Pedestrian Observer GB: Economic Empowerment

"In societies where Robbing Hoods are treated like a celebrity it is but natural to expect political parties to act like a Mafia syndicate" Political Jaywalker "In a nation where corruption is endemic people tend to confuse due process with aiding and abetting criminals" Political Jaywalker "War doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left" Bertrand Russell "You have just one flash flood of money, you keep your people poor. It's like a time bomb and it's scary" Philippine Lawmaker

Showing posts with label Economic Empowerment. Show all posts

A sample scenario, OFNs proposal on shifting external hard currency debt into peso bonds

Let us assume that today (July 2010) we have targeted to shift 1 billion dollars of maturing external debt in three months time say October 2010 into OFN held peso bonds. The bureau of the treasury would need to have about 47 billion pesos (in dollars) to pay off the debt by October.

Assuming the decision is to issue 1000 peso denominated zeros with a required rate of return at 8 percent per annum redeemable in 10 years.

Such an instrument would have a value of 463 pesos on a straight annual discount of 8 percent. Factoring in equivalent coupon rated bonds bearing the same 8 percent rate at a semi-annual payment, the instrument would only have a value of 456 pesos (a difference of 7 pesos per bond). The lower amount is what the BT will receive from the ODF (456) while the higher amount (463) is the price of the bond that will be passed on to the subscribers in OFN organizations. The ODF in this example makes a margin of 7 pesos per bond.

To raise 47 billion pesos BT will issue 105,264,000 bonds (1000 peso par). By printing different denomination values (100 bonds, 500 bonds, and 1000 bonds in one sheet) the number of physical bearer instruments can be reduced to about 222, 000 pieces. These bearer instruments get consigned to the ODF as needed. For the whole period of July and August the ODF get commitments and escrow of funds from OFO's (overseas Filipino organizations). By September when the whole issuance had been physically printed, physical transfers are made to the individuals in the OFO's and their escrowed dollars or hard currencies are transferred to the account of BT. Upon accumulation of the 1 billion dollars BT settles the debt with the external creditor. If the buy down process of negotiations during this period yields a payment of 70 cents on the dollar then BT saves 300 million dollars and proceeds to apply this to the next maturing debt or try to use the amount to buy externally held Philippine debt papers in the secondary market.

For this issuance the ODF and the OFO's will have earned 736,848,000 PH Pesos or roughly $16 million. i.e. $ 8 million for the ODF and $8 million to the OFO's. It is up to the OFO's on how to compensate those individuals in their organizations that are active in promoting these bonds but the bottom line is that the subscriber to the bonds will not pay more than 463 pesos for each bond. 736 million pesos represents 157 basis points of the bond proceeds and only 79 basis points of the bonds redemption value in 2020.

If the bonds included a sticky feature like a 100,000 peso monthly winning for the ten year duration then the ODF will have to deposit in escrow (with the PCSO which will handle the lottery) the equivalent of 12 million pesos plus projected lottery cost (hopefully to be covered by interest earnings of the escrowed amount) from which fund the monthly 100,000 peso will be paid out to the bond lottery winner. The minimum odds of winning here every month would be 100/105,264,000.

The denomination breakdowns of the 222,000 pieces of bearer instruments are as follows:

100,000 with 100 bonds
52,000 with 500 bonds
70,000 with 1000 bonds

This means that the minimum buy in amount for a subscriber would be approximately 1,000 dollars; the next denomination about 5,000 dollars; and the largest would be 10,000 dollars. Given an approximate cost of printing at 10 pesos per unit, cost of printing on currency grade security paper would be approximately 2 million pesos. It is expected that worldwide road shows will be conducted as well as other advertising and promotional expenses. A net margin of about 4.7 million pesos is expected for this issuance after staff salaries and other compensation for the period are accounted for.

Since the bonds are bearer instruments and can be sold in the secondary bonds market the sticky features are designed so that the Bonds would tend to stick with the first buyer up to maturity. However these sticky features would be carried over to the current bond holder when such bonds are indeed released into the secondary market. However an OFO or individual must have 100,000 dollars worth of bonds in par value at the current exchange rate when executing a nomination vote of a particular prospective director in the ODF.

So for this first hypothetical issuance we need a maximum of 222,000 individuals to participate. About a hundred thousand with a thousand dollars; 52 thousand with five thousand dollars; and about 70,000 with ten thousand dollars. 222 thousand is about 2 percent of 11 million overseas Filipinos.

A Partnership for Progress

A powerpoint presentation by Gil R. Ramos, Ph. D. in our journey towards a new beginning through the virtual Overseas Filipino Nation. A Partnership for Progress

Economics of hope

By Sylvia L. Mayuga
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: July 07, 2010

THE VERY DAY AFTER PRESIDENT NOYNOY Aquino’s inauguration, 180 overseas Pinoys paying their way from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Saipan began a two-day conference on good governance at the Philippine Plaza Sofitel.

More obvious than their disposable wealth was their eagerness to help the new government they had worked hard to elect. These leaders had consulted their campaign chapters right after victory and agreed that there was nothing like a visit for updates, look in on P-Noy, and discuss what next right in the homeland.

Leading the charge was Loida Nicolas-Lewis, with her old anti-dictatorship sparring partner, lawyer pundit Rodel Rodis, who was pleasantly shocked when he was asked to represent overseas Filipinos in the “Panata ng Pagbabago” at the Aquino inaugural.

Their choices of whom to listen to at home were eloquent: Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales whose dissenting opinions precede her, activist blogger Lila Shahani fresh from the Noy-Mar campaign, media good guys Maria Ressa, Cheche Lazaro and Mike Enriquez, Sen. Franklin Drilon who authored both the Dual Citizenship and Overseas Absentee Voting Acts, activist former senior government officials Karina David and Alran Bengzon, and long-standing Muslim leader Santanina Rasul.

New ideas popped like flashbulbs in a reunion of global Filipinos in a fluid moment of transition. Synching with a new President’s schedule meant sudden schedule changes as individual concerns flew thick and fast, like how well Filipinos at home used the media for clean elections, and how long overseas Filipinos must wait for corruption to be tamed enough to make capital investments without paying tong every step of the way.

A rousing sociology of change was upon us, but what really struck this student of the Asian economic crisis and its related global economic crisis was the presentation by professor Gil Ramos. It soon became obvious why Nicolas-Lewis asked him to present his ideas after meeting him as recently as the Noy-Mar campaign.

This immigrant Fil-American professor worth his college degree and doctorate in economics also has master’s degrees in urban planning and demographic economics. He was teaching managerial economics in New Jersey University and consulting with private firms in New York when the idea of how to hoist Inang Bayan out of her deepening quagmire of debt came to him midway into the Arroyo years. But still traumatized by the systemic corruption he experienced firsthand while working for the Presidential Commission on Good Government in the 1980s, no way was he going to share it with Arroyo. He watched her chalking up a sovereign debt of P5 trillion in nine years where her three predecessors chalked up only P1.464 trillion combined. It was doubly galling that she had little to show for it in the lives of the Filipino majority.

But Ramos’ heart would not stop beating for a homeland whose potential for vibrant economic growth he was sure of, if only corruption could be stemmed. After a landslide victory for righteous rule for a global Filipino nation, it was time to speak up.

Simply put, he proposes an all-Filipino “Marshall Plan” for overseas Filipinos to invest savings beyond their regular “consumption remittances” for their families back home. He put two figures together to project a possible increase in investments: the average 11 percent savings rate of Fil-Americans and the latest total OFW remittances of $20 billion for 2010. Should they come together with confidence in the new Philippine government, remittances could double and even buy back dollar debts with pesos to control inflation.

What kind of resources are we talking about? Ramos’ research revealed that what he calls “the Overseas Filipino Nation” (OFN) earns 23 times more per capita than Filipinos at home. While the home country is caught in a terrible vise of population explosion and ballooning debt-funded deficit spending, the OFN ranks next only to Switzerland in per capita income. Macro estimates are even more dramatic: projected Philippine GDP ($189 billion) is only 37 percent of the projected GDP ($492 billion) of 11 million Filipinos worldwide in 2010.

It was proven again that the hard work and generosity of Filipino OFWs equaled by their love of family is our most precious resource when the opposite of fearful forecasts of shrinking OFW consumption remittances in a worsening global economic crisis happened. Instead they increased by a billion dollars.

There are many more details to this proposal but its overall look is win-win: buying time for a new government to lift a distressed homeland by its bootstraps while building up a good return on investment, both financial and moral.

The moment seems ripe for the challenge of loving the Philippines enough to rescue it with more long-term investments that could buy all a better Filipino future at home and abroad. Seize the day, P-Noy!

For details, please e-mail Gil Ramos.
Sylvia L. Mayuga is a former columnist and editor of Inquirer.net.

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Mobilizing Overseas Filipino Investment Remittances through a Philippine “Marshall Plan”

What is being proposed is no less than an OFN (Overseas Filipino Nation) fueled investment inflow that is similar to the European Marshall Plan in the post world-war 2 era. In the original Marshall Plan some 13 billion dollars flowed from the US to Europe in economic and technical assistance for a period of 4 years from 1947-1951. This 13 Billion Marshall Plan postwar dollars translates to about 800 Billion in current terms (2010 prices) which meant an infusion of approximately 200 Billion dollars a year from the US into Europe for the 4 year period from 1947 to 1951.

The European Marshall Plan was considered a great success. By 1952 as the funding ended, the economy of every participant state had surpassed pre-war levels; for all Marshall plan recipients, output in 1951 was 35% higher than in 1938. So during these four years of the Marshall Plan not only did the participating countries of Europe recover from the devastation of WWII but they were also able to improve their economic condition dramatically compared to pre-war baseline levels.

It is already a stylized fact that remittance inflows into the Philippines has shored up the nation despite years of economic mismanagement. It is also known that these are mainly consumption driven remittances and hence it easily confounds economists who try to look for comparable multiplier effects that they are familiar with when dealing with hard currency inflows targeted for investments. It has also been seen that these inflows were relatively inelastic, impervious to externalities in the world economy and levels of confidence for existing leadership in the country.

The resilience of these remittances is due to the fact that they are need based and that they represent merely less than 4 percent of the total incomes that the population of Overseas Filipinos enjoy. This singular fact implies that if the OFN had more confidence in the Philippine leadership then they would be more than willing to dig into their deep pockets and invest with confidence in Philippine economic growth. Hence, the rationale for our Marshall Plan prescription.

For our Philippine version today of that Marshall Plan effort in Europe, we will need to mobilize an additional investment remittance amount of about 140 Billion US dollars on top of that same amount in consumption remittances during the six year period of P-Noys term for a total remittance effort of approximately 280 Billion (from 2010 to 2016). This means that instead of expecting just 21 Billion US dollars in consumption driven remittances by 2011 we should have a combined consumption and investment driven remittance inflow of about 42 Billion; then 44 B in 2012; 46 B in 2013; 48 B in 2014; 50 B by 2015; and 52 B in 2016. These remittance targets represent about 8 percent of projected OFN Income flows. From 2010 to 2016 we could expect OFN incomes to grow from approximately 550 billion in 2010 to approximately 740 billion US by 2016. Given the fact that the norm for Filipino household is a savings rate of somewhere between 15 to 20 percent, remittance targeting at 8 percent of projected OFN incomes is quite reasonable.

Of the US $ 140 billion investment driven remittance target for these six year period about 40 billion should be allotted to the external debt relief efforts. The estimate of our external debt exposure varies from about 42 billion US to 58 billion US . A lower target figure of 40 billion is used here since we should strive to negotiate a buy-down process in paying off our external debt – similar to the way credit card debt is negotiated for settlement at cents on the dollar. Singapore and China – are countries that enjoy relative independence and autonomy in their domestic economic policies (i.e. to IMF and WB conditionalities) because they have a very low proportion of externally held public debt. It is 8 percent for China and 2 percent for Singapore . The Philippines meanwhile has about 45 percent of externally held public debt. By shifting most of these debts into sovereign guaranteed peso bonds held by Overseas Filipinos, we will be freeing Prez Noynoy’s hand to pursue aggressive economic policies like cheapening the peso for export promotions and/or output/M1 targeting which is more of an activists economic strategy as opposed to the laid-back and sterile risk-averse inflation targeting that we now have in our monetary arrangements.

To achieve this admittedly ambitious goal the whole economic management machinery of government should focus on this massive fund mobilization effort. The usual practice of debt bond issuances should give way to more innovative efforts. Even the current announced plan of issuing peso denominated bonds in the international market pales against the requirements of the nation and the massive pent-up desire of elements in the OFN to help the country with a newfound confidence in the credible leadership of President Noynoy Aquino. Even the 8 point foreign policy program of the previous administration which list the Overseas Filipino as the 8th priority should now be stood on its head with the OFN given the top priority ranking that it deserves. The appointment of Community Consuls from among the ranks of Overseas Filipino Community leaders should be seriously considered to boost the ability to draw more investment remittance inflows into the country.

The crucial element here is to use a quasi- non governmental organization as the main instrument in mobilizing these investment remittances instead of the usual channels. The analogy is one of building a highway by administration rather than using a contractor. The Bureau of the treasury remains as the bond issuing fiscal agent but this time instead of dealing with the banking cartel, the government deals directly with the OFN residents through the Quango. The Quango , which will be known as the Overseas Development Fund (ODF) will be constituted with experienced private sector hands and organized in the caliber of the ADB, WB, IMF , and leading Banks with the corresponding pay scale. Shifting the external debt into peso held bonds will take approximately 3 to 4 years. Putting in sticky features in the peso bond design like debenture and lottery elements needs careful planning. Likewise, promoting other silver-bullet bonds like the teacher – debt relief bonds and the palengke micro finance bonds will also need some time and a high level of competence and professionalism.

There is no doubt that if Prez Noynoy can inspire OFN residents to invest in the Philippines in significant amounts our Philippine ' Marshall plan' will also be a success. However, this would mean that he would have held the ugly head of corruption at bay; developed efficient methods of production to decrease our capital output ratios; increase our savings rate dramatically; and jawboned significant factions of the Philippine economic and business elite to share wealth building business opportunities with OFN residents. With Prez Noynoy providing inspired leadership and with a very positive and sustained response from the OFN residents then perhaps the Philippines may have a chance -- a good chance at finally realizing the economic potential that we always had.
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Read Sylvia Mayuga's Commentary: Economics of hope regarding her observation on the Overseas Filipinos for Good Governance conference held in Manila.

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Leaving a real legacy: Beyond the spin and the smokescreen

Never mind making everyone rich. Focus on reducing poverty and growing the middle class. That in a nutshell should be the critical benchmark by which an outgoing administration is judged. President Arroyo can spend hundreds of millions putting the most positive spin on her legacy as she packs her bags, but if all indicators point to a burgeoning underclass and a thinning economic middle, then she has failed.

The National Statistical Coordination Board’s (NSCB) calculations point to a less than desirable trend. The gist: as the ranks of high- and middle-income Filipinos slowly dwindle, the low-income class has grown.

How rich is rich in the Philippines? To be considered rich, the NSCB technical staff calculated a cut-off annual family income (for 2010) of at least Php2,393,125 (US$52,024 at Php46=US$1) or a monthly family income of almost Php200,000 (US$4,347 dollars). Based on available data from the Family Income and Expenditures Survey of the National Statistics Office (2000, 2003, and 2006), high-income Filipinos declined from 0.3 percent in 2000 to only 0.1 percent in 2006. In absolute numbers, the Philippine upper crust declined from 51,160 families in 2001 to only 19,738 families in 2006.

But screw the rich. They can help themselves, especially the rags-to-riches characters. They’ll find ways to recover. Let’s turn to the middle and lower classes.

To be considered middle class, a Filipino family must earn between Php294,296 and Php2,393,125 (US$6,397 to US$52,024) per year or a minimum monthly income of Php24,524 (US$533). Between 2000 and 2006, the Philippine middle class declined from 22.7 to 19.1 percent. In absolute numbers, it’s a decrease from 3,422,524 to 3,317,824 families. As tens of thousands of rich Filipinos slipped down one economic rung to the ranks of the middle class, more than 100,000 middle-income families fell through the cracks to join the subterranean underclass.

Needless to say, the biggest swath of the Philippine demographic is comprised of low-income families, defined by the NSCB as families earning less than Php24,524 (US$533) a month. In 2000, they comprised 77 percent of the population. By 2006 (even before the Great Recession), they went up to 80.8 percent. From 11,598,258 families just before Arroyo took office, the number jumped to 14,065, 921 six years hence. That’s a net gain of 2,467,663 new entrants to the low-income block party.

In the absence of official government figures from 2005 to 2010, data from the Social Weather Station’s quarterly Degree of Hunger in Households survey reveal an even bleaker trend. From a total of 10.5 percent hunger incidence in March 2000, the number of cases jumped to 21.2 percent in March 2010. A “hunger incident” is defined as at least one instance, in the last 3 months, in which a family experienced hunger but had no food to eat.

It is most ironic that this economic decline occurred under the watch of a president who taught economics. As senator, President Arroyo worked like a horse, churning out arguably more bills than any of her peers. When she assumed the presidency, however, the string of damning scandals (electoral fraud and corruption) gnawed at her political credibility like terminal cancer, making her a loathed and an ineffective political pariah. She is now succeeded by her economics student, who as a member of the House of Representatives and later of the Senate did not pass any legislation of major import. A new leader with all of the pedigree and an apparent desire to do good but none of the track record will require a solid circle of advisers, certainly not to serve as cordon sanitaire reminiscent of the Cory Aquino administration but to move him, and consequently transform the nation, with the compelling urgency of their ideas.

Six years hence, when the dust will have settled in what will probably be another quintessentially rambunctious cycle of Philippine-style politics, the bottom-line question for the outgoing Noynoy Aquino administration will be as elemental: Did you reduce poverty and grow the middle class? It is the last question to be asked but the first issue he should tackle from Day 1.

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Marvin Bionat is the creator of PhilippineUpdate.com, a news and views site that has served as a virtual platform that promotes various advocacies, including the political empowerment of overseas Filipinos and accountability in government. He wrote the National Bookstore bestseller How to Win (or Lose) in Philippine Elections (Anvil Publishing, 1998) and is now based in the

U.S.

working as an editor.

Read more articles by Marvin Bionat
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Get the picture? The Philippine DEBT - from EDSA to the stolen election of 2004!

A leading advocate for good governance US based Loida Nicolas Lewis was shocked beyond belief upon seeing the graph of the Philippine DEBT – from EDSA to the stolen election of 2004, to quote:

My Goodness! Could this be true?
Then, PGMA is worst than Marcos!
Where is decency? How did this happen? What is Gary Teves doing?

National government outstanding debt. Source: Bureau of Treasury.

That is so true and it is now 2010 and the public debt is almost 5 Trillion

And how did this happen?

Well for instance Jose Ibazeta has some explaining to do.

He was former head of PSALM the body formed in 2001 to implement the EPIRA mandate of privatizing the power generation capacity of NAPOCOR or NPC. before he was named Sec. of Energy. The purpose of privatization aside from promoting competition in the power sector is also to get rid of part of our external public debt. In 2001 that debt of NAPOCOR was about US$15 Billion.

Now 9 years later in his own words Ibazeta said that they have already privatized 98 percent of NPC's power generating capacity. However NPC is poised to go into new borrowing to service NAPOCOR's debt which still stands at close to the same 15 billion dollar figure. So how do you think was privatization implemented? it seemed that the crown jewels of NAPOCOR were sold out but the government was left with the debt - with NAPOCOR now just almost an empty hulk.

NAPOCOR is now faced with the problem of down sizing 50 percent of its work force -- when these employees should have been sent off with the privatized power generation capacities in a properly packaged privatization process.

Now Ibazeta is making noises about staying on as Energy Secretary -- what for? To do rear guard action - to clean up evidence - in a possible CRIME scene?

Ibazeta has to go! This is necessary whether he is innocent or not -- just for Noynoy to have a clean start in this energy area.

Imagine scenes like these happening in the entire PRIVATIZATION PROCESS and you see how our public debt can balloon up to such stratospheric levels.

Ever wonder who is behind Ashmore investments of London -- the erstwhile partner of Roberto Ongpin who together with Ramon Ang cornered the privatization deals of PETRON, MERALCO, and the govt. owned stocks in San Miguel?

Supposedly Tomas Alcantara and Benito Araneta sits in the board of the corporations of Roberto Ongpin and Ramon Ang. These personalities are known to be quite close to FG Mike Arroyo.

So do we have a better guess now as to who could be the very secret clients of Ashmore Investments? We may have no way to confirm it, nonetheless since there could be several layers of corporate veils hiding the actual principals.

When privatization deals are not done in a level playing field - full value is not gained by the public. The only harvest we get is an empty bag bereft of value and full of debts - with the prospect of more to come as government try a PONZI scheme to service these debts.

Hope we really get the picture!!!
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Runaway OFW Rape Victim Denied POLO Assistance?

In a nation run by fraudulent cheats robbing the Philippine citizenry out of opportunity to pursue legitimate decent livelihood, Filipinos especially women are forced to seek employment in foreign lands. Armed with courageous sheer determination to escape poverty quite a number of people are left with few options or luxury of choosing where they end up.

In December of 2008, B&E Manpower Services located in Pedro Gil, Manila in deployed “Anna” (not her real name) 28 years old from Calumpang, Marikina to work as domestic helper in Al Khobar, in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. Just three weeks upon her arrival she was sexually abused by her employer repeatedly for the past three months, until she escaped her harrowing experience through the help of her hew found friends on February of 2009. Anna’s sad experience not an isolated case as reported by John Monterona in his Facebook account below:

Migrante Rights and Welfare committee records showed there are an average of 2 -3 reported OFW-domestic helper cases of rape every month aside from labor-related cases. Wondering why the RP government under the Arroyo administration is doing nothing about it!

Instead of assisting rape victims there are serious allegations that POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office) official and a staff the agency tasked to assist distressed OFW’s (Overseas Filipino Worker) are refusing and abandoning the victims to fend for their own is just inhumane and cold. Rape victims can’t afford to be choosy on who should help them especially in a country where victims can be at the receiving end of trumped up charges because women in that part of the globe have no legal standing against men. Below is the disturbing newspaper account:

“OFW Anna told us that a Philippine Overseas Labor Official and a staff scolded her for asking help from Migrante, and for not trusting them saying to her ‘it’s all up to her now’. But it should not be like that, the POLO or RP consular office in the Eastern Region should give her all the support and assistance,” he said.

This is a very serious and disturbing allegation; a probe should be conducted to determine if the allegations were true. If found that the official and the staff did refuse and abandoned the distressed OFW they should be recalled, dismissed with all their privileges and benefits forfeited and charges should be filed in court for their criminal behavior of dereliction of duty.

How can the government send such incompetent cold hearted individuals to foreign post at that surely tell a lot on the kind of governance the Philippines has to offer our OFWs. This is the treatment they get in return in exchange for the sacrifice of leaving their family behind in their desire to better their lot while facing the risk and danger of abuse in many forms. This is what they get for their sacrifice in keeping afloat the sinking economy of a nation so wracked by incompetence and corrupt officials enriching themselves at the expense of the people mired in poverty and misery.

Rape victims does not have a choice but to escape their employer, unfortunately when they do that they are considered “runaways” and lose their work status in the process. As such there is fear that once they are found by their employer they can be sent to jail and that is not an unfounded fear based on the numerous past experiences of distressed OFWs in similar situations. Anna is currently staying with a friend and the POLO officials and staff should act expediently in assisting Anna and not let their political or ideological inclinations determine their action or inaction because the NGOs ideology has no bearing on their mandate to assist distressed OFWs. One’s ideology or political leanings does not erase one’s citizenship and the government and their agencies tasked to assist distressed OFWs have a moral and legal obligation to assist all their citizens in dire situations. In case these morons are forgetting or are too clueless like their vindictive wine and food binger president they can’t be choosy or selective on whom they should assist.

Patronage politics has exacted a toll on every aspect of Philippine governance with the appointment of officials and staff in foreign post not for their qualification but a form of patronage reward thus we have incompetent fools manning sensitive post. It is high time to call the attention of our public servants who gets paid with people’s blood, sweat and tears to do their job. Send them a clear message that we are watching how they resolve Anna’s case, below is their contact information:

Philippine Consulate General Jeddah 24/7 Hotline: 0515016318

POLO Jeddah 24/7 Hotline: 0515124797, (02) 665-8462 ext. 101

E-mail Address: owwajeddah@diplomats.com

Philippine Embassy Riyadh 24/7 Hotline: (01) 4823559

E-mail Address: filembry@sbm.net.sa

POLO Riyadh Contact Number: (01) 483-2201 to 03, 0535208306
E-mail Address: owwa_ruh@yahoo.com

POLO ALKHOBAR POLO Communication Center, Al Khobar Email:
polo_alkhobar@dole.gov.ph
polo_ero@yahoo.com
Labor Attache II 897-9515, 894-1846 (9663) 899-5714 DAVID DES T. DICANG Labor Attache I 894-1846, 897-6105

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Guns pointed at wrong direction

It is amazing how Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can at one time while a student claim she was a card-bearing member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and now come up with this deadline to crush a "communist" insurgency.

This reflects the level of schizophrena that we are dealing here.

She ought to know that insurgency always thrive in any situation where there is injustice. the more glaring the injustice the larger the insurgency.

Insurgency begins when there is food on the table. It grows when a person and a family, cannot find any sustainable livelihood to put food on the table. Insurgency also settles in when parents and children become sick and they cannot afford a doctor or medicine and no health services and supplies are around to help.

I can go on and on but let me just cap by saying insurgency is always a temptation in a society that does not have a level playing field for all its citizens.

There are no more "Communists" and Arroyo and her generals are put on notice that the Berlin Wall is already gone and that East Germany, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba and Nicaragua have already made significant steps towards capitalism.

But there are a lot of home-grown insurgents who arm themselves and if they spouse red, then they are tagged red. In Mindanao, they are either MN, MI, MI-Reform, or of late Abu. In fact almost anyone who uses the gun to attain livelihood or leadership is called an insurgent. The bar on insurgency has of course been lowered since GMA took over. Any one who speaks, writes or assembles against her regime, has been labelled insurgent.

Yet who but she raised everybody's expectations. She told the whole nation that by the time she leaves in 2010, our country will be in a position to be a first world economy in 2020. In fact, one former insurgent himself, an NGO advocate who got the Ramon Magsaysay Award three years ago started aping her and began raising funds to convert slums into model villages, many of which have again reverted to becoming havens for squatters. She took not just the advocate for a joyride, but all of us who has been hoping to return to a viable Motherland.

As early as when Gloria first campaigned for presidency in 1998, but later downgraded to becoming Erap's vice president, she was already saying that her first priority was to put food on the table for our people. Well, the Philippines is in its worst food crisis in our history that today we no longer use the poverty index but have our eyes glued to the hunger index.

There is no food on the table not because we do not have the capacity to produce. Los Banos, Laguna and Munoz, Nueva Ecija produce the best agricultulture and fisheries brains in the entire world, and our people do not shy their brawns away from the field nor the waters. I learned this firsthand by helping Cito Lorenzo lead the aggie department increasing our national food productivity from the historic average of 2.9% to 8.5% in barely two years.

We do not have food because the food money is in the pockets of the First Kotong and their horde of corrupt congressmen, governors and generals. That is what the fertilizer, irrigation, livestock scams were all about. Together with technical smuggling of agricultural produce, including rice, the sitting aggie secretary Arthur Yap is really in charge of a plunder agenda to fleece all budgets of his department to stash funds for the 2010 elections for Gloria and Mike's candidates who will ensure they escape criminal prosecution after she loses her presidential immunities.

That Arthur Yap's job description, so now part of the hogs we raise, we burn and bury instead of eat, because he has been a busybody away from protecting those precious food resources.

I was watching TFC last week and one idiot advocate was criticizing how one contaminated piglet slipped from the hands of the quarantine personnel and got hurt. Holy smokes, that hog was on his way to be cremated instead on landing on the stomach of a homeless person, and there he was rooting for animal rights. Well how about human rights, for a change? The number of human beings that have been killed extra-judicially under the Arroyo watch has, I think, exceeded a thousand. Sad, but I have already lost count.

So let us not become schizophrenic after our leaders and not quibble about the military and police competing for brownie points for promotions. For every one so-called insurgent killed, three or more rises. Why? They have just lose their breadwinner we call insurgent. How can there be victories in this numbers game of hunger?

Let us talk about production. Even the military acknowledges this. In fact one General Victor Ibrado said: "Insurgency is not a military war, but a socioeconomic and political problem, which has to be solved by all of us."

Now will somebody please tell General Ibrado that his guns are pointed at the wrong direction?

Instead on shooting the people, he should be "annihilating" to borrow a term his press release used, the real injustice that now resides in Malacanang who has been pigging out for the past eight years at the expense of our national patrimony.

Bang!

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Ado Paglinawan is a former press officer of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC who occasionally contributes to the Philippines Daily Inquirer. He writes for various email groups and blogs under the pseudonym "mymaestro888". Ado has best served overseas Filipinos as a resource person providing inside information and backgrounders about the celebrated fertilizer scam that rocked the Philippine Agriculture Department and the Presidency since 2004.

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