RP, mismanaged and misled

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
3/14/2005



The “eminence gris” of Ramos, Joe Almonte spoke before the VAT-supporting Foundation for Economic Freedom forum. He described Philippine society as a “mismanaged society” and such ripe for coup d’etat. He referred to the Estrada administration that he said collapsed due to mismanagement; but for the short period of three years one wonders how the blame can be on Estrada. Estrada did not sign the IPP contracts making our power rates the highest in Asia today, nor all the loans that went to real estate ventures that have failed and ballooned with a vengeance.

One management ran the show since 1986, that’s the Edsa Uno cabal that includes the “eminence gris” and his boss but also Cory Aquino, the Makati Business Club, the “civil society” and its socio-cultural infrastructure embracing the mainstream media, the neo-liberal U.P. economists and the Foundation for Economic Freedom, the corrupt in the military and the police forces, among many others who have embraced the cult of power and profit over principle and truth. They have not only mismanaged what was once the envy of Asia, they also misled it for over a decade.

When the Filipino nation exercised its wisdom to break from mismanagement since 1986 and a new direction under Estrada, the Edsa Uno cabal plotted and organized Edsa Dos. They launched a coup d’etat despite the vote of almost 11-million Filipinos, the largest vote ever attained by a presidential candidate and the only undisputed electoral triumph since 1986 – a claim neither the disputed Cory Aquino and Ramos election can even pretend to assume, nor what Gloria can ever claim about her 2004 “victory” over FPJ which 75% of Filipinos doubt.

The “eminence gris” has neither “gris” matter nor eminence. Maybe the reason my repeated challenge to him to debate face-to-face on the issues he has never accepted. What he has contributed to the national debate is not intelligent discussion but pedantic and verbose psywar propaganda, lies intended to continuously mislead any segment of the public which can still be taken in by such Goebbelian trash. His main proposition at the FEF forum is BS: Purely military intervention has invariably plunged us from one frying pan to another until we end up in the fire.

One must speak of the mission and policies of management. Almonte has represented the faction in society that advocate globalization of the nation. That policy has clearly been debunked at the recent of the century, and ushering in bleak millennium prospects for the country. The Estrada administration was unwittingly challenging globalization by prioritizing food security, opposition to sovereign guarantees, resolution of the insurgency, among other policies that was achieving success. That success had to be aborted, hence Edsa Dos.

Edsa Dos brought on the nightmare of what should be called “the Gloria mismanagement”, now Ramos and his “eminence gris” are attempting to wash their hands of the guilt. But people know the truth; these stabs at the Gloria regime by Ramos and Almonte are to leverage with Gloria for concessions while confusing the public about the real solution. There is only one way to restore sound management, restore the Constitution and respect the people’s mandate to restore the basis of good management: Trust.

Gloria has put us in number 2 in corruption in Asia. The other frontrunners in the Asian corruption race have much higher GDP growth rates than the Philippines, even Indonesia which the latest report ranks as No. 1. A recent international article on Indonesia opines that it does better than the Philippines because Indonesia, like Vietnam, India and China, have strong nationalistic orientations. Speaking of corruption, what is the record of the Philippine administrations.

The corruption issue was used against Estrada, but after four years of pursing the corruption cases against Estrada not a single case has been proven. After Edsa Dos the Gloria government formed an investigation team to pursue alleged Estrada corruption cases, with then Justice Secretary Nani Perez heading the mission. But in time, it was Nani Perez who was felled by a major corruption case, the $ 2-M Impsa biribery scandal that even Hong Kong and Swiss financial authorities substantiated with documentary proofs. Up to this day, nothing on Estrada.

The result of the decade-and-a-half of the mismanagement of the Edsa Uno cabal, including their worse ever move creating Edsa Dos, is a nation in turmoil and on the brink of disaster. A “rumbling social volcano” is at our feet, and that is the topic today at the PUP’s Post Anniversary Convocation, sponsored by the PUP Department of Finance, Politics and Economics; Department of Mass Communication and Department of Arts and Letters. Speakers are: Mayor Jejomar Binay, Dr. Alejandro Lichauco, Atty. Alan Paguia, Mr. Hero Vaswani and yours truly.

Finally, take note of the cover story of one international magazine extolling Jeffrey Sachs and his solution to global poverty. Sachs was an exponent of the now failed globalization. They praise him for the “stabilization of the Bolivian currency”, but currency is not the economy. Look at the Bolivian economic collapse now. They give him credit for Poland “recovery”, but what Poland did was default on its debt forcing the West to give it 50% debt discount that had nothing to do with Sachs. Sachs’ “shock therapy” misled and looted Russia. Don’t be misled by these U.S. magazines.