This article will guide you through applying for a dual citizenship if and only if you are already a United States of America citizen through naturalization and was a Filipino citizen by birth. The guide may also apply under other condition, but does not provide any guarantee. Listed also are the things you can have and do when you are both a citizen of the United States of America and the Republic of the Philippines.

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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.

Kuripot, Gastador, Tikalon, Damak, Maisug, Manug-Hiwit, Aswang

Philippine regionalism is one important factor to consider why Capicenos have been branded as aswangs, and in understanding why the myth has been perpetuated for over 100 years. Archipelagic Philippines has been populated by divided and competing tribes whose highest politico-economic achievement as a civilization have been the short-lived minor kingdoms in Pangasinan and Mindanao. Prior to Spanish colonialization, there was no sense of national identity, and much less appreciation about other ethic groups and cultures. The small, diverse and self-sufficient tribes have been scattered and isolated across thousands of islands. Having primitive maritime technology, they did not have active inter-island trade and much less opportunity for cultural exchange. It was only in the last 350 years, under the Spanish rule, that we evolved a concept of a nation. And even today, we are still struggling to accept it. Until the last century estrangjeros or pangayaos have been fiercely rejected by the tumandoks. Hence, whatever information we had about other regions could have just been trickles information. Bits and pieces of information are sewn together to make a derogatory collage of peoples of other regions.

Our diverse ethnicity is the foundation of our rigorous regionalism. We are a 7,000-island nation with over 100 ethnic groups. Overall, we are overwhelmingly Malayo-Polynesian under the broad Austronesian linguistic family. But underneath, we have more diverse ethnicity, subgroups, and sub-subgroups, hastily categorized into generic groupings of Ilocanos, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Bisaya, Mindanao minorities, tribal groups, Chinese, Spanish, and Western and other minorities. Ilocanos are Ivatans and Ibanags, and their many variants; Pangasinense have the Cordilleranos (Igorots and their variants); Bisaya is classified under three main groups of Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Cebuano and Waray. But under that, there are distinct sub-groups like the Aklanon, Karay-a, Romblomanon, Sibuyanon, Masbateno, Cuyonon. Each one of these has another layer of diverse ethnicity (e.g., Mambusaonon, Sapianon, Sijuiornon, etc.). Southern minorities include the Tausugs, Maranaos, Samals, Yakans, and the Lumads. The Lumads alone include the Manobos, Tasadays, Mamanwas, Mandayas, and Kalagans. And like our nomenclatures, they also have distinct diversity.

As indicated above, regionalism is not only a distinction due to geographic locale, rather, it is an ethnic divide highlighting cultural, social, economic and political differences - over 100 of it. In our attempt to make our region different from the others we highlight our dissimilarities. Such that, we never cease to find what is ridiculous in other cultures. We stockpile our arsenal of insults against them, so that, ultimately, we want them to be inferior to us. Sociologists point out that an individual ethnic group, united by a common language, invariably views the world from its own set of filters, experiences, beliefs, traditions, standards, biases and vantage points, a condition known as ethnocentrism. Ethnocentricism means judging other cultures as inferior based on your own culture’s superior cultural vantage point. Over time, an ethnocentrist world-view can hastily summarize a region into one common derogatory characterization. For instance, the Tagalogs have a crystallized world-view and common characterization of Bisaya as aswang, mangkukulam and katulong. The most degrading of which is aswang, and Capiz is said to have the worst concentration of aswangs.

Regional characterizations are not without bases, however. Ilocanos have been said to be frugal because their arid land does not allow large-scale cultivation of food and cash crops. Therefore, other regions dismiss them as kuripot. Tagalogs, living in the center of Philippine culture, politics and economy, having the first glimmer of electric lights and cooking gas, thought they are in the center of the universe. Anywhere outside their region had hitherto been a bundok. Hence, Americans going to the hinterlands was said to have gone to the boondocks. That literally landed into the English dictionary as a legitimate word - owing to the arrogant and ethnocentrict Tagalogs. The King of Spain gave generous encomiendas to conquestadores from northwestern Spain settling in Iloilo and Negros. In the heyday of sugar plantations, from the turn of the 20th Century to the roaring 60s, briefly disrupted by war but put to a final end by Marcos cronyism, sugar barons lived in Southern opulence and lavish lifestyles. The 3 percent Spanish sugars planter families, having their own sugar centrals, railways, piers, and shipping lines, have had every right to boast - guina pala, guina piko! But if the other 97 percent also brag, they are on their own. Hence, the Negrense and Ilonggos earned the tikalon moniker. Fierce resistance from attempts to Christianize the Mindanaonons earned them the savage, bloodthirsty reputation. Of course, regional attributions to Masbate, Siquijornons, and Samarenos as manug-hiwits could likewise be explainable. For instance, an MGB episode a few years ago featured an age-old modus operandi in one Samar hinterland about the locals secretly adding toxic herbal concoction into the beverage of strangers, only to be “healed” with an antidote for a fee. Although Bisayan and Tagalogs alphabets are almost exactly the same, our pronunciation did not highlight the different sound of paired vowels. Hence, enthocentrict Tagalogs’ criticisms against us. Remember the PLDT ad about a Bisayan katulong? “Sir, tumawag si GG.” for which the boss asked, “Si Gigi or si Jayjay?” The katulong answered, “Si GG, sir.” It would be a full time job to document all the insults, ridicules and mockeries that we hurl against each other.

But there have been tangible events that did earn a region an insulting reputation. If a province or one region was to be branded as aswang country, it should have been Samar-Leyte. There had been no single pre-Hispanic record about aswang anywhere in Philippine folktales and literature. Hence, the earliest written record about aswang in the whole 7,000 islands ever is by a Westerner, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. On February 14, 1565, in Samar, he wrote about being warned by the natives about the existence of aswang and how terrified they had been listening to howling noise around his encampment one night. But Legazpi’s account did not come without motives or reason. He came from Medieval Europe, itself rife with burning accused witches at stake, predisposed to the Count Vlad story, and with a mission to introduce faith. This perfectly jibed with the situation of Samar tribe that, without an army, only hoped to drive away Spanish colonizers with horrific tales about aswang and by actually making terrifying nighttime noise around their encampment. The reason why this first aswang manuscript did not stick to Samar-Leyte region is probably because this account had not been reinforced by other socio-cultural factors in the region. Such that, Samarenos did not create and maintain an aswang out of themselves. We did.

In summary, regionalism is partly due to the absence of a sense of nationhood - each tiny ethnic group or tribe, isolated by mountains and seas, existed alone for centuries without contact with the others. When they finally have contact, their crystallized ethnocentrict world-views, predisposed Filipinos to ridicule and degrade people from other regions. Each region had been given a brand or moniker. It is unfortunate that Capiz had been branded as aswang. The continued Filipino regionalism, along with complex web of factors that we will discuss more, sustains our aswang brand. In order to minimize it, we need to respect and be sensitive to other regional cultures.

In the succeeding posts, we will examine the other factors and elements that created, strengthened and perpetuated the aswang brand to us.

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.

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 - 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.