FEMOCRACY AND HOME ECONOMICS 2

INTERNATIONALISATION AND THE REDEFINING OF THE FILIPINA

Dirty politics, corruption, and  economic instability mired the nation. As a third world country, the Philippines suffered vast unemployment with no opportunity for its citizens. Under the Labour Export Policy of 1972, human labour became just another export commodity like rice and sugar. Eight million Filipino labourers were exported, the majority of them women to different parts of the world.

As western women climb the ladder of their careers, some governments tried to rescue the family and thought that a substitute caregiver would solve the problem. Some countries started recruiting highly educated professional women from the Philippines as live in nannies and domestic helpers. Some Filipinas seeing no prospect at home had no choice but grab the opportunity to find employment abroad. The Filipinas who may have “helpers” in their homes in the Philippines became helpers themselves in far- away lands.

As the country sank deeper in economic and political instability, more and more Filipinos especially women ventured for better opportunities abroad. Further dispersal of human capital  was favoured as the Philippine government heavily depended on the taxes and fees generated from overseas workers. The continued flow of cheap, highly educated labour in Canada, Singapore and Hongkong in particular and the plethora of charming young Filipinas entering Japan as entertainers influenced the perception of Filipinas in the eyes of western societies. New words were entered to the growing adjectives used to define a Filipina: cheap labour, obedient, timid, demure, exotic. 

The advent of internationalisation paved the way to degrading stereotypes that Filipinas were subjected to.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Thirteenth and Final Part

Phew! Final part. Sapian is part of the Visayas Grid, powered by the combined generation capacities of Tongonan, Kanlaon and Palinpinon geothermal plants. On its own, the Capiz Electric Cooperative (CAPELCO) is solely dependent on bunker fuel. Other power plants in the region are predominantly bunker fuel, fuel oil and coal-fired. National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) augments shortages around the Visayas islands with bunker fuel-run power plant barge. Bunker fuel is generally used to run factories, and Chinese power plants and factories consume increasing volumes of that fuel distillate. Recently, China has been consuming nearly half a million barrels of bunker fuel everyday, and more than three times more fuel oil. See China’s Petroleum Consumption, by Economic Sector, 2002

As such, CAPELCO competes against China for scarcer bunker fuel. Increased demand for electricity in Sapian was due to expanded electrification. But power is essential to spur growth and development. With electric power, people would enjoy improved quality of life and have access to better opportunities. Families would converge around energized areas to enjoy the amenities of modern technology, like the wider world-view TV offers, and food-preserving refrigerators, and better study hours for students. They could operate capital equipment like rice mills and welding machines, and would have a longer productive day. Senator Juan Flavier once joked in a meeting that electrification also reduces birth rate because people could follow soap operas instead of going to bed early. In short, electric power also empowers people in many ways.

Over 15 years after Poblacion was energized, a large chunk of Sapian, from Crossing Bilao onward to Lonoy and Guibongan did not have electric power. I recall Igsoons Toti and Bodong having to come to Poblacion to charge car batteries to power their TV. I do not know if they are served today, but in any event, a lot of households should be served by now. Energizing that part of Sapian can be traced to Cory Aquino’s visit to Iloilo.

Cory’s regional visits and inspection trips have been the domain of former Cabinet Secretary Jose P. de Jesus (later, DPWH Secretary). But it was turned over to Chito Sobrepena when Malacanang was reorganized under the flamboyant Executive Secretary Oscar Orbos. Government programs and projects are usually developed through long bureaucratic processes, but Cory also wanted to go directly to the people to know about their needs and to address local problems. Secretary de Jesus was designated to coordinate during the early part of the Aquino Administration. At the latter half, Sobreprena was appointed under the Office of Special Concerns. I was part of Sobreprena’s core-group for regional visits. That unit coordinated all presidential visits across OP and line departments. During visits, we collected hundreds of letters and resolutions from local governments and individuals. We make sure that visits run smoothly. One time, I earned the ire of the Bishop of Nueva Caceres in Naga City when I asked what would he say in his prayers at a program the next day.  He snapped, “It’s between me and God!” Advance party had to be quizzical because one priest prayed to God to fix a bridge in a program. Cory was put on the spot and could not respond right away.

Cory’s visit to Iloilo was announced to the media far ahead in advance. But in case they did not hear about it in Sapian, I told the late Uncle Alber Gallardo, Sr., former ABC President. When I called him at Movietone Studio, he said he heard about the visit and had been planning to write a request letter. At that time, he said he was torn between a farm-to-market road in Poblacion and electrification from Bilao to Guibongan. Two weeks later, when we collected his letter during Cory’s dialogue with the local officials in Iloilo, his letter requested Cory for a power connection to Bilao-Lonoy-Guibongan. As a closing statement in that dialogue, Cory promised her very special commitment to all the requests submitted, verbal and written. Hence, in compliance to the President, all letters gathered and oral requests raised at that specific event bore a collatilla, “the President’s very special commitment.”

When request letters have been sorted in Malacanang, Uncle Alber’s request was grouped together with a similar request for Dacoton, Dumarao. Office of the President’s Office Special Concerns Director Nick Torres promptly conveyed this very special commitment of the President in a memorandum to the National Electrification Administration (NEA). NEA, soon thereafter, had informed CAPELCO that a special loan with Land Bank of the Philippines was being offered under the rural electrification program. CAPELCO initially expressed disinterest, stating that the proposed connection would be fiscally infeasible given the density of prospective users and the long stretch of power lines that would be required. Director Torres again issued a memorandum reminding NEA that the very special commitment of the President had to be delivered to the people of Sapian. NEA replied two weeks later that a barge carrying electric posts from Leyte are en route to Roxas City. Uncle Alber Gallardo, as the requestor, and Uncle Nicoy Odrunia, as a Sapian delegate to CAPELCO Board of Directors, have been continuously apprised of the status, as are any requestor for President’s assistance from anywhere else. As FVR said, fire on top and fire at the bottom get things done.

Uncle Alber had been very happy about the completed electrification project. I also heard about the ceremonial switching. I remembered about this project recently when Nang Luz Obligar talked about a power outage during their visit to a church in Lonoy that her daughter, Inday Reynalda Firmalino, helped build. Hopefully, the project had been financially feasible for CAPELCO as it is empowering for the Sapianons it now served.

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, a respected and influential national daily newspaper, on it Global Nation / Overseas Foreign Worker (OFW) Spotlight section, honors a successful Sapianon Engineer. Inquirer has featured Rey Javale Oleo from Agtatacay Norte, Sapian, Capiz. Sapian Online congratulates Rey and wishes him more power and success. We are very proud to have Rey with us in SOL and we hope younger generations emulate his perseverance and quest for excellence. Please read the full of the feature story on Rey at http://globalnation.inq7.net/ofwspotlight/ofwspotlight/view_article.php?article_id=2095

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Twelfth in a Continuing Series

The increased gas demand in Sapian may partly be attributed on the increased number of vehicles of more affluent Sapianons, and partly because of the improved quality of roads.

In the past, our national highway had been in a terribly despicable state. Most Youngblood contributors may not have recollection of what an ordeal it used to be just going to Roxas City. Public utility jeeps (PUJs) have been very few and I could still recite most of them from memory, namely, those of Nong Turing “Comos” Baldesimo, the Dennis series of former Vice Mayor Nita Baldesimo, a few from Dapdapan, i.e., the Monica of Nong Willy Martinez and that of the Bonaleses, and later, of Nong Loret Flores, driven by Nong Meo, and Nong Dodoy Teddy Vista, and Nong Culasing in Maninang. Aklan-bound, there was Kitahanon, and Nong Odong Vista’s Kamihanon. Later on, the family of Totit Obuyes acquired a few buses. Iloilo-bound, were R&K and later, Ceres would survive the grueling route. Nong Emoy Garcia and Nong Verino and Nang Rosit had the first tricycles to shuttle between Polacion and Crossing Talaba. In short, transportation was very, very scarce, and there was probably be one PUJ on every hour. You had to plan a trip to Roxas City. Leave as early in the morning as possible so you can return home just before dusk. Nobody would ever know what was the loading capacity then. Everyone was just too polite to move over on the middle bench until there is just enough room to breath and blink your eyes.  On the middle bench, you would tumble and turn. Your elbow may not move from Majanlud to Kilometer One. You had to disturb at least two other passengers whenever you straighten up a numbed leg. 

On rainy days, be prepared to take your shoes off. You’ll never know. In many instances, either its approach or the bridge itself is flushed away by flood water, or the road had suddenly melted into the surrounding rice paddies. Chances are, jeeps would either detour 40 miles, or stop dead then tell passengers to wade through flood and pump through mud to continue a journey on a waiting jeep. Summer months were as terrible with the clay that dried up into white, fine dust. You’ve had to wear a nose mask, cover your eyes and hair, and wear a jacket. Inside the jeep, air turbulence would cycle dust around. So you’re better off on the PUJ roof where air would blow dust away as soon as the jeep on the opposite lane had gone past, better than the hot, cramped, dusty “cabin” below.

For many of us, the best project for Sapian is to get road fixed. So, that was a priority research for me in Cory’s Malacanang. I found out then that help is on the way because the highway system, dubbed Panay Arterial Highway, was going full-speed ahead. The project had all the needed money from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In fact, the Aklan-Antique and Antique-Iloilo phases have been mostly completed. The Kalibo Highway I: Passi-Lanot Road was nearing completion. The part for Sapian was dubbed, Panay Arterial Highway-Kalibo Highway Phase II, Lanot-Banga Road, had been bided out. I closely watched developments on this project and gave periodic status reports to my neighbors, Mely Baldesimo, Edwin Padasas and Giovanni Obuyes. I also gave copies of DPWH reports to the late Uncle Alber Gallardo, who was then the ABC President.

The problem was, the winning bidder, Turno America, had difficulty getting its equipment through Bureau of Customs. Turno claims that as an American contractor trying to implement a USAID project, it does not pay import taxes for its equipment. But former BIR Commissioner Liwayway Vinzons-Chato insisted that since the equipment are capital goods that are going to generate income in the Philippines, import taxes have to be paid. So, there was the long delay.

They did not resolve the Customs issue until Mt. Pinatubo erupted. A few days after the disaster, Malacanang scuttled all available unspent monies to pay for reconstruction, including that for Lanot-Banga Road. So, we’re again back to Zero!

During the time of FVR, and long after the demise of USAID funds, DPWH had been breaking grounds and inaugurating new roads and bridges around the country, left and right. These projects have been funded through the Medium-Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP). If we could only do the same for Lanot-Banga Road. So, it had become my conviction to guide former governors Borda of Capiz and Nang Nening, Governor Corazon Legaspi-Cabagnot of Aklan, to be on the same page. I advised them to raise the Lanot-Banga Road issue in all venues and forums, including all presidential visits to any province in Panay, League of Governors of the Philippines, or Cabinet Officers for Regional (CORD) meetings in Malacanang. And they did, Governor Cabagnot, particularly. Then we shepherded it from our end, including the Presidential Commitments and Directives Database that I maintained. As FVR fondly said, it had to be like a bibingka: fire on the top and fire at the bottom. But things stood still.

When FVR visited Capiz for a 3rd Army event during the term of Capiz Governor Esteban Contreras, concrete strides were made. Governor Cabagnot came to see me at Roxas Airpot. She wanted to speak at the dialogue, but she was not on the program. I added her amidst protests by Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director Gina Jota. I took the heat, provided she mentions the Lanot-Banga Road problem. In our coordination meeting in the residence of Mrs. Judy Roxas in Baybay to thresh out issues to be raised to FVR, Lanot-Banga Road was added as one item. That meeting was attended by former Governor Contreras, Mayor (now Governor) Vicente Bermego, as President of Mayors League, and Congressman Mar Roxas. Two weeks later in dialogue with FVR, with former Congressman Roxas as moderator, both governors raised the same road issue. In reality, the governors did not stand to gain any monetary reward for a DPWH-administered project. So, their efforts and time have been pure civil service. Soon after that visit, with bibingka fire working on top and bottom, Malacanang endorsed the project to Regional Development Committee (RDC) Chairman Hechanova as a priority project. It later came back to us in the Joint Cabinet/NEDA Board meeting as an update to MTPIP. My supervisor, Director Jess Albar, speaking to me about that Cabinet road item, “There’s your item, take it.” I gladly wrote into the Cabinet records the Cabinet approval of that project. As part of MTPIP, it would have a guaranteed budget appropriation on the next fiscal year. That next year, the project was again bided out and construction finally commenced. Dozens of subcontractors took part in the construction.

Youngbloods would not have to suffer the ordeal we went through. Anyway, I rode through partly completed highway in the late 90s, with dirt road stretches and base courses every few kilometers. It was not until January 2005 that I rode the full stretch of the proud Lanot-Banga Road.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Sixth in a Continuing Series

Another way to revisit the saga of Sapian, China and oil crisis is tracing the thread of Philippine petroleum deregulation. Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) pushed for the enactment of Republic Act 8180, the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1996, to promote a more competitive market and prices by allowing the entry of “small” oil players to the market monopolized by the so-called Big Three, namely, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, Caltex Philippines Inc. and Petron Inc. This involves the removal of the government subsidy to oil prices, called the Oil Price Stabilization Fund, which provided a cushion to oil price increases. In 1999, a new oil deregulation law (RA 8479) was enacted to pave the way for the full deregulation of the oil industry.

During World War II, many countries heavily regulated industries and nationalized critical industries (e.g., petroleum, coal mines, steel mills etc.) to provide maximum support and efficient use of resources for war efforts. After the war, many countries continued or expanded controls on industries to rebuild their war-ravaged economies, and well into the 70s. By the 80s, U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - plagued by paralyzing strikes, mismanagement, and bankruptcy - started to privatize government companies. In economic circles, it was called Thatcherism. In the U.S., President Ronald Reagan tried to relax government control on businesses, called Reaganomics. Both trends lean toward Keynesian economics. A very influential 20th Century economist, John Maynard Keynes theorized that government should use its power sparingly at the macro-economic level to regulate (e.g., interest rates, use of reserves etc.) but let the private sector and market forces try to equalize itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

Along these lines U.S. President Bill Clinton, FVR and other leaders promoted a book by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, entitled, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. The authors looked into model governments efficiently run like corporations, with performance-based budget, partnership with the private sector, and people empowerment themes. It called for leveling of the playing field, deregulation, decentralization, devolution, and liberalization, in all aspects of government, politics and the economy. From Washington, to Europe, to Tokyo, a chorus of international organizations told Cory and FVR to pursue these goals. Hence, it was institutionalized in FVR’s Philippines 2000. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/index.htm

Under this philosophy, started by Cory but staunchly implemented by FVR, the bureaucracy worked double time to deregulate, decentralize, and devolve powers of governance. Among the first tangible result of these is the Local Government Code
- to the perpetual chagrin of my mother and Nono Varon’s parents (it’s a relief they are all in the United States now!) - that included the devolution of the Department of Health’s Rural Health Units (RHUs) to local government units. There were persistent rumors that RHUs will be renationalized, but early on I asked former Health Secretary Juan Flavier (now, Senator) and he told me to tell my mother to change career because it’s not going to happen. In theory, local governments should have more control over their local affairs and would be able to prioritize their policies and fine-tune their programs according to local needs.

Another example is today’s proliferation of cell phones. PLDT monopoly was broken by giving away franchises to any company able to install 5,000 lines, can apply for telephone franchise anywhere in the Philippines. Many leapfrogged with infinite cell lines, so you now have a galaxy of cell service providers. This also was true with Cable TV providers and a host of other telecommunications sub-sectors. Philippine Airlines franchise monopoly was also broken. Now, passengers are no longer at the mercy of PAL. Anyone who has a plane, compliant with all BOT regulations, could apply for an air franchise anywhere in the Philippines. Then you have BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer, Build-Transfer-Operate, Build-Own-Operate etc.) alphabet schemes, which allowed building of dozens of giga-wattage power plants by Hopewell Holdings, Enron, etc. worth billions of dollars. The caveat, contracts for 50 years for guaranteed power purchase by the National Power Corporation. This wiped out the brown outs overnight, particularly when power grids throughout the country have been interconnected. Then, you have your Skyway, North Luzon Expressway, MRT and many others. Under the general theme, base lands, like the Fort Bonifacio area, have been opened to joint ventures with the private sector.

For a moment, the Philippines was referred to as one of the Tiger Cubs of Asia.

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Tenth in a Continuing Series

FVR’s trip to visit a farmers’ cooperative in Silay, Negros was actually a side trip to a visit to Victorias Milling Company (VMC). VMC is a family enterprise started in 1951 by the super rich Luzuriaga clan in Victorias, Negros Occidental. Its over-diversification and the decreasing demand for cane sugar in the world market left it in financial trouble. So, FVR bailed out the sinking company with a PNB loan package. While there, he inaugurated additional canneries for VMC Spanish sardines and Spanish-style bangus that we enjoy today. Victorias deserve help. It is probably the most compassionate company that I will ever know. Don Claudio de Luzuriaga was said to be strict and arrogant haciendero. Of course, since the 50s, he had the first and only sugar refinery (white granulated sugar) in the Philippines until Benedicto built the Calinog-Lambunao refinery in the late 70s. But one night he had a dream of God castigating him. The next day, he built a Church of the Angry God as he remembered it in his dream. We visited the circular Catholic Church painted halfway around with a mural of a very angry Jesus Christ, pointing fingers, mouth cursing, eyes blazing with fire, on the background were lightning bolts and a trembling earth. The depiction of Christ would have been a sacrilege had he not own a refinery. More than that, he also built homes for all his workers, from accountants to tractor drivers; houses with middle-class amenities, marble floors, hardwood panels, running water; he established a hospital, and sent the kids to better schools in Bacolod, from prep to College. Some children and thrid generation descendants of drivers and servants are now doctors and engineers. And many of them continue to work for VMC.

Since it was a PNB bail-out, PNB Chairman of the Board, and Presidential Adviser Bitay Lacson (former Negros Occidental Governor) helped us coordinate the event. We see Governor Lacson every Tuesday in FVR’s Cabinet. Bitay is the elder cousin of Jules Ledesma III (Asunta), sugar baron of San Carlos City and owner of Negros Navigation (NN). He is also the boss of Iloilo’s Hechanovas - Ramon is the Chairman of Regional Development Council (RDC) and Tony is former NN president before he was appointed as DENR Undersecretary. We will talk about the Hechanovas in another post, particularly, on with regard to our improved road that was officially called, Panay Arterial Highway/Kalibo Highway Phase II: Crossing Lanot-Banga Road.

At the end of the program, and FVR has gone to golf with the Luzuriagas, we staff waited in the VMC Club House with West Visayas PNP and AFP commanders ready to load our VIPs back to Manila. Suddenly, I saw retired Colonel Romeo S.  Fernandez. I approached him and he remembered me. He said he was the Warden of prison in Iloilo. Colonel Fernandez was the Provincial Commander of Capiz for many years. I remembered that when we were in Grade VI-Rizal, under the late Auntie Pining (Mrs. Josefina) Baguio, we had flag raisings and retreats in front of municipal hall and Chief Jose “Peping” Honrado was the Chief of Police. He was still the Capiz PNP Commander until after I graduated in High School. When we were in first year high school, the late Mayor Ishmael B. Orillos organized an very important Purok Organization event held in Basketball Court. Nong Tiboy even had a lechon baka near the slide. I waited for slices of roast calf and watched the program. Colonel Fernandez was the guest of honor, and Chief Peping was introducing him, “Colonel Fernandez, I am happy to report to you that the Municipality of Sapian is the most peaceful town in the whole Province of Capiz!” Then there was a very loud BOOOoomMm! followed by a long silence. Toto Alfred Oleo, Ramon Montina and the late Peter Vista Bueno were in Toto Alfred’s house just on the next block from the program and they lighted a large firecracker. Chief Peping ordered his policemen to get the perpetrator, but before they could, Alfred’s Dad knew who it was and they really got into a big trouble that night.

Mr. Eddie Olmo deputized Nening Alex Olano to train our CAT Corps officers. The day before COCC started, Nang Marilou Oro received a message from Provincial Command for a youth training. I, together with the late Sammy Oro, was asked to go Loctogan to attend a Barangay Rural Improvement Corps (BRIC) seminar on livelihood project. Colonel Fernandez presided over the training. I asked him to give a short tape-recorded inspirational message to SNHS CAT Corps. He obliged and remembered me from thereon. The tape was played on our COCC. Many years later and long before our last meeting in Negros, we would see in few major events in Malacanang and once in Camp Crame. I reminded him of the interview in his jeep. In one instance, I delivered his letter to FVR, and in another I helped follow-up his retirement with General Ernesto Gidaya of Veterans Affairs

Petropolitik, Sapian and China - Eighth in a Continuing Series

First, there were faults in the assumptions. Proponents say downstream deregulation will make the economy stronger and better because it will, as it should, be left upon a free market to operate. Market is said to be a self-equalizing force; that all things being equal, profit interests and buyer interest will synthesize into general welfare.  So the theory goes. But opponents argue that since there is no upstream industry to guarantee a free play of supply and prices for downstream industries, deregulation has no net positive effect because downstream entrepreneurs are still dependent on Big Three for supply. Hence, there is no real competition. Proponents believed that as soon as deregulation is announced, oil companies around the world would race to our doorsteps. But our announcements, repeated announcements, have been met by a stony silence. The reason, some say, is that giant oil companies, with their rules of engagement and protocol, would not go after each other’s throat because, as traditional economics always say, genuine competition lowers prices; and lowered mark-up prices reduces profitability. By and large, they share not only the same security and political concerns, but also the same oil wells, pipelines, refineries, transshipment facilities, tankers, borrow each others’ jets, etc. Early on, critics warned that if there would be no new players the size of the Big Three, deregulation is doomed to fail. And there were none.

Another result of deregulation is the removal of Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF). OPSF is an import levy instituted by Marcos and was approximately P1.25/liter in 1997. It was placed on reserve as safety net to fend ill effects of escalating gas prices. When there was sudden jolt in gas prices to soften impact to consumers, government either totally covered (subsidized) the difference in cost, or spread costs over a period of time (credit). Even at the months before deregulation, OPSF mechanism had been working very hard to stabilize unpredictable gas prices. OPSF was typically used for Forward Cost Cover (FCC) that absorbed for consumers the fluctuating price difference three months in advance. Former Energy Secretary Francisco Viray would always complain to the Cabinet how hard it was for OPSF to keep up with increasing world prices. For over three years, I was the energy “expert” on FVR Cabinet minutes. My supervisor, Director Jess Albar from a prominent Roxas City family, knowing my interests, invariably gave me all Cabinet items on energy, until the Cabinet no longer talked any OPSF or FCC.

On top of deregulation, privatization was another scourge to Philippine petroleum industry. Petron, a government petroleum company, was sold to Aramco. At that point, government had fully abdicated its last measure of influence on domestic oil prices.  Ownership of Petron had been good oil price leverage; profitability had been shoved aside in favor of national welfare. Petron saturated market with lower priced gas to upset upward pressure on gas prices. So, losing Petron ownership and having no OPSF safety net, and none of expected downstream competition, government is now left with the last front-end control. To tax or not to tax.

If we are already selling tax-free oil, and China would pay even more money for even more gas supply, we would be in big trouble. How many of us would be willing to pay P90/liter even if it’s tax-free?