NOW the word is out, the international economic interrelation is bad for developing countries like the Philippines who is allegedly headed by a power-grabber “free market” and GATT quisling Gloria Arroyo.
She who professes an Economics diploma as does Prof. Winnie Monsod of the University of the Philippines cannot propose any cogent solution to the Philippine malaise not of its own making but imported per advice of these two “free market” freaks.
With their free market moves, our agricultural production was swamped with agricultural products from other China and other countries. Ms. Monsod is of the opinion that these importations will push our local producers to be more efficient given the competition from abroad.
Are these guys blind? Don’t they know that other countries subsidize their agriculture producers so that importations into their country cannot come in due to the low floor prices of their product? And that the real aim of these subsidizing Governments was to create export markets?
It is a high finance game pure and simple. It goes this way, I get goods from you and sell it below what it costs me to buy and then turn around and use the money for other ventures that will make me more than enough profit to pay you off and keep a decent amount for my efforts. And if being alleged economists they don’t know this they should be ashamed of their calling, not all techniques are taught in Economic Schools but only the poor old tired ceterit paribus doctrine, all things being equal, the Economy should work per their calculations. What a fatuous argument. Think and do not hide behind some silly aphorisms.
To some extent governments also play the high finance game and we were caught in the middle of the play. Instead of pushing for a nationally supported economic activity, we went into importations so they will buy our exports, a silly quid pro quo affair. What if they are producing what they might have imported from us? Stupid reason to go global free trade. Economic decisions must be based on cold hard realities and not on some specious assumptions.
With every body in the world needing a job, would it not be better to produce than to import? Do these self styled economist (who might have a hard time renting out comics books to kindergarten kids) know that every Government is after the “welfare of the People” which is found in most civilized Constitutions? And with that paradigm, to keep the domestic peace wouldn’t it better for these Governments to help their people to establish some sort of economic activity so that lesser pressure in on it to support a wide based welfare situation should poverty explodes? That’s what they did while the Philippines stupidly and continuously encourage a Government-sponsored brain-drain.
Had the Philippine Government stimulated the other sectors of society, not the rich and politically well-connected, and sponsored a modicum of support to the local urban and rural capitalists, the current economic crisis, although imported (thanks to the free-market retards) would not have made a deeper and long-lasting impact. The reason for exportation is that dishonest Governments cannot provide decent livelihood for their citizens due to eternal corruption, Philippines at the forefront.
Self sufficiency is the best policy for National Security concerns. And with these view in mind there will be more economic activity resulting in higher tax collections, lower the poverty level, minimize criminality and unemployment all because of one strategic move on part of Government, subsidize the people’s economic dynamism, not political corruption of the conjugal and the clan (whole family is corrupt) type and the tayo-tayo/kampi-kampi type. To put into perspective why good plans don’t happen in the Philippines is because there is just too much dishonesty in, mostly the Government and out of it.
On the other hand, the Administration of George W. Bush thought war would be the best Economic decision he could have made to propel the American Economy. Boy, was he so dead wrong and with many soldiers getting killed in the process without any progress on its show-only efforts to get the mad al-Qaeda rabid attack dogs headed by mad-dog Osama Bin-laden.
Old style wisdom is still best; love the one you’re with, not the foreign made economic policies. Seek what works best for the country and not on the dictates of your classmates from Wharton, Princeton, Harvard or whatever infernal business schools you come from local or otherwise. Enough already. I would rather get advisers from the London Scholl of Economics since they are more nationally inclined. Multinationals all over the world do not pay the right taxes because they always seek most favored nation clauses, Income Tax Holidays as most US companies do and they even cheat the Government of their legally due taxes. Imagine not reporting to the IRS what they earned abroad. The Conservatives always call for tax cuts, perhaps if they paid the right amount of taxes this Government or any prior and succeeding administration will not incur deficits if the selfish and the greedy Party of the trickle down type will just assume their fair share of Governmental maintenance-taxes.
It is the middle class that are paying for or covering for the share of the trickle down apologists/practitioners own tax burden. The Conservatives are the most boisterous hecklers but do they pay their fair share of taxes? I doubt, yet they want the benefits such as Government contracts, monopolies in health care and other services.
It is our taxes that makes the Government strong not the tax cuts always forwarded by the Conservatives and to drum up a sense of panic they enroll or use hyper methods such as certain personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Joe the Plumber, who try their best to sway away support to the Governent with their shrill and silly soundbites, bereft of contents and not related to economic recovery efforts. Sourgrapes. The would rather have us under the “trickle down liars” who have amassed fortunes under their names by not paying the right amount of taxes.
To refresh your memories the Conservatives’ tax cuts proponent soundbites are 1. If I pay more taxes, I wont be able to expand my operation to hire more people”- Lies, you sent te taxes saved in America to other countries which gave you tax holidays and under the reciprocity rule of tax management you get to effectively pay only 5% of the taxes on incomes you earned abroad by exporting American jobs abroad. Of course there are other hidden incomes such as in the disparity between US Wages and the slave labor wages you pay to the foreign workers. I should know because I came from a third World country, the Philippines and my country’s history is replete with examples of your excesses. My next coming piece is how American policy in Third World Countries are Dictated by the business and investment programs of the Conservatives and why revolutionary movements became popular in these countries. [Written by Deo Quiogue]
I’ve recently return to the United States after a long break in the Philippines to be with my family. Now it’s time to hunker down and go back to work and earn money. One of the jobs that I enjoy doing is being substitute teacher. It’s one of those jobs that I can leave and come back to at anytime. Plus, the schoolteacher in me can’t seem to stay away from the classroom. It’s like a calling that you find yourself going back to. Part of me still thinks I can make a difference in young people’s lives today as I impart my knowledge and life experience to them. However, in my last few returns to the classroom, the excitement that used to bring me back to the classroom is now beginning to wane. Not because I’m getting older or my patience thinning, it’s more the question of whether what I do as a teacher still impact the lives of young people today or the value system in American education has gone down the drain that it doesn’t make a difference one way or another.
It’s the proper combination of just the right ingredients that made this story an original one, an inspiration to those who’ve heard it. That’s exactly what I’ve felt when I sat down and interviewed Bernabe “Abeng”and Paulina “Poleng” Guillermo. Married for forty-nine years, their story was concocted from a simple recipe of unfailing love, devotion, and hard work to create success in their lives. Abeng and Poleng have been neighbors since childhood. When he was old enough to start looking for a wife, Abeng didn’t have to look very far. Poleng was right there…the girl next door…and he began courting her . The courtship lasted for three years until they werer married on June 5, 1960. 
Like all newlyweds, Abeng and Poleng were determined to make their new life as husband and wife work. He worked during the day, and well into the evening– tending to the riceland he’d leased from a landowner. She helped by sewing clothes and doing embroidery at home to add to their income. The money they’ve earned were deposited in a makeshift piggy bank salvaged from large empty milk cans. It took about a year before they were able to save enough money to buy a kalesa (a horse- driven covered carriage designed to carry passengers) that was used as a source of additional income. In those days engine driven vehicles were limited, and the kalesas were one of the few available modes of public transportation for short distances. So Abeng continued to work the farm, and interemittenly provided kalesa services throughout the day.
When the demand for kalesas started waning and replaced by the growing popularity of jeepneys (
By 1990, Abeng and Poleng decided it was time to change directions in their business. They’ve been entertaining the idea of opening up a meriendahan (a small snack kiosk on the side of the road), and opened their first establishement on July 1990. Their meriendahan served palabok (
By December 1990, Abeng and Poleng realized that their business success lies in making bibingkas. Their customers were ordering hundreds , even thousands, of bibingkas by Christmas and New Year and D’ Original Bibingkahan Sa Dos became a household name almost overnight. Their bibingka became the talk of the town of Bulacan and the word stretched all the way to the three major cities of Manila, Makati, and Quezon. Many of their bibingkas even reach the America and many parts of the world. D’ Original Bibingkahan Sa Dos has grown every since. 
Competition is normal part of the food business in the Philippines. Other merchants started copying Abeng and Poleng’s business idea, but the imitators could never duplicate the texture and taste of their bibingka. D’ Original Bibingkahan Sa Dos’ revenue were slightly affected for awhile due to the growing competion. But as soon as the customers realized that no competitors could match the taste of their bibingkas, the profit went back up. Even through the current economic recession, the business is still thrived, and has branched off into other delicacies like different flavors of suman (
Abeng has an advice for anyone planning to start a business in the Philippines, especially those Filipinos who are thinking about going abroad to work. He said there are opportunities to make it here in the Philippines. People just have to start a business they enjoy working or have skills in, don’t give up, and their hard work will pay off in the end. Abeng said he is sad to see Filipinos go abroad to work just to support their family in the Philippines. If they would just stay in this country and try to make the best of what they have, then they’ll find the success they’re desperately looking for. He thought about going abroad to work at one time in the past, like what his Filipino contemporaries have done. But he’d decided to stay because he wanted to try to make it in his own country and to be with his family. At the age of seventy-four, he’s never regretted the decision to stay. As a former farmer, Abeng always believed in the old saying that, wherever a person planted his or her own seeds, that’s also where he or she will harvest. Abeng and Poleng have proven that belief to themselves, their children, and those who knew them. [Written by Julius P. Bantigue]
At a birthday party that my youngest son Jericho attended last year, I engaged in a casual conversation with the birthday girl’s grandfather, Epoy, on some of the undesirable behavior that people display. Since we both live in the Philippines and are familiar with the way Filipinos think and behave, we can’t help but use some of the examples we’ve noticed in everyday life. One popular topic is the envious nature of Filipinos towards each other. Epoy pointed out that admiration and envy are siblings of the same emotion, and they’re both fighting for our attention on which one to use.
I had another one of those father and son talk with my oldest son Jeremiah on our way to ACE hardware at SM mall this evening. I make it a point to have one of these talks with my children regularly to find out how they’re coping with their life in the Philippines since moving here three years ago. Because Jeremiah is in college now and studying to become a nurse, and I don’t get a chance to have this father to son talk with him because of his busy schedule. I’m sure his school schedule will get more hectic by each succeeding semester. So I’m taking advantage of what time we have together to talk.