Conclusion and Call to Action

500 years ago, the Philippine Islands played a historic role in the circumnavigation of the world. So to speak, this gave meaning to the word globalization, in the geographical sense, and also in the economic sense. The arrival of the Spanish in the Philippines has opened new frontiers for our people, and opportunities to grow and develop our culture, commerce, and even networks. As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation of the world, our role in it, and the establishment of our connection to the West, we look forward to fulfilling our role in the next 500 years of globalization.

Taking the path towards a “MADALI” e-Commerce in the Philippines is our way of fulfilling our role. We want e-Commerce and commerce to be virtually indistinguishable. We want all businesses to want to jump into e-commerce and to make it MADALI for them to join. We want all consumers to make this part of their everyday lives, to be more trusting and more active in online economic activities.

This roadmap can be seen as a single path towards that future that we dream of only if all the stakeholders see and dream the same dream. Everyone must understand how each of us plays a crucial role in this ecosystem, this network. We have to trust each other and push for the establishment of the structures and infrastructure needed to make this happen.

We have outlined not just a framework but concrete strategies and steps that we can take in order to get to our envisioned future. The government plays a lead role and must lay down everything in its purview and power to facilitate all that has been outlined. It must set an example by embracing its e-Government capabilities and making available all its online services and infrastructure to the businesses and consumers. The various government agencies must be operating seamlessly and it must also be done online. The government agencies must work together and see the same end. It cannot just be an interconnectedness through the internet. It must be an interconnectedness through vision and desire.

The Filipino people must start trusting our systems again. The Filipinos must keep on using our existing online platforms and infrastructure, push it to its limits, test it, and contribute to its growth and strengthening. We, as the people, must also see what our government sees. We should be looking at the end goal--a fast, convenient, easy commerce, an easy economy in the digital world. We must repeat this aspiration as a mantra: “Basta e-Commerce, madali!” e-Commerce is easy commerce. We must continue to speak it, act on it, and make it happen.