Crisis will exacerbate

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
1/7/2008



We began this strategic review to picture the nation’s prospects for the year. In our last column we noted to main trends: the continuing economic debacle and increasing hardship for the Filipino people as we gleaned from the statistics on consecutive months of manufacturing decline through 2007 and the exporters’ and OFWs massive loss of viability from the continuing fall in the value of their dollar earnings. The second significant trend is the firming up of the U.S. economic recession which colossally exacerbates the Philippines’ economic maladies. These two factors forecast a resumption of popular rage against the Gloria regime after the New Year holidays.

At the start of 2008 the Gloria regime started with its propaganda on its rosy performance past to paint a better picture of the future. It took advantage of an SWS hunger survey that declared a dramatic decline of the country’s hunger incidence, and on the surface it looked impressive; but the spin is the real perilous picture. Maria Bernardita T. Flores, speaking for Gloria’s Anti-Hunger Task Force said, “The government intervened during the dry spell by importing rice… in October and November.” Juxtapose this admission to the international food news of the same day and anyone will see the worst implications of Gloria’s stop gap measure and absence of a genuine food sufficiency program.

Bloomberg reported headlined, “China Taxes Grain Exports to Counter Food Price Inflation” by imposing up to 20% export taxes on wheat, corn and rice exports. In another food related report, the Christian Science Monitor featured a report entitled “Why the era of cheap food is over” describing the growing demands of China and India, as well as the diversion of food to energy uses are putting immense pressure on world food prices and trade. We can expect the same conditions to prevail in other rice exporting countries such as Thailand and Myanmar. As Gloria has strategized her hunger program based on imports, the consequences are obvious – more Philippine hunger in the times ahead.

University of Santo Tomas economist Alvin P. Ang said in the same report on hunger, “the government must address the problem of unemployment if it wants to curb hunger” which belies Gloria’s “million jobs” promise. The growing numbers of unemployed and, thus, mendicant families require food handouts for hunger relief. This continuing unemployment crisis is rooted in the twisted policies of Gloria of dependence on importation when encouragement of domestic industry to generate jobs in agriculture and industry is the only way to sustain the needs and dignity of a growing population; but the unemployment problem is linked to other issues, as we will see below.

Last week, Gloria broached the plan for an energy and oil summit. It makes plain the gigantic failure of her energy policy centered on the railroaded EPIRA of May 2001 and oil deregulaiton, the main and bitterest fruits of her Edsa Dos coup and seizure of power. For seven years the country was colossally exploited by the IPP/PPA, Mirant, Meralco and the Malampaya Royal-Dutch Shell swindle of the country; colossal damage had been done to the economy and the export sector and consumers are crying foul already. A manipulated call for amendment of the EPIRA intended only for cosmetic changes has been echoing in the legislature, and the era of EPIRA’s “highest power rates in Asia” will go on.

Other deregulated and privatized public and strategic utilities and commodities will continue rapacious price increases. The water sector will continue to up its rates of over 60% in the immediate times ahead. In the oil sector Gloria will continue to allow the massive drain on the economy by the speculation and manipulation of oil prices by the oil and finance cartels to $ 100/bbl even when it is now common knowledge that production cost and acceptable profits (openly admitted by oil experts and by OPEC on international media) would benchmark oil at only $ 65/bbl. Re-regulation and re-nationalization are the solutions but as the corporatocracy’s puppet Gloria can’t do that.

The education issue has been raised again, beset by high failures rates and low English proficiency. Misguided policies, privatization and commercialization of education and general poverty are at the roots. The policies do not aim to develop proud, creative human beings and citizens; they mold instead human cattle as beasts of burden and for mastication of consumer goods; discrimination against Pilipino for English creates mental and cultural disorientation, poor powers of learning and communication. Progressive Japan and China do not discriminate against its native language. Finally, with students not getting even half the daily calories they need how can they learn effectively?

Politicians grandstand about how to solve the education crisis, like a call for more funding for the Philippine Normal University. All state educational institutions require more support yet Gloria and Lapuz constantly reduce funding for state educational institutions. At the same time, government proposes to reduce its own funds sources cuttin oil tariff to lower oil prices, instead they should cut oil company profits. Due to these twisted policy directions in all aspects of Philippine governance started in the 60s by Diosdado Macapagal’s surrender of economic and political sovereignty, the Philippines has been in progressive collapse. A strategic redirection of policies to save the nation is now imperative.

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