Sapian Online (SOL) celebrates the New Year with an upgrade. The upgrade renews SOL’s commitment to reconnect Sapianons and, most importantly, affirm that Sapian is part and parcel of the global community.

Only a few New Years ago, the concept of globalization was a faint hum in the academe and Western capitals. Global concept for Sapian was no more than having relatives living or working overseas. And while we have been preoccupied with NPAs and lost commands, the miserable state of transportation and telecommunications made us feel that Sapian was too far removed from the world’s wars, political conflicts and religious extremism. Sapian’s potential physical exposure to a global crisis has been as rare and statistically remote as the fall of Skylab in July 1979. Likewise, the bottomless bounty of Sapian Bay and abundant produce on land cushioned Sapianons from the ill effects of economic downturns in the West. And the weather was a truly predictable cycle of monsoon rains with occasional surge to typhoons and dry summers with occasional drought spells. Gone were those days. (more…)

FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 5

A PLACE IN THE GLOBAL WORLD

The fact that women now choose to vigorously compete with men for high- paying jobs has serious consequences in western societies. Birth rates are well below replacement level which means that not enough workers are being born to replace the ageing population, causing a massive labour shortage - another harsh reality of the downside of femocracy.

More and more developed countries have no choice but re-evaluate their immigration policies to address the issues mentioned above.  Added to that is the constant realisation that they have to compete in today’s global market. While it is true that a lot of businesses move overseas to countries like China for their cheap labour; resourceful countries find ways to take advantage of the new economic landscape by creating new markets and opening up to new opportunities.

In a country like Australia for example,  the steel mining industry was abandoned a decade ago. Due to the lack of demand, the industry suffered and most mining towns were deserted. But now it’s different; the mining industry is in boom again due to increased demand from China. More than half of the materials used in building China’s Auditorium for the 2008 Olympics are made from mineral- rich “dirt” from Australia. China’s construction industry will continue to grow till the next decade, maybe more,  and Australia is cashing in on that. With the increased interest and growing debate on nuclear energy, the mining industry (uranium) can foresee big opportunities. There is now a big demand for labour in the rebuilding of mining towns. The housing, hospitality and entertainment industries are benefiting from it too.

Another case is the wool industry. Wool producing towns suffered due to lack of demand for wool. Again, China’s cheap labour and the use of cheaper synthetic materials decreased the demand for Australian wool from lucrative fashion industry. Sheep farming towns resembled ghost towns as young people moved somewhere else for better employment. But now there are some dramatic changes. Researchers found that there is a big market for goat meat in the U.S. for the Mexican communities there. The wool producing towns are open for business again although now they are part of Australia’s lucrative meat industry, their sheep paddocks are now being used to raise goats. And it doesn’t end there, with the health risk surrounding pork and sheep consumption, i.e. high cholesterol content causing obesity, diabetes, and heart problems, the industry can see bright lights in promoting beef, goat  and kangaroo meat in Europe, Asia and Arab countries.

In cases like these where it is not possible to move the industry overseas, the only resort for them is to bring the labour force into the country.

There are so much rhetoric in the west about the plight of illegal immigrants and what to do with them, but unbeknown to ordinary folks, these immigrants are being used ( and abused) to help their economies. The United States for example have access to cheap labour from Mexico and other nationalities who risk their lives just to set foot in that country; illegal migrants’ labour is a billion dollar industry in the U.S. Rich European countries have access to cheap labour through the decendants of colonial Africa and Asia. They also have waves of illegal migrants from poorer southern European countries, Asia and africa. But Australia has none of that and does not have to resort to cheap labour to move on. 

Being an island continent, Australia successfully controlled the number of people entering the country. They can pick and choose whom they want to allow in, which is understandable as they want to maintain their high standard of living. But, in the 21st century, Australia realised that to be successfully favoured in the growing Asian market, they have to change their tune. Australia welcomed professional and skilled people, investors , brides, sponsored relatives to legally migrate but never opened its doors to contract workers until only very recently, just last year! Filipino workers were one of the nationalities they chose to come! That was just a trial and as far as I gathered through a reputable current affairs shows on television- “Sixty Minutes” and “A Current Affair”- their employers are very happy. “They are very hardworking, you can see the desire in their eyes; they just want the work;  I will have them anytime,” one of the employer enthused. I suspect that more and more job opportunities will be offered to Filipinos.

Already, there are calls in the media complaining that local labour will be disadvantaged as business owners given a choice will prefer cheap labour from other countries.  Politicians were quick to guarantee that contract workers will be given Australian minimum wages and they will not be subject to abuse. There are heated debates going on today whether opening the country to more contract workers is the way to go. The local labour movement are dead against it but big corporations like Mcdonalds expressed their desire to hire contract workers from the Philippines as opposed to hiring Australian teenagers who are supposed to be in college learning a trade or at universities.

There is no doubt that skills migration and opening the country to contract workers is the solution but to satisfy nationalistic concerns and queries both of the leading political parties came with a criteria as to what kind of people they should let in. The preferred factors are: skills and educational qualification, English language proficiency, ability to assimilate and acceptance of the Australian culture and values. Since Filipinos are known to have this desirable qualities, they should have no problem entering the country legally.   

This is a reflection of what is happening in the rest of the western world and  Non-English speaking developed countries. There is a labour shortage and they require skilled workers to keep going and compete. Labour exporting southern European countries like Italy, Greece and Spain hired Filipinas as domestic helpers decades ago while there where restrictive policies in western European destinations like Germany and France. Today, more and more Filipinos are hired in these countries with jobs not limited to domestic duties and with better workplace conditions. Thanks to the pioneers, Filipino nurses are in great demand in the US, and now Britain and Ireland too. I heard Filipinos are needed in Scandinavian countries too.

Filipinos, without a doubt, has a place in the global world. While people from poor countries have no choice but risk their lives in entering developed countries illegally, Filipinos are being offered jobs and are invited to enter countries legally. They have more choices of countries to go to and have access to different jobs. The only thing needed is for the Philippine government to do more in choosing the right countries, negotiate a fairer and secure deals for the overseas foreign workers (OFW) and actually do something to improve the process of training and hiring. The Philippine government should not send Filipinas to countries were women are treated like second class citizens, have no respect for individual rights and freedoms, or societies whose culture is very limiting.

FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 4

FILIPINA, I SEEK YOU

Women giving high priority to their career is the main cause of families breaking down in the western world. As a result some disgruntled men are looking for family- oriented women from different cultural background. The majority of those that westerners seek are Filipinas.

People’s perception of the Filipina vary from country to country, some of it  are very negative indeed. Most of it are classic stereotypes that  I mentioned in the first chapter of this series. But all that are changing.

Countries who hired Filipinas in their homes soon realised that they are decent people who wants nothing more than be given a chance to work and be paid inorder to support a family back home. They soon realised that since Filipinas are educated, religious, peace- loving and clean, they can be trusted to run their homes smoothly and with ease. In some non- English speaking countries, families intentionally choose a Filipina over other nationalities for a maid because they could double as tutors as they speak English fairly well, or better that they could.  Filipinas hardly complain and just concentrate on the work at hand. It has to be said that even though they sank in the bottom of the career ladder, they tried their best to just get on with it .

The fact that many countries wanted to hire more Filipinas signifies that we have good qualities that people want us to fill that need in their homes. People observe that  and may be one of the reason why a great number of Filipina maids became brides particularly in Canada and Italy.  I remember a series in “Wakasan”, a  magazine in the Philippines when I was in high school in the 80s, (my entrepreneurial brother Alex has komiks for hire sa tyangge).  The title has something to do with “langis at tubig” (they will never mix)  where the Italian “boss” fell in love with his niece’ nanny named Laura (a Filipina), and the girl’s name was Marnelli (if I remember it right). It was a cute little series, I was just reading it for the love story element of it and was completely naive of the Filipino psyche then. 

The fact that some western men fall in love with a Filipina or in many instances deliberately choose a Filipina for a wife angers some so called elite Filipinos. It is a total impossibility to them and they take it to themselves to find a reason why those men could possibly want a Filipina. They seem to apply a counter stereotype directed to the foreigners, like they are looking for ignorant women that they can abuse; they are looking for backward women that would serve and obey them; they are looking for workers to take care of their children and clean their house for free; they will insure the Filipina (get her a life insurance policy) , kill her and claim the insurance money afterwards; and the most gruesome one: they will kill her, chop her body, keep in the freezer and consume in the winter when food is scarce.

I wonder whether these ridiculous preconceptions has something more to do with our insecurities as a country. Having been colonised for so many years,  we may not feel comfortable being directly linked to former colonisers or people from superior societies as equals. Not  wanting to accept the simple concept that these men want a woman who would make a wonderful wife and mother to their children. Someone to share their simple dreams with. While these stereotypes are mainly directed to the foreigners, I, as a Filipina who married a “foreigner” could not avoid but feel affected by it, hurt even. I used to ask myself: Are Filipinas not good enough to deserve the attention of the then colonisers? Are we that insecure?

During the mid 90’s I attended a function which the mayor in the neighbouring town organised especially for the Filipino community as part of the town’s “Beef Week” celebrations (by Filipino community, I mean Filipinas as there are only 2 Filipino men here). The Philippine government bought heads of cattle from Australia to be transported to the Philippines. In the presence of the Philippine Ambassador to Australia, the local mayor has nothing but praise for us Filipino- Australians . He stressed that since Filipinas  are “westernised”, we have no problem assimilating in the Australian society. We are always participating in events, we bring Filipino foods to share and our culture makes it easy for us to adapt and conform. Unlike other nationalities, we are comfortable in our skin, always smiling and always happy.

One of the solutions that the New South Wales government thought of to meet the challenge of nursing shortage in Australia was to offer a three- year  nursing scholarships to all migrants. More than eighty percent of those who took advantage of it and were qualified were Filipinas. The positive result reflects the fact that most Filipinas already have a college degree from the Philippines, have a good command of the English language, passed the exams and interviews.

A hospitality scholarship course was offered in a local TAFE college for migrants to prepare for tourism boom in the area, again, more than half of those who enrolled and qualified for the course were Filipinas. Some of these Filipinas were already working as cleaners in hotels or motels, but given a chance, you can see the burning desire to go in there to move up and compete.

An Australian couple, both teachers in the local private school wanted to adopt a child. They chose a boy from the Philippines. The adoption was approved and a year later, they adopted another one, this time a girl. The went back to the same excruciating adoption process and now they are proud parents of two Filipino kids. When asked why they chose Filipino children, they said, “because there are so many Filipinos here, they will never be lonely here. There will be plenty of support from the Filipino community.”

If a westerner choose a Filipina for a wife, it has to be because of the positive reasons. We are family- oriented, highly- spiritual, values friendships and simple- minded. It is not because we are stupid, ignorant, subservient, nor docile. There are instances when Filipinas find themselves in an unfortunate situation but as far as I know, in the developed world, the percentage is very low. I know of Filipinas who divorced their husbands and knows what to do when things go ugly. Filipinas are generally shy and peaceful in nature but knows how to growl when provoked.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Fourth in a Continuing Series

Cory and Ramos Cabinet deliberations on GATT/WTO involved many economic concepts that Ms. Flores laid the foundations for. GATT/WTO was discussed on my first attendance in a Cory Cabinet Meeting, and Jose Concepcion (JoeCon), former Trade and Industry Sectary in Cory Cabinet, owner of Condura, Cosmos Bottling, General Milling, etc., tripped on my right foot and almost crashed on former Defense Secretary Renato De Villa. I was terrified, my first Cabinet and I caused an accident. But people I sat next to assured me that it was not my fault - Lucille Peralta (now Ortille, and Director General of the Cabinet Coordinating Committee on Housing and Urban Planning), also from Roxas City, and Mary Ann Z. Fernandez (now Assistant Commissioner of Civil Service Commission) told me JoeCon was looking up on screen while briskly walking down the hall.  Corridor of power is always cramped, so seats around the Cabinet Meetings are always crowded. Seating was arranged in two rings - the inner circle which is the president and cabinet members, and the outer circle composed of lesser bishops and acolytes like myself. State Dining Room is cold and dark when giant Swarovski chandeliers are dimmed for PowerPoints. Only Imelda’s sconces would light the old rose velvet carpet while people seated on the outer circle would obstruct most steps of the way. Talk about cordon sanitaire.

Anyway, this was not the case in the brightly lit and well-appointed National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board Room in Pasig, thanks to Toto “Tayho” Guijaro. The president and Cabinet also convene as Joint Cabinet-NEDA Board a few times a year to update the National Development Plan, and they meet in Pasig once in a while. In NEDA sa Pasig, I always see Toto Tayho because he does the electro-systems for NEDA Board Sub-Committee on Human Resources and NEDA Board/Cabinet that I both attend. I’m sure, Toto Tayho, bombarded by economics everyday, would remember the lectures of Ms. Flores. Our batch was the first to graduate under the nationalized high school. Unfortunately, it was the last batch Ms. Flores would teach. That very next school year, she moved to then Panay State Polytechnic College (PSPC). Lucky them.

Further exploration on China’s economic boom needs us to look into just a little bit of GATT and history. Ms. Flores taught us that Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain between late 1700s and early 1800s, was characterized by increased production due to mechanization (e.g., steam engines - factories and railways). Mechanization allowed mass production that created surplus products. Countries needed to sell surplus products to other countries (dumping). But other countries have the same industries and were creating the same products. So, each country tried to protect its domestic industries, and a period called Protectionist Era ensued. Nations established trade barriers, raised import taxes and tariffs, to make it very difficult to import and export outside of national boundaries. Trade wars ensued - dumping of surpluses to, or raising tariffs against unfriendly nations. Countries like Britain, U.S. and France (Allied) were lucky. Their colonies acted both as exclusive markets for their surpluses and source of cheap raw materials. Other industrializing countries like Japan, Italy and Germany (Axis) did not have colonies. Axis powers had to either have colonies or just fade away. Many summed up World War II as an attempt by Axis powers to re-divide the world and gain colonies for themselves. At that time, China was an agrarian economy trying to survive its own Cultural Revolution.

In 1944, GATT, a trade treaty involving many nations, was established. Its purpose was to facilitate free trade by encouraging member-nations to reduce tariffs and remove trade barriers. This would avoid trade wars and the need to maintain colonies (i.e., the Philippines was then allowed to become independent). Under GATT, each one had a list of sectors, industries or specific products they want to open to international competition. Taxes for those specified sectors or products are either lowered significantly or removed altogether. Since then, GATT worked on the sidelines until the emergence of European Community in the late ’80s. At that time, trade blocs, treaties involving many nations, in many regions of the world started to proliferate. By early 90s, there were APEC, Uruguayan Round, NAFTA, AFTA, BIMP/EAGA and dozens others. Trade blocs reminded some economists of Protectionist Era.

Therefore, GATT had to be reinvented. This time, it would have to include China. The world could not wait to sell 1.3 billion more bottles and cans of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s burgers.  And China itself, wary of being alone after the downfall of USSR and its Eastern European allies, and tempted by outward forces of its modernizing economy, had to jump into the bandwagon. Western companies, led by American investors, raced their way to China to manufacture everything from slippers to ICs. This proliferated the market with too much China products and created higher demands for petroleum.

Negative implications for Sapian: First, China has drawn in foreign investments that would have otherwise been invested in the Philippines that, directly, either employ some Sapianons, or benefit Sapianon businessmen, or indirectly, bring in money into the domestic economy and trickle down to Sapian in form of taxes or increased buying power/demand for Sapian fishery products. Second, flood the Philippine market with cheaper Chinese goods, competing with our local industries - especially with GATT - losing our fledging manufacturing businesses and jobs. Third, highly industrialized China makes it more influential in geopolitics to the detriment of our security, including losing our claim to the disputed, natural gas rich 200-mile EEZ off Palawan. Fourth, China is developing backbone industries like steel, chemicals, etc., is reckless with environment and could upset South Asian environmental health (e.g., nuclear waste, industrial dust, acid rain, etc.). Fifth and most importantly, China, consuming more oil, offsets supply equilibrium, creating shortage, increasing prices, and causing more instability in volatile Middle East (e.g., giving Saddam rockets, bribing Iran with $70 billion, and possibly, some bits of nuclear technology). Increased prices slow down the Philippine economy, as it pays more power bills, lower Peso value because more dollar is paid for oil imports, less tax collections because of lowered profits, less foreign investments because of less anticipation of profits, and so on.   

On the positive side for Sapian: First, abundance of made in China products, as said earlier, makes it easier for us to buy products that used to be difficult and expensive to acquire. Second, China would attempt to expand its political and economic clout among its neighbors and invest in the Philippines, such as in agro-industry. This should be our last opportunity to dove-tail on global trade. Third, since the continued affluence of China’s economy is dependent on its goodwill, it would not do much to offset South Asia security - although the 200-mile EEZ is now irretrievably lost.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Third in a Continuing Series

Sapian National High School (SNHS) is perched over a ridge terminating to a hill called Garrison. We were told that there was a Japanese garrison on the hill’s summit presiding on a mile long Dalit ambush area. Strategically located, it could literally shut down Poblacion from westerly traffic. In the mid-80s, Garrison peacefully ruled over the northwest side of Poblacion. It gave a good view of Sapian Bay and beyond it, Sibuyan Sea. On a nice weather, silhouette of Sibuyan Island could be seen on a horizon that stretches to approximately 180 degrees.

For SNHS students, that was a sprawling view of the world. Exhilarating but still tangible. It should have been enough world-view for us in high school. But our economics teacher, now Professor Norma J. Flores, insisted that there’s more world to see. Our Marcos-type classrooms have corrugated steel roof riddled with holes, both from corrosion and rocks hurled by students who want to leave their mark. On a rainy day, we would joke that classes are suspended because the chalk is wet. On sunny school days, streaks of light from the holes move about the floor as the sun progressed through the day. As our teachers belabored to school us, the streaks of sunlight, slowly moving on the roughly finished pavement and through rough, dismembered chairs, have been good digression. Sometimes, they would even tell exactly how soon the next change period would be. But Miss Flores, on one warm late morning, showed us two streaks of light into world-views hitherto limited as the horizon seen from Garrison. She explained to us the concepts of geopolitics and laissez-faire. Then, she talked about agrarian reform, money velocity, inflation rate, taxation as a regulating economic mechanism, and so on. As we delve into China’s unquenchable demand for petroleum, its transformation to the league of G-8 nations, and its implications for Sapian, the economic principles that Ms. Flores taught us three decades ago are still the same.

In fairness to China, we in Sapian also benefit from its abbreviated economic transformation. It brought us cheaper goods and commodities. A decade ago, many products would have been expensive to acquire and difficult to own. But because China produces them strike-free, with depressed wages, less stringent environmental regulations, government subsidies, centrally planned production system, input distribution network, and in such very large quantities, it is now easier to acquire them in Sapian. Nike made in the U.S. could have been prohibitive than the Nike made in China today, considering that raw materials and manufacturing process are essentially the same. The lowered cost of consumer goods allowed us to enjoy conveniences we do not have today if commodities are still being manufactured in Western nations. Take the example of cheaper electronic components. Cheap ICs, memory chips and flash memories allowed manufacture of cheaper cell phones, among hundreds of electronic goods and consumer durables. My former employer, a Sunnyvale-based Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., invested billions of dollars for a wafer fab in China. A classmate in Manila who manufactures household plastic products complained that Chinese imports are killing their family company. Better quality products are being imported into the Philippines from China with less than half the price if they are made in the Philippines. In fact, their raw materials, polyethylene (PE) and polypropelene (PP), are imported from napha-crackers in China. Such that, after costs for import duties, middlemen and transport, plastic products manufactured in Manila cannot stand a chance against those from China. On the plus side, this situation benefits consumers in Sapian. But the minus on domestic industries will be taken up on a future post.

China, even with its vast capital, cheap labor, controlled industrial system, and subsidized industries, would not be where it is today without laissez-faire. Ms. Flores told us that it is French concept by an early English economist, Adam Smith, that means “produce what you want, when you want, and sell where you want, at a price you want.”

In one holistic worldview, and a little dose of contemporary history, there was a geopolitical movement soon after the downfall of the former Soviet Union to disarm China of its age-old antagonism against the West, enlist its stable and centrally-planned economy as the factory of the world, harness it cheap and educated labor force, and enter its 1.3 billion people market. After the Cold War, it was learned that when you starve an enemy nation, it gets more ruthless to its citizens and connive more against you. But if you trade more with them, laissez-faire economic forces would materially reward their participation, creating a new middle class, and hasten economic liberalization that, in the end, will democratize key socio-political institutions. A facility to do this was the decades-old General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an economic club meant to remove trade barriers (i.e., tariffs, import taxes) among Western nations and their junior leagues. By mid-1990s, it was expanded into a new and improved GATT/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO).

It was designed not only to counterbalance the growing influence of European Community, but also to enlist new nations, especially China. I did not have the opportunity to tell Miss Flores how her economics effortlessly replayed on my mind as I sat few paces from former presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos in Malacanang’s State Dining Room for the frequent Cabinet deliberations on GATT/WTO and petroleum deregulation.

THE SAPIAN COMMUNITY NETWORK (SCN) is formed to unite charitable Sapianons and work with Sapian Online in organising programs and projects to mobilize resources that will contribute in the development of the town and well being of its people.

VISION:

1. Help maintain and improve the contents of Sapian Online
2. Introduce materials that would help improve the educational and social awareness of Sapianons
3. Propose profitable projects and offer charitable services that would benefit the people of Sapian
4. Encourage the involvement of local Sapianons to sustain the projects:

Immediate Goals:

1. Addition of “Featured Sapianon Section” in Sapian Online.
2. Facilitate the flow of information around town with the production of Sapian Based Newsletter written in Sapian dialect.
3. Set up an SCN Center where members can organise the projects and services.

Long term Goals:

1. Undertake research and continue to gather materials to provide more historical resources for our hometown
2. Continually maintain and find ways to improve the contents of the website to keep people interested. (Example: competitions in town and the website.)
3. Continually maintain, improve and expand the profitable projects and charitable services in Sapian (SNHS Scholarship Fund, Adopt a Sitio Project, Medical Assistance Fund, Livelihood Development Schemes, etc.)