The imperative: Nationalist Revolution

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/19/2007



Ricky Carandang could not break through the “in the box” discussion on globalization and economics with Liling Briones, Ernesto Pernia and Peter U. Caradang asked why, despite so called “growth, “the gap between the rich and the poor” had widened in the era of globalization; none of the three would state honestly – globalization weakened protection of the people from monopoly capital and corporatist plunder and opened them to plunder and oppression. Carandang didn’t include any political-economist willing to expose all the evils of globalization - the giant fiasco and a nemesis of national and human development.

Trade between East and West flourished on the Silk Road starting seven millenniums ago, Ostronesians (South Asia) and Arab traders travelled to the Philippines and Indonesia a thousand years past, the great Chinese-Muslim explorer Zheng He (Sinbad in Western lore) travelled the Seven Seas, the New World opened to trade by the Western mariners like Columbus. But today’s “globalization” today is forcible dismantling of protective measures of a nation – of import tariff and quotas, preferential treatment of nationals and their economic activities - thus opening smaller nations to the exploitation and plunder by economically and politically stronger countries.

Globalization’s inverse is the nationalist paradigm: preserving the nation’s sovereignty, protecting the people and wealth within its territory, development of its resources and society. Current events highlight the disastrous and oppressive consequences of opening up to exploitative globalization: The Philippines suffers tremendously from the $ 95-98/per barrel oil price, but $ 30 of that price is pure speculation and manipulation. Since deregulation and privatization policies of globalization, since the Philippines acceded to the WTO regime in 1994 care of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipinos can no longer regulate nor put up mechanism like the OPSF or doubling our 51-day stockpile to control overpricing.

Last week, oligarch Raul Concepcion, in a full page ad under the misleading name of Consumer & Oil Price Watch appealed that “Government must show political will to mitigate increase in fares and transport costs”, but at the same time it “urge full compliance with section 14d of the oil deregulation law” that requires oil price adjustments to be submitted to a Task Force of the DOE and DOJ for approval. Concepcion knows that today the deregulation principle supercedes such requirement. The oil companies know this and raise prices as they please. It’s time to admit it – deregulation was a set up for abuse by the corporatocracy. We must restore people’s to regulate and control basic necessities like oil.

A nation’s currency or money is a basic tool for economic management. The “floating exchange rate”, which is really a “US Federal Reserve managed satellite currency”, cannot be used by national economic planners, private business or ordinary working class families because it is not predictable to them. Under a strengthening Peso imports, importers and Peso earning Filipinos suffer losses; under a weakening Peso exporters, OFW families and all others suffer losses. There are very few winners – the currency speculators. The inverse to “floating rate” is the “national fixed exchange rate” system, qualified to emphasize that it should be controlled by and for the people by their government.

Filipino export industries and OFW families constitute 70% of the country’s income; they are both reeling from the Peso appreciation and losing 25% local purchasing power in the weakening dollar. Yet, prices of mostly imported goods are not going down with the weakening of the dollar because the Philippines is importing significantly higher from countries which has currencies also appreciating against the dollar. Peter U in the Caradang discussion says globalization provides cheaper goods – but that’s a facile lie or misdirection: the imports cost much more in terms of employment losses that multiplies our poverty and hunger incidence - that cost is larger that any savings in price.

The Business Mirror reported a La Salle seminar by economics Nobel laureate Robert Mundell who said the Philippines can institute a fixed currency rate if it has a balanced budget, enough foreign reserves and government official agreed on the rate. All are bullshit. When China established its two- tiered fixed currency system in 1949 it was built from scratch and had neither budgetnor reserves. La Sallites are as dumb as Ateneans these days because they are made to believe foreigners know better and are awed by high-falluting titles and awards instead of using informed common sense. This columnist has batted by the restoration of the 1950’s fixed exchange rate for the past two decades now.

Ayala’s Manila Water announced another whopping 50% rate hike of P 14/cu. m. on top of today’s P 24/cu. m. - to capitalize their expansion plans. Last column we reported the Lopez First Gas’ take over of one of the country’s hydro-electric plants and cheapest power source, then included this in their IPP/PPA power rates boosting profit 50%. These are people’s money and assets advanced to private corporations to expand their businesses. “The great, unreported story in globalization is about power, not ideology. It's about how finance and business regularly, continuously insert their own self-interested deals and exceptions into rules and agreements that are then announced to the public as "free trade." - William Greider.

To reverse the economic crash, poverty and hunger we have only one course – junk globalization and restore nationalism and nationalization of the economy.

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