The Perfect Storm? - JAYWALKER By Art A. Borjal

The storm whipped up by the jueteng exposé continues to rage, and there are no signs when it will die down. What is worrisome is the continuing skid of the Philippine peso as against the US dollar. How long the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas can prop up the peso is disturbing. Apparently, the Bangko Sentral’s intervention in foreign currency trading activities, during the past several days, has not made a dramatic dent in arresting the weakening of the peso. Which means that day by day, during the next several weeks, the government’s international reserves will continue to dwindle.

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It is an economic crisis, a very severe one, that is now hovering in the Philippine horizon. At the rapid rate the economy is going downhill, and at the dizzying pace in which prices of basic commodities and services are shooting up, it will not be long before cries of anguish, and then anger, from almost all levels of society, most especially the masa, will resound deafeningly all over the land.

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Take note that almost all manufacturing industries in the Philippines rely on imported materials for their products. This means that these industries will need more dollars to pay for their import requirements. This added cost is going to force some manufacturers to either stop their operations or limit their manufacturing activities. Either way, this will result in massive layoffs of workers or decreased earnings of the lucky ones retained.

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This is the biggest problem of the Estrada administration: The resurrection of the battered economy. How will President Estrada and his financial advisers stop the deterioration of the peso? How will they bring back confidence, so that the investors and businessmen will resume their economic activities? How will they stop the awesome spiral of the prices of almost every commodity and service? Yes, how will President Estrada and his men cope with the crisis of confidence that has, out of the blue and in such a short period of time, surfaced and surged in our country?

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There was a time when the country’s economic managers would pin the blame for our economic woes on what they said was a raging regional crisis. Apparently, this line of reasoning can no longer be used. The trigger of the staggering economic problem we now face is political: The explosive charges aired by Chavit Singson. This means that the brainstorming sessions of the President’s men, as they map out the master plan to ride out the storm, must include both political and economic solutions.

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In the meantime, the Philippines is again catching the attention of the world, no longer for the Abu Sayyaf hostages, or for the conflict in Muslim Mindanao, but for the jueteng scandal. What one big embarrassment that jueteng issue has brought to our country, in the eyes of the world. Worse, the perception of instability is going to make investors think doubly hard before deciding to pump their money into the Philippines.

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I received a pained letter from former Rep. Oscar ‘Ka Oca’ Santos, one of the most ardent supporters of our coconut farmers, and my colleague in the Eighth Congress. His letter is so thought-provoking I am publishing it in full. Ka Oca said:

Sayang. Naglahong pag-asa.

The people had been more than patient with him these past two years. It has been scam after scam. Now, this.

Even if he stonewalls and succeeds in hanging on to his post, he has irretrievably lost credibility. His battlecry for the masa has become sickening. What has he really done for them?

He could have signed the EO for the coco farmers. P5 B yearly interest earnings of the proposed trust fund to be created from the proceeds of the 27% uncontested SMC shares could have done a lot to 20 M coco farmers, farm workers and their families. Especially at this time since copra sales have gone down to an all-time low of P4 per kilo. They have become impoverished more than ever. But he kept stalling despite 34 or so drafts. He had to clear the EO with his patron and crony. Justice and the coco farmers can go hang.

Two years of the nation’s life and hope have gone to waste. He should now go back to movies — a costly setback for all of us.

Muli, maraming salamat sa inyong malasakit sa mga mag-niniyog.

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Thanks a million, and God bless the following kindhearted and thoughful persons who lent a helping hand to the Good Samaritan Foundation:

* Students and staff of Sunny Dale Learning Center, P800

* Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V, founder of AMA Computer College, for the 100% discount in all fees given to student Rowell Noronia, who lost both of his legs in a train accident in Makati City

* The Avanceñas of BelAir Village, Makati City, who gave 150 pieces of surgical gloves, four bundles of T-shirts, and pediatric medicines for the clinic put up by Oblates missionary Bro. Noel Garcia, who is a medical doctor, in Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi, to serve the medical needs of the indigent Muslim Filipinos in that faraway place, at the southernmost tip of Tawi-Tawi

* Ditas Magno, "Girl Friday" of Speaker Manny Villar, who donated a wheelchair which she, for a brief period of time, used after experiencing an accident at the airport

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I am being deluged with letters, from Filipinos living or working in various parts of the world, articulating their sentiments, mostly negative, on the jueteng scandal that has, like a blockbuster movie, captured the imagination and interest of millions of people. I do not have the space to accommodate the comments of their letters sent through Internet, but let me merely acknowledge their names: Nesty and Rosie Dayao of Seattle, Washington, USA; Atty. Edgardo M. Lopez, practicing lawyer in the US West Coast; someone who called himself "A Concerned Filipino in the US"; William Tang, Daly City, California, USA; Nati R. Alfonso; Rudy Reglos; Joe Castro of Anaheim, California USA; Geoffrey Cruz; Arnold Belnas; Jaime Ferrer Jr.; Z. Castro fo Anaheim, California; Marcel Antonio Madrid, Capitol District, Quezon City; Andy H. Hagad of Bacolod City; Wenidrida L. Lagman; Gil del Castillo of Concord, Massachusetts, USA, Ateneo HS ’68; Circulo Pampangueño, Vancouver, B.C. Canada; Paul Dalde, Houston, Texas, USA; Ferdie T. Sibal, 18 Green Leaves St., Capitol Green Village, Tandang Sora, Quezon City; and Ronald and Amelia Paras of Australia.

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Art A. Borjal’s e-mail address: <[email protected]>