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It seems
that for some senators anything for, from or by China is
crooked, corrupt and generally bad for the
Philippines.
This is judging from their comments during the Senate’s
ongoing inquiry into Philippine government agreements,
contracts, deals, arrangements, discussions or
negotiations with the Chinese government.
Even
foreign investors attending a forum in Manila seem to
share this view, judging from their comments in recent
news reports that the Philippines should be more
circumspect with foreign aid and investments from China,
particularly those tied to the use of their allegedly
substandard contractors and suppliers.
China-bashing locally appears to be in vogue, indeed, at
least in Senate halls, despite the fact that
Chinese-Filipinos are the acknowledged prime movers of
the Philippine economy. Even political and diplomatic
resolutions to the long-standing conflict over the
Spratly Islands is now at the fore, with Congress
denouncing recent Chinese caution against the
redefinition of Philippine territorial jurisdiction.
And all
this as the Senate tries to uncover the truth of
allegations that Malacañang’s “lucky” occupant and her
husband and their associates were bound to gain large
commissions from a telecommunications contract to be
financed by the Chinese government, and supplied by a
publicly listed Chinese company that is minority-owned
by the state.
It all
started with a former House Speaker’s son losing out to
a Chinese contractor, now more popularly known locally
by its initials ZTE, in bidding for a major contract to
supply modern telecommunications equipment that would
network government offices nationwide. The project was
to be financed by the government partly through a loan
from the Chinese government. And the issue was alleged
overpricing, with some Philippine officials, including a
resigned elections commissioner, reportedly standing to
personally benefit for facilitating the project
approval.
By now,
after months of investigation and publicity, everything
else financed by the Chinese government, as well as
Chinese investments to the Philippines, are suspected by
opposition senators of being questionable, and thus
deserving of further scrutiny. Even China’s offer of a
$5-billion financing for 1 million low-cost housing
units is suspected to be overpriced. As if $5,000, or
roughly P200,000, for a house is extravagant or
exorbitant. Worse, neither the Philippine government nor
the private sector is even in a position to finance that
kind of undertaking.
What’s
truly sad and frustrating is that all this attention on
anything Chinese seemingly undermines present efforts to
maintain cordial and mutually beneficial relations with
Asia’s main economic powerhouse. Moreover, it has
distracted the Senate from its more important chore of
legislating measures that benefit the people. Worse, the
opposition’s action in the Senate may even put at risk
the very people who voted them into office.
The
Senate, by the action of its 24 members, ultimately
decides the collective fate of more than 88 million
Filipinos—regardless of the fact that senators voted
into office do not even comprise the majority of the
population. It is thus imperative that they act always
in the best interest of the people. To them, a
miscalculated move can result in an election loss. But
to the people who voted them into office, such
senatorial miscalculation can mean the difference
between survival and starvation.
Food
security is a perfect example of the government’s prime
responsibility. And the fact that this is now under
threat seems lost on some members of the Senate. That
the price of wheat, the main ingredient for making
flour, has already gone up by almost 40 percent doesn’t
seem to matter to them. This was after world market
prices reached fresh highs, largely the result of
declining world supply and rising demand. Wheat stocks
are now reportedly at their lowest in 30 years.
Worse,
likewise lost on senators is the fact that many poor
Filipinos nowadays survive not on the main staple, rice,
but on instant noodles—practically the cheapest food
available in the local market. The irony is that noodles
are usually made from wheat, and the country doesn’t
even grow this grain, but imports it in large
quantities.
The
trade department’s main preoccupation now is to secure a
stable supply of milling wheat and wheat flour, to
stabilize local food prices. And among the biggest
producers of wheat is China. Other large producers are
the former
Soviet Union, Australia, the
United States, India and Canada. But given the large
demand for the grain even in these wheat-producing
countries, there is now very little to go around. They
have taken measures to prioritize local consumers by
reducing exports of the grain.
China,
the biggest wheat producer, is even imposing a type of
export quota that is based on an allocation system.
Without an allocation, a country cannot import wheat
from China. To date, the Philippine government—through
the trade department—is negotiating such an allocation
for milling wheat and wheat flour. As one trade official
noted, China reserves the right to prioritize
allocations, perhaps much like Santa’s naughty-or-nice
lists.
Whether
the Philippines can secure an allocation remains
uncertain, especially with the Senate seemingly losing
sight of the bigger picture. The beef is with ZTE and
its alleged bribery of Philippine officials, and not
with
China
as a whole. The issue is the illegal commission and who
got it, and not whether Beijing is engaged in wholesale
corruption through trade and aid. And there are more
important issues to consider other than whether the
President can be impeached. People need reasonably
priced food, and the country cannot produce enough of
it. This may be too simplistic or naïve. But the simple
truth is, if you slap your dinner host just before
service, then you will probably go home hungry.
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