Evening the playing field

The Filipino, the Filipino businessman in particular, is still a second class entrepreneur in his very own country. Ironically, in the land of his own birth the Filipino businessman has no equal access to the opportunities and resources that our own government offers to foreign businessman in the country.

In short, in the Philippines, there is an uneven playing field in favor of the foreign entrepreneurs.

There is a felt and urgent need, we believe, to set-up and establish an organization or movement dedicated to espouse and pursue projects and advocate policies for the specific benefit of the Filipino people and businessmen. Descriptive of its intent and purpose, the movement can be aptly called the "Kilusang Pang Pilipino".

As it is, there is a Foreign Investment Incentive Act and numerous other Philippine laws that pointedly entice foreign businessmen through benefits available only to them, and not to our local companies. In stark contrast, there is no Filipino investments incentive act for our own Filipino businessmen and entrepreneurs comparable in scope and benefits as the Foreign Investments Incentive Act.

We have here in the Philippines different Chambers of Commerce of various foreign businessmen such as the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the American Chamber and that of Japan, Australia and other countries. Of course, they exist principally to aggressively promote the rights, interests and benefits of their own companies and businessmen. Indeed, we have our own Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry dominated by Filipinos, but mostly employees not businessmen, which does not, however, pursue as vigorously the interests of Filipino businesses as actively as their counterpart foreign chambers do, and preferring instead to live with the status quo.

With little help and support from both our own government and even our own chamber of commerce, the Filipino businessmen and entrepreneur has little chance to grow big and be competitive with this foreign counterpart. He is a second-class citizen in his own country being pacified with crumbs for business opportunities while the big-ticket projects invariably go to his more preferred foreign counterpart.

Had the Filipino landlords, for example, been paid in cash instead of bonds in the acquisition of their land in implementation of the agrarian reform program, then he would have had the wherewithal to invest into the necessary key industries. Then he would have had the chance of capturing the big projects to make him grow and be competitive. For now, he is only given the low-ticket and small projects.

If only to dramatize this point, one needs but look around and see that most, if not all, our airports, ports, skyways, rail transit, dams, irrigation, power plants and telecommunications installations were and are being constructed with foreign borrowings and by foreign companies.

To name but a few examples of these: the Skyway Project from Pasay City to Alabang, being done by an Indonesian company; the Davao-Bukidnon Road being constructed by the Shinsung Corp.; the Rehabilitation of the Flood Control Operation and Warning in Metro Manila being undertaken by the Itochu-Tokyo Consortium; the Dredging and Sanitation Works of the Pasig River being done by Dredging International Asia Pacific (a Belgian company); the Pampanga Delta Development Project being pursued by Hanjin Heavy Industries Inc. (a Korean company); the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam; and the NAIA III undertaken by PIATCO.

If only all these big-ticket projects and business opportunities were instead given and awarded to our own local businessmen and companies through local funding, then they would have grown into world-standard giants by now and be able to proudly compete with their foreign counterparts.

The obvious reason, of course, why our local companies do not capture these big projects is that the big-ticket ventures are, without exception, financed and funded through foreign borrowings. Naturally, then, the foreign funders, taking care of their own, would tie-down their loan to the invariable condition that it must be the companies from their own country that shall do the project.

With this penchant of our own government for always borrowing foreign money, which is not even legal tender here, to finance the development of our infrastructure and utilities, our own local companies and businessmen are totally shut-off from ever acquiring these business opportunities.

Malaysia, under Prime Minister Mahathir, did not allow this pathetic situation to happen there. In Malaysia, they protect their own. The Malay businessman is not a second-class citizen in his own country. He is the businessman and entrepreneur in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, the original Malays organized the Bumiputra composed of Malays, and not Chinese, with the avowed mission of espousing the Malay interest, especially that of their businessmen. The Bumiputra then became the majority member of the UMO, the political party that catapulted Mahathir into power and stay on for the last 25 years now.

Naturally, the elected Malaysian officials, from Mahathir down, dedicated their positions and work to the upliftment of the Malaysian companies and entrepreneurs so that they immensely grew and are now proud world-class business giants in their own right.

The Malaysian experience should be our model as we do the same for the Philippines.

Hence, as we stated at the start of this article, we suggest the establishment of a similar movement, the "Kilusang Pang Pilipino," to work exclusively for the priority interest and benefit of the local Filipino companies and entrepreneurs in the same manner as the Bumiputra of Malaysia did for their Malays.

With the national elections at hand in 2004, this is an apt and opportune time to call on all Filipinos – of mind, of word and of deed – to join this crusading movement and finally make the Filipino the priority in his own homeland.

The Kilusan, a movement now and a political party later, can be a focal point in our democracy by rallying the Filipinos to be a potent force in directing Filipino policy by supporting and electing candidates who will truly serve the interests of the Filipinos, first and foremost.

The Kilusan shall fight for policies and directions that will give the Filipinos the competitive edge in their own country. Foremost, the Kilusan shall espouse the policy of refraining from foreign borrowing for our development needs. The Kilusan shall fight instead for the alternative of locally funding all our infrastructure and utilities by borrowing internally so that all these business opportunities can go to our own Filipinos.

We call on all Filipinos to join this movement now as we unite to be a potent force in Philippine elections and in shaping the future of our countrymen.

(You may write your comments/suggestion at 15/F Equitable Bank Tower Paseo de Roxas, Makati City or through e-mail at [email protected])

(Editor’s note: Atty. Roxas is writing a limited series of articles dealing with financial matters and other important business topics. He is available for speaking engagements on the subject matters of his articles.)