| The Panic Button By Antonio C. Abaya Written Oct. 19, 2004 For the Manila Standard, October 21 issue The Arroyo Administration seems to be running out of workable, commonsensical ideas on how to govern this arguably ungovernable country; on how to cope with the fiscal-financial-debt-power crisis that, it admits, will soon overwhelm us � in two years, at the most � unless new tax measures are passed by Congress to generate more revenues for the near-bankrupt government. Are President Arroyo and her people now pressing the panic button? It certainly looks that way. In apparent response to a recent SWS survey that showed that 15.1% of households nationwide had experienced hunger at least once in the last three months, triple the number in the previous year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has hastily cooked up a plan to distribute food coupons worth about P1,200 each to the 20 neediest families in every barangay nationwide, starting this month. This food program is expected to cost P6 billion a month. While I can appreciate the good intentions behind this program, I can also glimpse a certain level of panic in the government as it tries to cope with problems that seem to multiply faster and spread wider than it can solve them. I live in a middle-class subdivision that is surrounded on practically all sides by squatter colonies that must number at least a thousand families. While many of them have small businesses that sell goods and services among themselves and/or to us burgis families, there are certainly among them some who are really down and out and who, without doubt, are experiencing hunger more than once every three months. Out of a possible one thousand families, there must be more than 50 who fall into that hunger threshold every quarter. Giving food coupons to only 20 of them will just create resentment and envy among those who will be left out. And even assuming that everything goes according to plan and there will be no traffic in fake food coupons and there will be no favoritism, nepotism and unauthorized selling in the distribution of valid coupons, how long can the government keep on hemorrhaging six billion pesos every month? In one year�s time, that will be 72 billion pesos, 72 billion pesos that the government does not have. And even assuming that those 72 billion pesos worth of food coupons do find their way to the 20 neediest families in every barangay nationwide, what next? Since the emergency food coupons program does not involve creating any jobs for anybody anywhere, what happens after the 72 billion pesos worth of food have been eaten? Nothing. Nada. Niente. Nichts. Zilch. Not just back to square one, but additionally compounded by another two million babies that will have been born during the time it will take to distribute and eat those 72 billion pesos worth of emergency food. Wouldn�t those 72 billion pesos be more wisely spent building dignified housing for the poorest of the poor and then organizing them into manufacturing co-operatives that will fabricate products for which there is or can be a real demand, as I have been proposing in this space? We are a nation of 84 million. There are literally thousands, tens of thousands, of products that can be manufactured here and for which there is or can be a real demand. Giving the poorest of the poor the means to become producers of real goods and services and thus the opportunity to earn real wages, is the best way, the only real way, to uplift them from grinding poverty. Throwing food coupons in their direction is an insult to their human dignity. It also does not solve the problem. Just by conceptualizing something as silly as the food coupons program, President Arroyo�s people are showing a poverty of imagination. They are pushing the panic button because they cannot think of any other way to cope with the burgeoning problems of poverty and hunger. The same can be said of the equally hare-brained proposal to sell to the squatters the kilometers-long but narrow strip of land along the PNR�s right-of-way, from Muntinlupa to Caloocan. This is blind acceptance of the pet theory of newly-appointed presidential consultant, Peruvian social scientist Hernando de Soto, that selling the squatters the land on which they squat gives them a bankable asset that they can use to secure loans to improve their standard of living. Blind because it does not weigh the wider ramifications of the proposal: which is, to deny forever the use of this strategic strip of land for a fast commuter rail line, even a subway, that will decongest the metro streets, substantially reduce air pollution, and save millions of harried commuters and motorists hours that they now waste everyday in traffic jams. In other words, the future well-being of millions of largely middle-class and tax-paying commuters and motorists is being sacrificed for the instant gratification of a few tens of thousands of irresponsible squatters. Blind also because the fervent hope that the few thousand pesos in bank loans that each squatter can secure using his 15-20 sqm lot as collateral will be used to improve his standard of living is hopelessly na�ve. More likely that small loan will be squandered away in drinking and gambling, plus perhaps a few gallons of paint to give his hovel a new look, to give Hernando de Soto and his new employers the false impression that his standard of living is indeed improving. But, let�s face it, a string of hovels made over with a new coat of paint will still look like a string of hovels. Take a good look yourself at the shacks that line the railroad tracks from Muntinlupa to Sucat to Bicutan to Magallanes to Buendia to Vito Cruz to San Andres. Or the hovels that line the same railroad tracks from Santa Mesa to Caloocan. Will these hovels really look any better or more prosperous under a new coat of pain? If your answer is yes, then you deserve to live there yourself. Again, I ask. Wouldn�t it be more sensible to move these squatters to volunteer-built dignified housing and then organize them into manufacturing co-operatives that will fabricate products for which there is or can a be a real demand? By opting for their hare-brained sell-out idea, President Arroyo�s people are again pushing the panic button because they have run out of ideas on how to do things better. But perhaps the problem is President Arroyo herself and her ideological bias against manufacturing. She has been and still is ideologically committed to free trade and globalization, under which the Philippines has apparently been crossed out as a manufacturing country and must seek its fortune principally as an exporter of labor. Certainly GMA is the immovable object behind Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit�s adamant rejection of artificial methods of birth control and his one-sided espousal of the Vatican Roulette as the only officially acceptable means of taming our population growth rate . He because he wants to keep his job. She because she is planning to run for prime minister after charter change in 2007, and she feels she needs the endorsement of the Catholic bishops to clinch it. Not even the public appeal of the country�s top business leaders � Washington SyCip, Jaime Augusto Zobel, Ricardo Romulo, Oscar Lopez, Cesar Virata, Miguel Varela � for the government to promote all non-abortive methods of birth control to manage the population has dented the Vatican Roulette-only mindsets of our Taliban leaders PGMA and Sec. Dayrit. To emphasize his inflexibility, Sec. Dayrit has signed an agreement giving P50 million to Couplings for Christ, a Catholic organization, to propagate the Vatican Roulette (and it and it alone.) This is not pushing the panic button. It is worse. To fight a raging fire, Dayrit has chosen to distribute P50 million worth of water pistols and nothing else. Ready! Aim! Fire! Pssssssssst. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles at www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �The Panic Button� (Forwarded by Auggie Surtida, [email protected]) Part of the problem is the population explosion in the Philippines. A Catholic country who does'nt endorse birth control. When you put a person in this world, you're suppose to think what kind of a future you can give this kid... and a lot of Filipino men thinks of sex as an ownership he has on his wife, I feel sorry for a lot of women that are helpless. It is a macho culture. Not even thinking if they could feed their children. That's my thoughts on part of the problem. I totally agree with the writer. Something's gotta give. But before blaming this administration, let's look at ourselves and take some responsabilities on what's happening here. Del G. Yzon, [email protected] October 21, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, When the interest of the country is not in the heart of a leader the result will be disastrous. The following quotation from Chapter X of Apolinario Mabini's La Revolucion Filipina, seems to apply equally well to GMA: "To sum it up, the Revolution failed becaue it was badly led; because its leader (Aguinaldo) won his post by reprehensible rather than meritorious acts; because instead of supporting the men most useful to the people, he made them useless out of jealousy. Identifying the aggrandizement of the people with his own, he judged the worth of men not by their ability, character and patriotism but rather by their degree of friendship and kinship with him, he was tolerant even of their transgression. Because he thus neglected the people, the people forsook him; and forsaken by the people, he was bound to fall like a waxen idol melting in the heat of adversity. God grant we do not forget such terrible lesson, learned at the cost of untold suffering." I share Mabini's fear - Filipinos are about to forget a terrible lesson in history. Yours sincerely, Virgilio. Leynes, [email protected] October 22, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Forwarded by Auggie Surtida, [email protected]) Since the Church is very adamant against population control, maybe it should be obligated to spend its wealth to take care of those large families who, because they followed the Church rulings, are finding themselves unable to support them. Antonio Figueroa, [email protected] October 22, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Truly I am amazed at the mediocrity of Gloria Arroyo. I never expected her to be brilliant, imaginative etc. but she looks brainless. And maka-diyos, too which makes it worse. Ross Tipon, [email protected] October 22, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thanks, Tony. I agree completely with your observation. And why the hell doesn't this government really give the cooperative a hard push? It will go a long way. I have seen it work in Rotary. And, I may not get to tell you this all the time, but thank you so much for sharing your columns with me. I appreciate it. Carlo G. Baniqued, [email protected] October 23, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony! This is a great idea buddy! Long time no email, I have been overly busy my good friend. We should teach our people to be productive and not too dependent, it would only carve the path to lethargy. As the Lord Jesus Christ once preached, "Do not give them fish but teach them how to be fishermen." The government should channel funds to advocate the teaching of various vocational courses to the indigent sector. In this way, certain corporations might be able to outsource the work to them. This will be cost-effective on their part. Our country has suffered enough, let's all join hands to wake up the sleeping tiger economy that our people ought to be enjoying. Truly, Bong L. Sempio, [email protected] October 23, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww What are the e-mail addresses of the President of the Philippines and leaders of the Congress? Thank you and more power to you. Tom de Guzman, [email protected] October 23, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Forwarded by Tom de Guzman, [email protected]) I think the author's message would have the greatest impact if read by the targeted audience -- Arroyo herself and her administration. It's probably best if you also forward these types of messages to the Phil. govt directly, if the author isn't already doing so. I'm sure there's an email address out there for her and/or her minions . . . Peachie, [email protected] October 23, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir, your language suggests that in your obvious bias against Pres. Arroyo you want to throw the political "baby" out with the bathwater. In a land where opponents become enemies, you have taken the old Cold War adage of "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" and made it into "The idea of my opponent is bad." A pity. Your analysis of the de Soto effort shows that you simply don't understand his work, a further pity since you have decided to comment on it. Although lack of knowledge doesn't stop press commentaries even here in the US to lightly examine something as profound as real reform, makes this more than just journalistically irresponsible. First you confuse tactics (rail line titling) with strategy; just because in general de Soto validates existing claims, does not mean all existing land holdings should be validated. In any case, that isn't his call. He gives tools to government and assets to poor people. The purpose is equality and efficiency which must be balanced. Having good property rights and then access to public lands on which to build (ILD studies suggest this takes 24 years in your country) will actually allow things like rights of way to be decongested by moving them to public lands. Perhaps you want to keep it them way? But if so, that shows further ignorance since even the Ayalas might benefit from a good national property law. No one there has completely solid titles. Your comments on the uselessness of credit to a class of small entrepreneurs shows that you don't understand basic economics or economic history and are terribly paternalistic. This is the standard for the last 50 years of foreign aid. Take a look around, you want more of the same? How about as an alternative, giving the poor the same thing that every single successful economy had before it started to develop (property rights) and which conversely not one single economy has ever developed without. In any case, since de Soto appears to have done nothing but a diagnosis so far, he could be no where near making the recommendation you suggest. I can't speak to what someone in the Arroyo administration suggests, and I suspect that this was not the result of a recommendation from de Soto which, again, is not the sort of thing he would be asked to recommend in the first place. He provides the laws from which titles for homes, businesses and even people (birth certificates for instance) result. He does not make policy decisions about specific land parcels. P. Schaefer, [email protected] Washington, DC, October 27, 2004 MY REPLY is incorporated in the article �Garcia�s Millions, Hernando�s Giveaway� (Nov. 03) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
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