REFLECTION PAPER: AMBISIYON NATIN 2040

“A prosperous middle class society where no one is poor. People live long and Healthy lives and

are smart and innovative.”

AMBISIYON is actually a word play that combines two meaning, namely ambisiyon and

vision. Thus it is about the realization of the ambisiyon and vision of Pinoys by 2040.

AMBISIYON 2040 is a continuing project with a long- term view, drawn from what

people aspire in the next 25 years. It can thus serve as a guide for the different administrations to

enable the uninterrupted implementation of policies and programs to realize the long- term

vision.

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) commissioned a nationwide

study in 2015 on the aspirations, values, and principles of Filipino people with the intention of

developing a long term vision for the Philippines which is anchored on a vision genuinely owned

by its citizens. And with this study the AMBISIYON NATIN 2040 was crafted and envisioned.

AMBISIYON NATIN 2040 is a representation of the collective long- term visions and

aspirations of the Filipino people for themselves and for the country for the next twenty-five (25)

years. It describes the kind of life that people want to live, as well as how the country will look

like in 2040. As such, it will serve as an anchor for development planning across at least four (4)

administrations.

AMBISIYON NATIN 2040 is a picture of the future a set of life goals and goals for the

country. This strategy answers the question of “where do we want to be” wherein it gives the
way to get to the destination. Ambition Natin 2040 is the vision that guides the future and is the

anchor of the countries plan.

This AMBISIYON NATIN 2040 has a great impact to Filipino people lifestyle that in

which, by 2040 Filipinos was enjoying a strongly rooted, comfortable and secure life. It secures

the knowledge that has enough daily needs and unexpected allowances or expenses that would

plan and prepare for our own and to our children’s future.

The development goal of the Duterte administration for this country is worth one. It is

articulated in Ambisiyon Natin 2040. It is basically a vision of a society where there are no

scandalously rich and where there are no extremely poor. All are educated, all are smart, and all

contribute to the shared prosperity of all. In this society, families are strong, not torn apart by

people having to work abroad; they can come together on weekends and enjoy one another’s

company, they can come together because they all work in the Philippines and because the public

transportation that brings them together is actually functioning.

I think it is a national goal worth pursuing. It is a goal that can be embarrassed by

Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindu’s, worshipers of tribal deities, agnostics and atheists.

Citizens belonging to different religions can contribute to the richness of this goal, but no interest

group will control the whole. In the end, the whole will governed by the common good.

There comes a time in a completely random day at any given time I would stop and just

think of anything under the sun. I would think about our economy, our government, our citizens

and our country and try to think of ways and possibilities of the root cause of the problem in our

country. At some matters, I would think of how Filipino people retrieve their life into success
and being completely resolve what the governments do in the past especially in our society and

the Filipino people, in which it can be drown for the insufficient lives of everyone or everything

involved in their process of lifting up the country within a year upto 2040.

As a resident citizen here in the Philippines, I’m assuming of a good and successful

changes in 2040, wherein all of us possibly can do or claim what we wants for our own needs

and also for the community to have a good economic growth.

What do I like about Ambisiyon 2040 is that, it is humble. Humble because it does not

have a pre- conceived notion of development. It does not impose a grand model or a paradigm. It

is not even a plan. And that is good. It is difficult to plan for a long- term future that has full of

uncertainties. What we need to know is where what we want to be, and then explores the

different paths to get to our destination.

Ambisiyon can be and should be the basis of development planning of succeeding

administrations. Ideally the medium- term plan must have continuity but must likewise have

flexibility. It is the prerogative of the incoming and future administrations to draw up the

concrete plans that respond to the context of the times but at the same time get guidance from the

long- term vision expressed in Ambisiyon 2040.

Ambisiyon therefore is a guidepost. It is not prescriptive however. Rather based on the

technical papers that are part of Ambisiyon, recommendations consist of a menu of recipes. It is

up to the people and the prevailing administration to determine which recipe is most appropriate

at a given time. What matters is that the administration and the constituency of stakeholders

must own the set of policies, be informed of the benefits and costs and trade-offs , and be

accountable.
 Ambisiyon is a gimmickry. It is not a political brand, used mainly to embellish then

program of a political administration (former president Fidel V. Ramos in 2000).

Ambisiyon is a serious endeavour, one that reflects the sentiments and values of the

people, one that does not impose prescriptions, and one that offers a guide to the future.

I hope that under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte as well as the

succeeding administrations, will value and engage this long- term process and program.

“ In 20 secure in the 2040, we will all enjoy a stable and comfortable lifestyle, secure in

the knowledge that we have enough for our daily needs and unexpected expenses, that we can

plan and prepare for our own and to our children’s future. Our family lives together in a place

of our own, and we have the freedom to go where we desire, protected and enabled by a clean,

efficient and fair government.”