Even during the Spanish era, our country was tapped by the colonizers for raw materials and agricultural products while we imported high-priced finished products. Hence, while its natural resources were steadily drained, there were no signs of economic development - of self-sufficiency and alleviation of poverty. (Legaspi, 1991) This did not change even during the American colonization.

In the destruction following World War II, tremendous amounts of aid from the US were used to rehabilitate the country. But instead of reviving the economy by making us self-sufficient, the government instead chose to give preferential treatment to foreign investors.

The first loan to the Philippines amounting to $300 million came in 1957. (Legaspi, 1991) This loan effectively brought the Philippines under the control of the IMF, a trap that our country has not gotten out off ever since.

Over a period of time, despite the country's yearly payments, the foreign debt continued to increase year after year until it reached today's level of $52.16 billion. (See Table 1)

As can be seen in Table 1, the country's foreign debt reached the billion-dollar mark during the 15th year of the Marcos rule (in 1981).

A history of colonialization has also instilled in the population the value of paying all debts, whatever their origin and history, as a matter of honor. Then President Corazon Aquino honored the fraud-tainted debts of Marcos cronies since, like most Filipinos, she believed that a debt is simply a debt, to be repaid at all costs. By the time she stepped down in 1992, the debt stood at $30.9 billion.

During the 6-year term of President Fidel Ramos, the foreign debt figures increased up to $47.817 billion.

From the time Joseph Estrada assumed the Presidency, the total external debt of the country shot up by $6.46 billion and by the first half of this year; it has reached $52.16 billion.