The Philippines - Politics, Government, Economy, Culture and Prospects

HIGHLIGHTS and EXCERPTS

A. Excerpts

[Moderator's Note: In the interest of brevity, we have exercised some editorial discretion and prerogatives in presenting this version of the forum highlights. We have combined the issues raised, and Dr. Nemenzo's responses, and the comments. We did not include the names of the questioners. All of the details, however, can be retrieved in the file of the entire proceedings which are posted in the Gugma Han Samar website (http://gugma.samarnews.net/articles/article.htm) See below for more details.]

1. What is the situation of the Philippines after the Marcos Dictatorship?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: After two EDSAs, it is still the same system. One of the biggest reasons of our economic problems is our foreign debts. We were shocked how much we were indebted during Marcos' time, but now it is more than that. Mrs. Arroyo has been borrowing money to pay the loans, without any plans on how to repay them. Debts have been accumulating. I don't see how we can move forward if a great portion of our public revenues are used just for servicing foreign debts. I cannot see how any country can recover with a foreign debt like ours. The two EDSAs replaced two Presidents. But a great number of people now realize that it is not enough to change the President, the personnel at the top. We have to think of how to change the system.

2. What do you suggest we do with our gargantuan foreign debt? In our search for a solution, would declaring bankruptcy be an option, and what do you think would be the ramifications, if like Mexico and Argentina, we stop paying our debts?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: Nations do not declare bankruptcy. They default on the payment of debts because they have become so poor and cannot pay anymore. Mrs. Aquino could have asked in 1986 to have a moratorium on the payment of our debts because she was very popular. But when she came to the US to address the US Congress, she assured her listeners that: "We are honorable people, we will honor all our debts." Do you know that no one knows how much we owe? We urgently need a debt audit. When government-owned and controlled corporations borrow and they cannot pay, the government takes over the loans. Then the loans become debts of the Filipino people even if the loans were negotiated by friends of Presidents. And it was these friends who benefited from the loans. No one exactly knows how much we owe. We should distinguish onerous debts from legal ones, like Westinghouse; others are illegal, they should not be passed on to the people. For legitimate debts, we should negotiate a 5-year moratorium. But certain debts should be honored such as bonds. If these are repudiated, ang matatamaan are our own people. There should be different policies for different kind of debts. Creditors should also share the blame for the debts because before they should approve the loans, they should have made feasibility studies beforehand.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: [More on defaulting on the payment of debts.] We cannot just default unilaterally. The countries to which we owe loans can retaliate. It is not an option in the sense that we can choose. If they retaliate, we cannot sell anything overseas. We cannot send money to the Philippines. Philippine accounts, for instance, in the US, will be frozen. Ayaw ko iyong drastic solutions that we forget our debts. Insofar as the onerous debts are concerned, okay. Other countries will support us if we are able to show that the debts are indeed onerous. As much as possible we should avoid a unilateral default on the payment of our loans. But our creditors should also understand that if they don't give us a breathing space, the time will come when we will have no other recourse but to default.

3. How about our traditional politicians? During the time of Marcos, there was a popular saying that there was only one SOB. Now there are many, many of them. How can you have a leadership in the Philippines that cannot be bribed, where there is no graft and corruption, how do we go about it?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: No change for as long as money is the most critical factor in elections. Vote buying is passe, it is now buying of certificates of canvass. Elected leaders use political power to recover investment. Insofar as the situation is concerned, the trapos are fragmented. They are not a decisive force in toppling down GMA.

4. What is your assessment of the Fidel Ramos and Cory Aquino administrations?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: There was no progress during the Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos regimes. Cory could have negotiated with Philippine debtors to ease the payment of our loans. But she did not do this. Ramos has good image in US, but not in the Philippines. Many in the military think he was corrupt. The impression of progress and prosperity that the Philippines showed when Ramos was President was largely due to sale of parts of Camp Bonifacio. The growth rate of 6%, NIC-hood in 2000, were all artificial. During the Centennial Celebration, kawawa si Doy Laurel, kasi is FVR hindi iyan pipirma ng dokumento. Si Doy ang nakafirma. Ramos is not necessarily popular. But as former President he is good copy when he calls a press conference.

5. On the impact of the international political and economic order, i.e., WTO, on the Philippines.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: Continuing the policy of mendicancy and subservience to the US is not obviously in our interest. We need a more independent foreign policy. We should create alliances with other countries, transform ASEAN, enter into closer relations with other East Asian economies. Play a more active role in the Group of 77, with less developed countries, put more pressures on the G8. Get our act together to earn the respect of other countries.

6. Is the Laban ng Masa, the movement that you lead, being taken seriously? How can you organize for massive political and social change when there is so much fragmentation among the groups opposed to the system and to GMA? Even the so-called "progressive" groups are fighting each other.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: The EDSA now is not as big as EDSA I and II. But it is composed mostly of Filipinos who belong to the masses and not the perfumed ladies of Makati and the executives in barong and ties. It is not only in Metro Manila where there are demonstrations. There are demonstrations in other cities and towns in Luzon which are not covered by media. Demonstrators from the provinces are prevented from coming to Metro Manila. The most critical factor in this regime change that we are struggling for at the moment is the reform element of the military.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: The outcomes of EDSA I and II should not be repeated. We should not only be concerned with changing the President and the top leadership of the government. What needs to be done is to change the system.

7. It is heartening to note that you do not consider the military anymore as the enemy of the people. After all, the soldiers come from the masses, about 99% of the 1,500 officers and the 150,000 soldiers come from the masa who feel the pain of their brothers and sisters. What do you think of three possible scenarios where the military would play and important role in the Philippines: first, the military instituting a coup to install President Ramos as leader of a Military Junta, second, the military instituting a coup to install a Transitional Revolutionary Government, and third, the military instituting a coup where they take power into their hands and govern the country by themselves.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: A coup with Ramos becoming the leader is not feasible as the military does not like him. Gen. Abat says the military cannot take over and rule alone. More likely, the coup will install a Transitional Revolutionary Government. The military is no longer a reactionary force that is cohesive, subservient to foreign powers and obstacles to reforms. Fundamental reforms can be effected through an alliance between the civilians and the military especially the Young Officers Union (YOUng).

8. What is the role of America in the Philippines? Are the Americans really concerned about the Filipinos?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: US wants that the transition be constitutional. We should not be subservient to America. Let us not exaggerate the role of the US in the fall of Marcos, Actually, Reagan wanted a power sharing arrangement between Marcos and Cory.

9. On Jose Maria Sison, Satur Ocampo, the "Revolution", Transitional Revolutionary Government, the "Blueprint."

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: If ever, our proposed Transitional Revolutionary Government (TRG) will govern for at least three years. This is contrasted with the proposal of Satur Ocampo wherein they propose that the Transitional Government should only last for six months. If elections are held after six months, the trapos will be back in power. In our proposal, the Constitution and laws will be set aside. And the government will exercise both executive and legislative powers as in the days of President Cory Aquino and George Washington in the US.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: The "Blueprint for a Viable Philippines" was crafted to get people to think, not just who to replace GMA but also what changes should be done. Its in bullet points to make it more understandable even to Susan Roces and Noli de Castro. The Blueprint is a document which integrates proposals and people's agenda, not only from UP, but also from groups in or experienced with government as well as the corporate sector and the Filipino masses.

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: There are potential leaders not included in the surveys, academics, clergy, professional, military that can be tapped under a TRG.

10. What do you say about a "Government of National Reconciliation" of the Uruguayan experiment known as the "Frente Amplio" and the Filipino People as the Army of the Bagong Katipunan? This division of the various progressive groups which seem unending has made many Filipinos cynical and hopeless that substantive and meaningful change can be effected through them. If you recall in the '70s the group of Jose Maria Sison referred to you as a "Soviet Social Imperialist" and the group of Jose Maria Sison was labeled as "Adventurists". Cannot all these groups, Bayan Muna, Laban ng Masa, Akbyan, the MILF, other Moro Groups, Sanlakas, the Young Officers Union, etc., talk to each other and unite in the spirit of the Uruguayan "Frente Amplio" and work for a non-violent, peaceful change through the electoral process?

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: [referring to the name calling among the "progressive" groups in the '70s]: "Wala na iyon."

Response by Dr. Nemenzo: I have seen the face of violence. But I realize that violence will not solve anything. Iyong patayan ng patayan. The other groups will just fight back. We will just be in a mess. It will just be an invitation for American intervention. That ought to be avoided. I certainly regret the atrocities committed by the military, but let us also tell our people in the progressive movement to avoid these atrocities themselves because their hands are not clean. Human rights violations were also committed not just by the military but also by some of the rebel groups. Dapat ayusin ang rules of engagement. We should not be only condemning the atrocities by one side, while overlooking the atrocities committed by the rebel groups. Otherwise you will encourage these atrocities. I look forward to a process of change without violence, unless it is extremely necessary and unavoidable and not as a part of the struggle to attain political objectives. It will be hard for us. But it can be done.

Closing Renarks by Jose Aliling IV: He paid tribute to the presence of people who represented the political spectrum in the Philippines, as it were. He mused that the Francisco Nemenzo Forum was reminiscent of the days in the UP in the 70's when the campus could listen and hear the ideas of Jose Maria Sison, Nur Misuari, Francisco Nemenzo, Jr. and others.

B. Note by the Moderator

The Forum participants were a microcosm of Philippine society, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. There was a representative of Bayan USA. There was a gentleman who used to be with the Philippine military who may have become a close friend of a former activist. Many were veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle in the Philippines and in America. Some longed for the order that Marcos imposed on the Philippines. Many had been able to establish their roots in America. Some were young and not very facile with Pilipino, only English. Many had passed their primes; some were at the zenith of their lives. Most were alumni of the University of the Philippines. The majority was just very passionate about the land they left behind wishing that old wounds could be healed and Philippine society could move on. This was expressed by one participant when he suggested some kind of a "Government of National Reconciliation".

Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, Jr. is an alumnus of the University of the Philippines' College of Public Administration with a Ph.D. from a University in England. He is popular in the "other" group constituting the "progressive movement" in the Philippines. Already a noted writer and thinker during the time of the dictatorship, he was imprisoned during the time of another University of the Philippines alumnus, Ferdinand Marcos.

He was not only a University Professor of Political Science. He was also a University Administrator serving as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a Chancellor of the UP in the Visayas, and ultimately, President of the University of the Philippines System till his retirement.

After retiring as University of the Philippines President, he was elected President of the "Laban ng Masa" ("Struggle of the Masses"), a political movement struggling to provide a better life for the poor in the Philippines. He was propelled into this position of immense responsibility in view of the ongoing turmoil in the Philippines.

Instead of faithfully trying to document the proceedings of the forum, we are presenting here the interaction between the forum participants and Dr. Nemenzo, especially how the participants reeacted to his thoughts and the situation in the Philippines. A more organized presentation of his ideas and others who share their sentiments have been culled by a group which includes Renato Constantino, Prof. Randy David, Dr. Roger Posadas, and Ms. Raquiza assisted by others in academe, in the business sector, among the peasants and by others associated with the "Laban ng Masa" movement. The document, entitled "Blueprint for a Viable Philippines", can be accessed at:http://www.pcij.org/blog/wp-docs/Blueprint.pdf. We believe that insofar as that forum was concerned, it is more important to indicate how the participants reacted to Dr. Nemenzo's presentation.

So us not to suffocate you with a lot of verbiage in bytes and bits, we are just abstracting here the major highlights of the forum, especially the thoughts of Dr. Nemenzo and his group and the perceptions of the forum participants with respect to Dr. Nemenzo and his group, and the totality of Philippine society.