DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
08/20/2010
The cat is now out of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s bag: New pesos are being printed without the knowledge of the Filipino people. And these will be circulated by December, according to the best information we got. Worse, the BSP is not duty-bound to inform anyone as to when, how or why this decision was made!
The 1987 Cory Aquino Constitution states in Article XII, Section 20 that “The Congress shall establish an independent central monetary authority… (which) shall provide policy direction in the areas of money, banking and credit. It shall have supervision over the operations of banks and exercise such regulatory powers as may be provided by law over the operations of finance companies and other institutions performing similar functions…” By “independent,” it means that the BSP does not even have to report to government whenever it does so to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).
The details of the BSP’s operations, contained in Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act, were passed during Cory’s time by the late Sen. Raul Roco, considered by some as “The Father of the BSP.” The law passed on old debts of the former Central Bank of the Philippines of around P300 billion to taxpayers (when the exchange rate then was still half of what it is today). Yet it established something even more insidious which very few know of: It organized a Monetary Board to govern the BSP and redefined the composition of the members of the board from five representing government and two from the private sector — which was the case in the old Central Bank board — to a reverse of five representing the private sector and two representing government. Although all are supposedly appointed by the President, the law predetermines that the private sector’s interests shall always dominate the board.
But that’s not all: The new pesos are being printed abroad in foreign money printing facilities instead of our own Security Printing Complex (built by Marcos in 1978 to ensure that the Philippines would have currency sovereignty). The excuse for this is that the new currency will have the most modern security features that would make it impossible to counterfeit. But have we had any reports of major counterfeiting problems with the peso to date? Unlike the dollar which is widely accepted across almost all borders, there is very little advantage to counterfeiting the Philippine peso because of its limited acceptability.
A complete change of a currency normally occurs in the wake of a revolutionary change of the existing political order, as when Marcos tried with the Bagong Lipunan notes, as well as, after Edsa I when Cory Aquino took over. This always results in the flushing out of savings, demonetization of hidden wealth, and the establishment of total financial control.
Of course, there had been new issuances in recent times such as Gloria Arroyo’s P200 bills, which were for a specific purpose and in limited amounts, which would not change the system substantively. But a total replacement of all the cash and coins in circulation means something far more extensive is afoot. Coming as this does with the new regime under PeNoy Aquino, who clearly doesn’t know that this is going on, it shows that the real money powers over our country had planned this long before the last elections, where they expected their surrogate to win through the Hocus-PCOS, to ensure that there will be no resistance to this “coup d’état” being carried out against our peso.
Our suspicions are further heightened by the fact that while this is happening, a great number of former employees of the WB continue to be appointed to high government positions.
From the Bureau of Internal Revenue to the Supreme Court; from the Presidential Management Staff to the government financial institutions and pension funds, elements formerly associated with the WB — who are invariably drawn from Big Business, financial conglomerates and other oligarchs and corporatocracies — are making the PeNoy Cabinet look very much like a structure run by these vested interests.
With the complete change of our money and coins commencing by the final month of 2010, we would have completely lost our Republic by next year if this isn’t stopped. By then, the program for a complete takeover of our state by the corporate powers, planned from Day 1 of Edsa II, would have been fulfilled. Then the Charter change referendum through another Hocus-PCOS will follow for the de jure separation of the richest resources of Mindanao for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-US partnership.
Resistance by the usual means is now futile. These money masters totally control the money of the land — and consequently, the law and government, mainstream media, all elections, as well as, the guns and goons, and even the forces of coercion of the state.
Resistance by other means is imperative if the nation is to be restored to viability and sustainability. But are the forces of patriotism and nationalism still standing? Are there still clear hearts and minds that can discern the vision of a vibrantly free, just, and prosperous Philippines or have all but a few been reduced to unthinking zombies by these money masters?
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics [and Economics] Today, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m. on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
