One of the recent key moves of the government is the connection of the MRT and LRT lines to complete the circular loop around Metro Manila. This project will connect the Grace Park station in Caloocan to Trinoma station in Quezon City.

The 5.8-kilometer gap should not have been there in the first place if our planners had been a bit more circumspect about following the seamless logistics concept rather than the shortsighted, reactive approach of looking at one project at a time.

The National Competitiveness Council, co-chaired by Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila, has identified inadequate infrastructure as one of the six major causes of the country’s weak competitive position.

The NCC’s working group on infrastructure led by Meneleo Carlos of the Federation of Philippine Industries and by Enrico Basilio of the University of Asia and the Pacific, has been focused on seamless infrastructure for efficient movement of people and materials.

The Supply Chain Management Association, Asian Institute of Management, UAP and De la Salle University, among others, are saying that competition today is not between one city here and another city in another country.

Rather, the comparison is being made between megacities with the implication of cluster of activities, unified services, social facilities, linked by seamless infrastructure. Greater Shanghai is a region as broad as Pampanga in the north to Batangas in the south. The same is true for Hong Kong/Kowloon, Greater Bangkok, Mega Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Singapore.

Seamless, multimodal logistics connecting the many activity beads around the megacities are the common features that induce efficiencies, reduce duplications and ensure convenience for their constituents.

Stimulus spending should be focused on projects that would improve our productivity so that when the economic cycle returns to its normal condition where competitiveness is fierce, the Filipinos will be better positioned for economic prosperity than in the past.

Each project proponent should have an answer to the question “How would it improve the country’s productivity when the global economic cycle returns to its normal position?”

The vision that needs to be shared is to look at the “Big Picture” of seamless infrastructure projects that can be done in the medium-term.

NCC’s indefatigable working group on infrastructure has consulted the concerned national government policy and implementation offices and such a “Big Picture” is finally emerging.

The major logistics projects that we are supporting are the extensions of LRTs, expressways and railways to farther points in the north (Pangasinan) and to the south (Batangas).

The number of exits that will be included in the design should be based on objective parameters and not on the political muscle of mayors or barangay captains.

If these laudable projects are held captive to political whims, the “Big Picture” will be splashed with patches of colors (red, black, brown, pink, etc.), which will convert it to an abstract painting.

The failure to get our act together does not paint a pretty picture for Philippine competitiveness.

By Cesar B. Bautista
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:56:00 03/15/2009