m-Commerce: a Building Material (Part V)

M-Commerce is a building material. A material for nation-building, that is.

I realized this with most powerfully a few months ago when I went on my four-day cross country sojourn from Davao to Manila via boat + bus + jeep + tricycle + tsinelas.

It was a time for me to see the Philippines. It was a time for me to learn. It was a time for me to reflect. It was a time for me to renew my acquaintance with the Filipino.

Let me take you through some parts of my journey. Let’s travel...

Roads

My wife and I were traveling from Davao to Cagayan De Oro. At one point, we passed through BUDA (Bukidnon-Davao highway) amidst a vast valley with winding roads. I watched with awe how vast our country was outside of Manila. I kept telling my wife, “Ang lawak pala ng Pilipinas! Hindi lang pala Manila ang Pilipinas!” Of course I was just exaggerating my ignorance. But at the same time, it underlined for me how much of the Philippines I had not yet visited.

It also sent me the message that without these winding roads nestled in these boondocks, it would be so difficult for the countryside to develop. Without these roads, trade between cities will be more costly and would take a lot more time. Without these roads, the many neighboring communities would be left behind - mapag-iiwanan ng panahon.

Bridges

I found myself crossing many bridges along the way. And each time I crossed a bridge, I took a look at the surrounding terrain. I tried to imagine what the place was like before the bridge was built. How did people get across the river or leap to the next island? How did they transport their goods? How did they get their food, their news, or their education before this bridge was made?

Our bridges connected our islands, overcame cliffs, leapt over rivers. And if these bridges weren't there, we would remain separated by rivers and seas, separated by distance, separated by mis-communication, separated by time.

Roll-On, Roll-Off piers

I took two ferry rides in my journey from Davao to Manila. All four piers I passed through were Roll-On, Roll-Off (RoRo) piers. I took pleasure watching buses and trucks and cars taking a piggy-back ride on the ship. Watching all the trade goods (fish, rice, vegetables, handicraft, motorcycles) get on the ship helped me realize the benefits of the RoRo: how goods would be shipped more quickly and with less cost.

Let me illustrate further. I remember one time in 1999 at Puerto Princesa, Palawan when our ship couldn’t set sail because it was raining. The captain was waiting for the rain to stop. They had a shipment of rice that had yet to be loaded into the ship. But the kargadors needed to carry the bags of rice one by one into the ship. Because of the rains, they couldn’t transfer the bags of rice, lest the rice get wet and spoiled. If the ship sailed without the rice, there would be a rice shortage at the ship’s destination: Cuyo.

That was before the RoRo piers. Now with RoRo and the Nautical highway, trade and commerce is made simpler, easier, quicker. All these "er"s put together improves our economy and improves more lives.

Nation building

Roads, bridges and the RoRo piers – all of these facilitate transport. All these facilitate trade and commerce through safer, quicker, more affordable transactions. All these help build a nation.

Somewhere out there, there are people who helped build these structures and systems. There were people – laborers, foremen, engineers, architects and visionaries – who helped built these structures. People who worked at improving the infrastructure that would pave the way for further development. All these people helped to build a nation.

m-Commerce for Nation building

m-Commerce facilitates trade transactions through over-the-air payment. Imagine being able to send money from Davao to Manila with just a click on your cellphone. m-Commerce helps in making trade transactions faster.

As roads, bridges and piers help to build our country by facilitating trade, so it is with m-Commerce. M-Commerce facilitates trade and commerce through quicker and cheaper transactions.

As laborers and engineers help build our country by creating roads, bridges and piers, so it is with us who work to improve m-commerce in the Philippines. We are building the next highway that will improve the Philippine economy and the lives of our fellow Filipinos.

Let’s build!

ka edong
emkonomist

Read:
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1),
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2),
Adbertisement Muna, G-Cash Revisited (Part 3), Mano y Mano - comparison of Smart Money and G-Cash
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash