining and logging, weak enforcement and the corrosive grip of corruption. We have economic growth, yet too many families still struggle to make their income last until the next payday.

Our problem is not a lack of resources but our failure to convert them into a better life for all.

The old statement carries a different meaning today. Perhaps we are rich in potential but poor in results.

We cannot waste our demographic advantage or lose our best and brightest. Nor can we afford a government that spends more without delivering more.

Recent cases provide sobering evidence of ghost and substandard infrastructure projects that cost trillions but fail to protect the people.

Nor can accountability begin only after tragedy strikes.

The sinking of the RoRo M/V June Aster, which killed 76 people, is a tragic reminder. Investigation and accountability are necessary, but prevention is better.

We should not wait for a ferry to sink, a bridge to collapse, and floods to destroy homes before enforcing safety rules and ensuring that infrastructure is properly designed, built, and maintained.

Government’s responsibility is to prevent avoidable failure, not merely to explain it afterward.

The same principle applies to our economy. For a family living from one paycheck to the next, inflation is not a statistic. It is the rising price of food, electricity, transportation, and medicine, the school expense postponed and the meal made simpler.

Economic performance must therefore be measured not only by GDP growth and fiscal statistics, but by whether ordinary Filipinos experience a more affordable, secure, and dignified life.

Potential alone is not prosperity.

A demographic advantage becomes a dividend only when young people receive quality education, decent jobs, and productive opportunities. Natural resources become wealth only when they are responsibly developed and their benefits reach the people. Growth matters only when families can afford the basics and improve their lives.

A large national budget is not automatically a sign of good governance if public money does not produce better schools, safer transportation, reliable infrastructure, health care, and economic security. Public spending creates value only when people feel its results.

For generations, the Philippines has been called a country of promise. Mindanao was called the Land of Promise because of its vast land and natural wealth. Our challenge remains turning that promise into prosperity.

We have the people, talent, resources, entrepreneurial spirit, and globally valued Filipino workforce. What we need is the discipline, integrity, competence, and political will to turn these advantages into prosperity.

A country is not truly rich because it possesses minerals, beautiful islands, abundant resources, a growing GDP, or a large budget. It is rich only when its children are well educated, its workers are fairly compensated, families are secure, businesses are thriving, institutions are working, and its citizens are able to build a decent life without having to leave home.

That is the Philippines we should build, where potential becomes prosperity, public resources produce public value, institutions prevent failure, and growth is felt in daily life.

The uncomfortable reality is clear. We possess the resources, talent, and potential of a rich nation, yet too many of our people remain poor and too much of our potential remains unrealized.

Our challenge is not to become rich, but to turn the wealth we already possess into broad based prosperity.

Until we change this, the old phrase will remain a reflection of our national reality. WE ARE A RICH COUNTRY PRETENDING TO BE POOR.