A Radical's Nut

The Head of the European Commission (EC) in the Philippines, Mr. Alistair Macdonald, and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are deceiving the public by claiming that there is no “request” from the European Union (EU) for the Philippine government to modify the 1987 Constitution, specifically to lift the constitutional ban on 100% foreign ownership of land and foreign practice of certain professions in the country.

Such document exists and is actually available online. Click this link and browse the page and look for the link “Philippines” to access the document in PDF format.

This document, which the EU has attempted but failed to keep secret, forms part of the negotiation process for the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The objective is to achieve further economic liberalization through a “request and offer process”, i.e. a country will submit a list of sectors it wants liberalized, identify the legal barriers to  foreign investment, and request that such barriers be eliminated. The party to which the request is made will then have to make an offer (which sectors the country is willing to eliminate the barriers identified by the EU). The EU made a request to a total of 109 WTO members, including the Philippines.

Reading this document, one would not find the phrase or term “Cha-cha” or an explicit request to modify the Constitution. Instead, the document simply enumerates the identified liberalization barriers and then proposes that such barriers be eliminated. For instance, on page 3 of this document, we will find these entries:

• Participation of foreign investors is limited for certain expressly reserved activities reserved by law to Philippine citizens (MA). EC request: Eliminate this requirement of citizenship…

• Acquisitions of land (MA) require 60% local capital. Foreign investors may lease only private owned land. EC request: eliminate

Limits on foreign investors on certain economic activities and land ownership are implemented because the 1987 Constitution mandates the government to do so, obviously to protect the national interest. By requesting that these prohibitions be “eliminated”, the EU is in effect lobbying for Cha-cha to accommodate their “requests” under the GATS.

External pressure from the rich countries to implement Cha-cha for more economic liberalization has already been raised in the past. In fact, it is the Americans, and not the Europeans, who are more vocal and explicit in their demand for Cha-cha to allow unbridled foreign investments in the Philippines. While the EU veils its Cha-cha lobby under the negotiation process of the WTO-GATS, US-based corporations bluntly state in their official papers the need for Cha-cha.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (AmCham), for instance, candidly said in its advocacy paper “The roadmap to more foreign investment” that when the 1987 Constitution is amended, restrictions on foreign investment and land ownership should be removed. In its 2006 Investment Climate Improvement Project (ICIP) advocacy plan, AmCham vows to seek “removal from the Constitution of all restrictions on foreign investment and professions” to “further liberalize the foreign investment regime to bring needed capital, skills, and technology into the country.”

AmCham’s ICIP, which aims to initiate investment climate reforms in the Philippines, is being funded with an undisclosed amount by the US government.

Meanwhile, the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), an agency of the US government in charge of directly negotiating trade agreements with foreign governments , as well as resolve disputes, and participate in global trade policy organizations, has identified several provisions of the 1987 Constitution that it considered as “trade barriers.”

These papers are all publicly available, just Google them.

Over and above the narrow, self-serving political agenda of the Arroyo administration, there has always been intense and persistent pressure from the rich and powerful countries to implement Cha-cha and liberalize the economy. While the Philippine economy has already achieved a relatively advanced level of liberalization, such opening is still not enough to meet the insatiable need of powerful countries like the US for markets and profit-making opportunities. And as Arroyo herself has declared, the next phase of liberalization in the Philippines will be in the form of Cha-cha. Arroyo and her clique have been riding on this imperialist agenda to implement their own political agenda to stay in power.

Thus, if Cha-cha is implemented, we will end up with the illegitimate Arroyo government and at the same time surrender to the US and EU whatever is left of our lands, our jobs, our industries and our economic sovereignty.

The people must defeat this evil scheme.

The Makati rally yesterday (June 10) drew in an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 people to protest what former President Cory Aquino described as “a shameless abuse of power” by the Arroyo administration. Organizers warned that the protest would surely escalate in the coming weeks, especially if congressmen force to convene the constituent assembly (con-ass) for Charter change (Cha-cha)

Expectedly, the beleaguered Arroyo administration is now using all sorts of arguments why people should not join the protests against Cha-cha. One major argument is the economy, which it has always used to discourage public demonstration of outrage against the regime’s barefaced abuse of power.

When massive protests broke out set off by the Hello Garci electoral fraud and later by the NBN-ZTE corruption scandal, the tune was that protests would only offset the gains made by the economy.

The country could not afford a political crisis, much less another EDSA. “Ramdam na ang kaunlaran at sayang naman ang umuunlad na ekonomya” was the recurring theme of Malacañang’s defense against calls for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo. The propaganda line was that the economy has achieved a certain level of stability under Mrs. Arroyo’s leadership. Removing her from office, or instigating moves to get rid of her, would put such economic stability at risk.

But as I have pointed out in a previous article, the deceit of economic growth and industrialization that Malacañang peddles has been further exposed by the latest official figures on the state of economy. According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the country is “teetering into recession”. The massive displacements of Filipino workers here and abroad due to the global crunch could not be concealed as well by false claims of economic stability.

Thus, amid threats of intensified anti-Arroyo protests caused by the renewed push for Cha-cha, the administration’s economic managers have adjusted their tune. From stability and “First World status”, what is supposedly at risk now is the “resiliency” of the economy amid the raging global recession.

On the eve of the Makati rally against Cha-cha, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued this warning: the disruptive impact of political events could affect the county’s economic policies and therefore the performance of the economy. Markets have become “edgy” over the past few days because of the looming showdown between the Arroyo administration and its critics and opponents, BSP Governor Armando Tetangco cautioned. Investors in the stock market are cashing in on gains to secure their money, causing the stock market index to drop by 29.47 points.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ralph Recto, meanwhile, appealed to the public last week not to further aggravate the weak economy. With the gross domestic product (GDP) growing by only 0.4% in the first quarter, Recto warned that there is an “economic cost to political instability and political uncertainty”.

Malacañang’s chief economist added that “In this challenging time of the global economic crisis, let us not add more shocks to our resilience. Let us remain focused in our efforts to navigate the economy through this time of global hardship.”

Running out of materials to spin and promote the country’s supposed economic growth, government is now using the precarious situation of the domestic economy to help prevent from further intensifying the public outrage triggered by the railroading last week of House Resolution (HR) 1109 to convene Congress, with members of the Senate and House of Representatives voting as one, into a con-ass

But instead of dampening the people’s outrage, such statements would only further stoke public indignation. The worsening economic uncertainties the country faces are not the people’s fault, in the same manner that HR 1109 that will push for Cha-cha and perpetuate Arroyo to power is not the people’s wishes. What is definite is that the blatant push for Cha-cha to serve Arroyo’s narrow political interests at a time when the hyped economic growth is unraveling spells huge political consequences for the despised Arroyo administration.

Indeed, it’s not the legitimate protests that will aggravate the country’s economic woes. Job scarcity, forced labor migration, poverty, destruction of local industries, and vulnerabilities to the global recession are all deteriorating due to wrong economic policies of the Arroyo administration.

It’s the worsening economic condition of the Filipino people that will feed the worsening political crisis. It is the raging economic crisis, amid the shameless abuse of authority by the Arroyo administration, that would compel the people to thwart the scheme of this regime to prolong its stay in power through Cha-cha.

A scandal as sensational as Hayden Kho’s sex videos was how Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan partylist described what happened last night at the Batasan where Speaker Prospero Nograles and other Palaka congressmen, with marching orders from GMA, railroaded House Resolution 1109.

But without any intention to downplay or trivialize the abuse suffered by Hayden’s victims, I say it’s a scandal far worse. That is the only way I can describe what the administration lawmakers did to force Congress to convene into a constituent assembly (Con-ass) for charter change (Cha-cha).

I thought that the scandal caused by Hayden’s sex videos could not be outdone for a long time. But the scandal at the House was worse because Malacañang’s cabal did not have qualms doing their Cha-cha version of “Careless Whisper” on national TV, live. There was no “Hayden” camera. Unlike Katrina Halili and the other victims, Nograles and company were fully aware that cameras were shooting.

Pero hindi sila nahiya. At talagang hindi nahiya sa paghubad sa tunay nilang agenda.

Under interpellation, one of the sponsors admitted that the pledge made by HR 1109 not to extend the term of GMA, that the 2010 elections will push through, etc are not guaranteed commitments once the Con-ass starts its work.

May maitim talagang balak mula’t simula ang mga pasimuno ng HR 1109.

The resolution, which was still then un-numbered, was circulated in secret by its proponents to House members for their signatures. Over and over again, it was reported in the media then that the resolution already had a certain number of signatures but the public and anti-Cha-cha House members were clueless about its exact contents.

Then it became HR 1109 and was finally submitted to the House committee on constitutional amendments. There, it was never subjected to a debate, much less to a public consultation. As the minority members of the House noted during the rather brief interpellation of the resolution’s sponsors at the plenary, only three constitutional experts were invited as resource persons (who, by the way, all thumbed down HR 1109) and other stakeholders and social sectors were not invited. If my recollection of the plenary proceedings last night is right, the committee only had two hearings which together lasted for less than three hours.

Then it was rushed to the plenary, where the majority assured the minority that the debates would be held. But only about four hours into the interpellation, a motion was raised to stop the debates and hold a vote on HR 1109.

Apparently, nainip na sila sa sarili nilang moro-moro. The questions and points raised were futile, anyway, since at the end of the day, it’s a numbers game. Walden Bello repeatedly talked about intelligent discourse, fair play, etc that the majority is undermining with its motion to vote. But did Bello really expect a great debate?

I remember when GMA first openly advocated Cha-cha. She asked Congress (it was her SONA, I think) to start the “great debate”. To be sure, what happened at the House last night was anything but a great debate.

Itinago na sa publiko, iniratsada pa sa plenaryo itong HR 1109. Mga salbahe talaga.

But as we have proven time and again, what we can’t stop in Congress, we can stop in the streets.

Mayorya sila sa Batasan, tayo ang higit na malaking mayorya sa lansangan.