May is fiesta month in Manila. Streets will be crowded with people attending town fiestas. Will the merry month of May also herald the coming months – or, even years – of festivities in the country? Something to cheer and to be merry about? While jaded business traders may don’t care, the true investors really hope so. The country – already badly battered from the spate of tragedies during the post-Ramos administration – hopes that the hot but breezy month of May will prove to be the spark to propel the country in the right direction.
Fiestas had been part and parcel of Filipino culture. It had its roots back to the times when Spain ruled the world and, its brand of religion…the panacea for all ills. Lots of food, free-flowing beers and hot gossips abound in these yearly gatherings of families and friends. Streets are festooned with streamers and bands are playing constantly, as if reminding the residents of the good times that lie ahead. But sadly, fiestas also bring a false sense of prosperity, especially in these hard economic times. People, in the spirit of celebration, are sometimes forced to shell-out meager savings just to get by these ostensibly marked cultural events.
Much the same way investors may be lulled into a false sense of fiesta in the prevailing economic condition. The naive investor must rid himself of this false sense of bullishness (or bearishness) in the economy but should rather assess each and every day either as an opportunity or a day to scale down.
Manila’s current politico-economic climate is just too testy for now. Better not to fiesta at all but rather be holding that bag of goodies for the rainy days ahead! But, if you already made your stash in Manila, regardless of the economic direction it had moved, then…fiesta on! And don’t forget the lechon!
