MALAYA: Loida Nicolas Lewis shares her thoughts

By ANTHONY IAN CRUZ
Malaya
January 28, 2008

Loida Nicolas Lewis, based in New York, regularly visits Manila every two months to visit the La Salle-assisted Lewis College in Sorsogon.

She hops to China often to oversee operations of TLC Beatrice’s retail stores in five Chinese provinces.

Lewis is the Filipino-American industrialist -philanthropist and widow of Reginald Lewis who bought Beatrice in 1987 for $985 million, the biggest leveraged buyout during that time.

A law graduate of the University of the Philippines, she belongs to the clan that built up Nicfur, the biggest furniture company .

In an exclusive interview, Lewis, an adviser to President Arroyo, shared her views on a wide range of Philippine and Filipino-American issues.

US elections

Lewis leads a veritable “Who’s Who” of Filipino-Americans actively supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary is the most qualified, gender notwithstanding,” said Lewis.

“She was in the White House for eight years. She will have no learning curve unlike Barack Obama,” said Lewis, stressing that her bet is a real agent of change in the US.

Lewis said that the Philippines should look forward to a Hillary presidency because “there is a personal closeness between Hillary and the Philippines. I remember that in the Beijing women’s conference, Filipinos received Hillary rather warmly.”

“There is a tight inter-linkage especially if we consider that Arroyo was a classmate of Bill Clinton,” said Lewis.

Lewis also said that “from her Day 1 as senator, she supported the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill. What the US government is doing to our veterans is the most glaring and oldest injustice.”

Philippine business

Lewis laments that nowadays, “Filipino entrepreneurs have limited businesses that they can latch on due to lack of capital and financing.”

She also expressed concern that “almost all manufacturing factories are gone.”

But like a true entrepreneur, Lewis sees opportunities amid the gloom.

Taking on the world’s fastest economy as a visual aid to show our own strengths, Lewis went on to say that “we have what China cannot create like IT, call centers, people resources and our nations natural physical beauty.”

“China is the elephant in the room. But we can still compete with her in some areas and that’s what we have to promote,” she explained.

“Tourism is one where we are very strong. China cannot manufacture the beauty of our land,” Lewis said.

Lewis also suggests that Filipinos, who she describes as “natural caregivers, should take a long, hard look at the retirement and medical tourism industries.

“Medical operations here are very inexpensive compared with the US and other countries,” she said.

Lewis said that “instead of going abroad, maybe we can let foreign governments and medical insurance to allow their citizens to come here for six months during winter and also to obtain medical attention from our excellent doctors”.

Her suggestion that the Philippines “arrange that foreign patients be refunded by their insurance for their expenses and major operations” is already under way.

This, she foresees, will result in a boom in the tourism and retirement industry.

Lewis also reminds the people to keep a focus on agriculture.

“We should be tripling our rice and corn production. We won’t need imports. We can be Asia’s bread basket and not need to import tainted food from other countries,” said Lewis.

Banks and nation-building

In no uncertain terms, Lewis charged that “banks have no concept of nation-building”, noting that lending institutions have failed to provide many qualified Filipino entrepreneurs with low-interest loans for capitalization needs.

Many startups have folded up due to high interests charged by banks on loans, she said.

Lewis said that banks “should help viable industries find financing” but also cited “a need for private capital, for investment banking”. She also said that “Filipinos must have the four C’s to obtain help in their capital needs: Character, capacity, capability and commitment.”

Wages

Lewis likewise expressed strong displeasure over low wages given to Filipino workers and employees, and batted for the introduction of a living wage.

“How can you expect people to be good and honest? You have to pay them living wages,” said Lewis.

Addressing businessmen, Lewis said: “Yes, of course, businesses have to be profitable but you need to spread the wealth with your workers. You must learn to share.”

The Left

Lewis also castigated the Philippine Left’s role in the current condition.

“My quarrel with the Left is that they rejoice when they close down a plant,” said Lewis who cited the closure or relocation of manufacturing plans owned by Unilever and Procter and Gamble as examples.

Lewis claimed that “the leadership of the Left, contrary to their claims that they are advancing the welfare of workers, is committing economic hara-kiri among the workers.”

Population

Lewis is also concerned about the country’s burgeoning population which she said hinders long-term economic growth.

“No matter what we do, if we don’t have population policy, we won’t succeed to provide jobs to our peoples as they reach 18 years of age,” said Lewis.

“If we double our current population in 30 years, how can we absorb 180 million people?” she asked.

Lewis said that “we are putting our head in the sand if we don’t grapple with a population policy” and said that the “the Church and government must talk and settle this problem.

Arroyo and successor

Lewis also continues to express support for President Arroyo.

Citing the good performance of the peso, the GDP, GNP and the stock market, Lewis said that “her policies are in place. We did not get these good economic indicators by accident.”

“We cannot be too hard on her,” said Lewis.

The future

According to Lewis, “if all of us do the right thing, we will be among the First World countries, and not near the last among the Third World”.

She hopes that Filipinos make the right choice in the 2010 presidential elections.

“We need someone with no record of corruption, someone who has the capacity to listen, who knows what to do, someone with an iron-clad sense of integrity”.

Lewis said that that leader must also have “a workable vision for building a prosperous and peaceful nation”.