GMA adopts De Sotto’s economic principle

First, we want to state there was a printer’s error that appeared in my column last Thursday. A sentence that said that Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should have a "transparent administration" was printed as "transfer administration." We don’t believe there is such thing as a "transfer administration" so the whole sentence made no sense. So much for that.

Today we would like to comment on GMA’s announcement that in her war against the centuries-old problem of poverty in the country, she has adopted the strategy or principle of the renowned Peruvian economist who incidentally bears the name of the 16th century Spanish conquistador who explored the new world in search of El Dorado, Hernando de Soto.

El Dorado was the name given to the alleged King of the fabulous city of Manoa, which was supposed to exist somewhere on the Amazon. Manoa’s houses were said to be roofed with gold. It was not only Hernando de Soto that sought to find the legendary El Dorado. Sir Thomas Roe and Raleigh also tried to locate it during the reign of James I.

De Soto’s Peruvian namesake is a modern economist who has dedicated his studies to the plight of poverty in third world countries and the most realistic approach towards the alleviation and solution to said problems. De Soto’s study took into account the actual conditions in the Philippines’ underground economy. He noted that it had accumulated assets of $132 billion, scattered in different slum areas, along railroad tracks, estuaries, river banks, and fishing villages. He believed that the answer to the problem was for the government to allow these vagabond settlers to first, acquire the titles to the land they occupy; second, for the government to allow them to borrow money using the titles as collateral. We know that many farmers who acquired titles to the land that they tilled for their landlords were later forced to sell the lands as they did not have the means to provide themselves with the equipment they needed to work the land on their own.

We believe that Dr. Hernando de Soto’s principle for urban land reform will be applicable to the Philippine situation. President Macapagal Arroyo is herself an economist. As such, she is in touch with all prevailing economic theories all over the world. Dr. de Soto’s economic strategies were conceived for existing conditions in the third world. We are certain that it will not be as fruitless as the original Hernando de Soto’s quest for the non-existent fabulous capital El Dorado where homes were roofed with gold.