Pagtanaw at Pananaw
Ni Bert de Guzman
Talaga yatang kawawa ang Pilipinas noon at maging sa ngayon. Sinakop at kinawawa tayo ng Espanya sa mahigit na 300 taon. Dinagit tayo ni Uncle Sam matapos talunin sa Battle of Manila Bay noong 1898 ni US Commodore George Dewey ang Spanish Naval Fleet sa pamumuno ni Admiral Montojo. Tinalo na ng mga rebolusyonaryong Pilipino sa ilalim ni Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo ang mga tropa ng Kastila, pero tayo ay ipinagbili sa kung ilang milyong US dollar ng mga Kastila sa bagong panginoong Kano.
Sa mahigit na 50 taon, ang mga Amerikano ang naging mananakop ng mga Pilipino, at idinamay pa ang bansa sa pakikidigma laban sa Japan na noon ay nag-aambisyong maging lider ng buong Asya. Wasak at pinulbos ang maraming panig ng kapuluan sa digmaang US-Japan, laluna ang Maynila, kabilang ang mga makasaysayang gusali at museo, sinaunang mga bahay, parke, at iba pa.
Pagkaraang manalo ang puwersang Japan at isurender ng US ang Bataan at Corregidor, ang mga DOROBO ang naging bagong mananakop sa Pilipinas. Sa loob ng ilang taon, yumuko ang mga Pinoy sa mga TOMADACHI. Gayunman, nang bumalik si Gen. Douglas McArthur (I shall return) ay mga Kano uli ang naging AMO ng mga mamamayan na hanggang ngayon ay taglay ang tinatawag na “Colonial Mentality.”
Sa ngayon, dinuduro at kinakawawa tayo ng kapwa Asyanong bansa — ng dambuhalang China na kaytagal na naidlip tulad ni Rip Van Winkle — pero nang magising ay parang leong umatungal at maging ang Pilipinas na kaytagal na kaugnayan, kaibigan, kapalitan ng mga kalakal sa loob ng libu-libong taon, at halos kakultura, ay nais tayong sakupin sa pamamagitan ng pag-angkin sa Panatag Shoal (Scarborough) na 124 milya lang ang layo sa Zambales.
Nang sinusulat ko ito noong Hunyo 19, ika-15l kaarawan ni Dr. Jose P. Rizal, naalala ko siya nang ipahayag ang damdamin sa pamamagitan ni ELIAS sa Noli Me Tangere: “Mamamatay akong hindi makikita ang aninag ng bukang-liwayway. Kayong mapalad na makasisilay rito, salubungin ito nang may galak at kasiyahan. Huwag kalilimutan ang mga namatay.” Tama ba Tata Clemen Bautista professor ng Filipino sa La Salle, na si Elias sa Noli Me Tangere ang nagpahayag ng ganitong mga kataga?
Dakilang Rizal, dakilang bayani, nasilayan namin ang BUKANG-LIWAYWAY. Malaya na kami ngayon, subalit waring MALAYA lang sa salita dahil hanggang ngayon ay mahina pa rin ang ekonomiya at depensa ng Pilipinas sakaling may dayuhang bansa na nais na kami ay duruin, pagsamantalahan at sakupin! Bert de Guzman
Paano ba yan, hanggang ngayon hindi pa tayo nakakaahon sa kahirapan,mula pa sa ating mga ninuno, nasanay na tayong pahirapan ng ibang bansa, shall we allow this to happen to our young generation, to let them also suffer?
FACTS
• Our official records shows that inward remittances have reached a level of US$ 20 Billion in 2011. If you include non-documented remittances this could easily reach US$ 30 Billion. [note that the World Bank estimates that “50 percent of remittance flows remain unrecorded due to the use of informal channels for transferring currency. In other words, the official figures may seriously underestimate the actual magnitude of remittances.”]
o Compare these inward remittances with
the export earnings of goods and services
the revenues from mining industries
the direct foreign investment
contribution to GDP
• The remitters are mostly Filipinos who have either migrated or sought work abroad because of the failure of our entrepreneurs & government to create employment opportunities for them here.
• The beneficiaries of these remittances are the families of the poorer sector that were “left behind”.
o These funds are truly “blood and sweat” money that was earned at a tremendous personal sacrifice. From these stems the moral and ethical dimension of these money.
• In Mexico, they have a 3×1 Program for Migrants. It is a scheme that directs each of their Federal, State and Municipal governments to contribute matching-funds for every money sent by Hometown Associations abroad (collective remittances). Hence for every dollar remitted, three dollars are contributed for productive uses to their communities. [from Francisco Javier Aparicio]
o LIMITATION- CRITICISM – that the program’s capacity target [only] the poorest municipalities.
“ Since migration has a nonlinear relationship with poverty and marginality, a program that unconditionally responds to project
initiatives from migrant organizations is bound to be regressive due to self-selection bias. Indeed, poorer municipalities are less likely to participate, and they also receive smaller amounts of money and fewer projects than richer localities. Moreover, we find evidence of a partisan bias: electoral support for the PAN is associated with more funds or projects awarded. Given that high-migration PAN strongholds are relatively well-off municipalities, geography and politics reinforce each other in producing a regressive outcome.”
o We propose that instead of the Mexican program that provide three times funding to the communities where the remitters came from, that we instead undertake the elimination of slums in our cities through firstly, directly assisting them in owning their own house and lot. This is not a handout because we will give them the skills and directly employment from where, through “sweat equity” they buy/earn their home. Our plans will develop our countryside through the creation of NEWTOWNS that are interconnected to our cites through a dedicated and subsidized transport system. This allows them to retain their source of income from the city. We will remove the slums from our cities; teach them the respect for private property; reduce pollution, criminality, and vandalism; increased real estate taxes, and allows our cities to develop on the basis of best land use principles.
o Our currency has appreciated substantially from 2006 to date by more than
Php 14/$. That is officially more than Php280 Billion/yr that could have been paid to our POOR. This has not only robbed our POOR of their rightful earnings, but have also damaged our export earners: manufacturing, export service, mining and tourism.
o These lower FX rate favored foreign purchases and investments. How were these remittances used?
How much went to conspicuous consumption by the Rich?
How much went for personal investment abroad
How much went to industrial/commercial development in the Philippines?
o In Mexico the Municipal, State and Federal Governments triples [3x] the amount of money sent by Hometown Associations (HTAs). This is used to finance local development projects such as electrification, water, road paving and maintenance, housing infrastructure, educational and health projects, and town beautification, among others. This site for more info on this. http://www.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/migmain.showPractice?p_lang=en&p_practice_id=44
From Hernando de Soto Polar
“no nation can have a strong market economy without adequate participation in an information framework that records ownership of property and other economic information. Unreported, unrecorded economic activity results in many small entrepreneurs who lack legal ownership of their property, making it difficult for them to obtain credit, sell the business, or expand. They cannot seek legal remedies to business conflicts in court, since they do not have legal ownership. Lack of information on income prevents governments from collecting taxes and acting for the public welfare.”
When Pinoys start loving and respecting themselves, then they can start loving and caring for their country.
Forget the “Bahala na” system.
God only help those who help themselves.