Yet, it has been stated many times that the answer to poverty and hunger is the provision of sustainable and continuing jobs for the Filipinos. Not government jobs that mean wearing emblazoned T-shirts and cleaning up the roadside but jobs in the manufacturing, agriculture, and service sectors that create wealth and give learning opportunities for the workers. Not jobs overseas which provide much needed dollars but deprive the Filipino children of a father’s and mother’s personal care and mentoring but jobs in the Philippines that allow family bonding towards the strengthening of family values of honesty, truth, and hard work. Most of these jobs should be in the countryside to uplift the lives of the millions there and to lure the hundreds of thousands that crowd the metropolis.

These jobs can be created if more attention is focused on the linkages of agriculture and industry in the countryside. The produce of agriculture should be processed by industries also located in the rural areas while other manufacturing enterprises should cater to the needs of the agriculture sector. The service sector should gear itself to meet the demands of industry and agriculture in terms of better warehousing facilities, consultancy, and training and logistical support.

The educational institutions instead of focusing on mass producing nurses for jobs abroad should look seriously at the manpower requirements of agriculture and industry in the rural setting. As far back as the 80’s, I had suggested that the universities and colleges of agriculture should integrate entrepreneurship and farm business management into their curriculum. They could link up with government and private banks, notably the Land Bank of the Philippines or the Development Bank of the Philippines to have loans provided to graduating students on the strength of their business plans crafted as part of their course requirements. The successful farm enterprises could become models for the farmers in the countryside and these practicing graduates turned farmers will be more credible than any extension worker fielded by the Department of Agriculture. Colleges of Engineering, Business, and other fields could also make similar adjustments leading to the creation of more enterprises and subsequently more jobs.

Another rich source of entrepreneurial material is the retirees and the "balikbayans" who can use their funds and experiences to set up farms and small industrial units. They will need the full support of the national and local governments in terms of decentralization of government services to all the regions if not the provinces of the country. Infrastructure in terms of farm transport, shipping, roads, bridges, ports, energy and water should be funded by the government and where necessary, incentives should be provided to entice the private sector to come in.

Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and other regional centers should spend as much effort in linking their economies with the surrounding rural areas as they do with linking up with the global economy. The rallying call, "think globally, act locally" should be heeded by them.

It may be time to revisit the concept of a New Economy based on the service sector and look at a New Philippines that has its foundations in agriculture and industry. It may be the kind of country our hearts and souls truly want.

Business Bits. Rotary International Past District Governor Arcadio "Dodong" Alegrado and spouse Marle should be commended for putting up the Almont Inland and Almont Lake resorts in addition to their hotel in Butuan City. They have shown the way for other businessmen based in urban centers like Cebu, to reach out and invest in rural areas thereby stimulating local economies and creating jobs.