PRESIDENT Aquino’s overture for peace has its roots in his economics background. Many say, and we agree, that his announced “all-out justice, not all-out war” policy arose from his appreciation of economic theories that deal with the allocation of scarce resources, such as ours. If he continues to pursue this role as a peacemaker, the President may yet preside over an economy, especially in Mindanao, that would yield peace dividends previously unheard of, such as arms being turned into plowshares, erstwhile battle zones turned into tourist zones, enemies becoming business partners.

His announcement about the pursuit of peace, despite the call for the drums of war, is actually the third time the President exhibited a profound knowledge of economics, which is concerned with, say, the relation between interest rates and the pricing of government bonds.

When San Miguel top honcho Ramon S. Ang offered to sell back to the government the Limay refinery of Petron, the President politely turned him down, saying the running of business is best left to the private sector, which is basic in economics.  Before that, he dwelt at length on the pitfalls of having a monopoly in the telecommunications sector, such that he set up a Competition Authority to be headed by the Department of Justice. For a monopoly is deemed disadvantageous to the consuming public.

But back to the Mindanao problem. Saeed Daof, a former MILF adviser and now head of the Southern Philippines Development Authority, agrees with the President on the pursuit for peace but stresses the need for the government to remain sovereign over its own territory. But he also espouses the full force of retributive justice for those who ambushed 19 soldiers and officers in Al-Barka.

Sens. Ralph Recto and Koko Pimentel have, likewise, voiced their support for the economic initiatives of the President, knowing full well the impact of transforming implements of war into economic tools so that we can soon reap the peace dividends.

For Sen. Alan Cayetano, an all-out war against poverty, which also has economic overtones, must be pursued. In a way, the need for a peacemaker President is not lost on the senators. We hope it is not lost on other influential personalities, as well, who could help their Chief Executive bring his and the nation’s dream of peace to fruition.

ING Bank in the eye of a storm

ING (International Netherlands Group) Bank Manila is in the eye of a storm at the House of Representatives, raised by an investor who lost a sizable sum because of “misrepresentations” made by the ING Manila’s private banking officers.  There are curious details that Washington Lou, representing himself and Corazon Lou, Scarlet Lou and the estate of Julian Lou, have revealed before the House of Representatives Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries.

It seems the Lous were enticed into joining some esoteric investment schemes that were supposed to guarantee high interest rates. It turned out that the ING bankers did not have the best intention for the Lous.  As the Lous later discovered, the investment instruments were “made in Singapore.”

Now the Lous are seeking to recover their $5-million investment. The House committee has yet to summon the SEC to corroborate the complaint but the feeling is that it wont be long before the full force of our laws is applied to the ING Manila officials. A cursory reading of the investment papers reveals the following unheard-of schemes:  Ind Metalurgicas, Blue Ocean, Temir Bank, Lupatech, Russian Standard Bank, Profilo Teira, Rede Empresas.

Blue Ocean? No wonder the Lous are blue! Hahaha.

Rice imports and the zero-sum game

THANKS to reports that the Philippines need not buy more rice from abroad, the people are no longer worried about a rice crisis that could result from the floods that ravaged Thailand and Vietnam, two of the biggest suppliers of rice to the Philippines. The NFA bodegas, so the reports go, are still full of so much rice stocks that they will soon be remilled and infused with vitamins for distribution to provinces with inadequate rice stocks.

Like the zero-sum game, where one man’s loss is another man’s gain, the huge rice inventory that the Aquino administration inherited, can now serve as a buffer rice stock, so the President’s boys are saying. So let’s hope these bits of information will help put NFA boss Lito Banayo at ease; we heard he has been pretty worried about the possible effect on the country’s current rice stocks of the recent typhoons.

But our agri boss should now think about next year when the rice stocks are depleted, and the low rice yield due to the back-to-back typhoons kick in before the harvest season in June. By then, the NFA has to think of having better rice yields.

Myanmar as rice exporter

MYANMAR is now embracing fully the hybrid-rice seeds of SL Agritech Corp., headed by Henry Lim Bon Liong. The seeds, which yield four times more than ordinary rice seeds, are seen to boost the rice production of that country that used to be known as Burma. When that happens, Myanmar may join Thailand and Vietnam as the Philippines’s rice suppliers. What is noteworthy here is that agriculturists from Vietnam and Thailand got their “expertise” from the Philippines; they trained at the International Rice Research Institute or Irri in Los Baños, Laguna. And, hey, take note of this: Henry Lim is a Filipino. The SL Agritech hybrid seed was discovered by him and is marketed under the brand name “Doña Maria” in honor of his late mother. It can withstand drought conditions and even floods, repeat, floods. It’s so good it has even earned the interest of a foreign conglomerate that wanted to buy its patent but Lim said no, preferring to let the Philippines benefit from his discovery. We heard he has approached some of the President’s guys but they haven’t given him any assurance that they would take it up with the bossman. He was given a cold shoulder, in other words. So what’s a guy to do under the circumstances? In a sense, he was pushed by necessity to accept Burma’s offer and perhaps, pretty soon, from Nigeria and the other rice-starved countries like us that we mentioned earlier. What a pity! It reminds us of what Jesus said:

“A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”