The new ‘indios’ and the new ‘Filipinos’
>> Sunday, December 9, 2018
PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz
During
the 300-year Spanish colonial era, the natives were called “indios” and
the Philippine-born Spaniards and mestizos (mixed heritage) were
called “Filipinos.”
In 1898, after a brief
period of Philippine independence, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands, Puerto
Rico and Guam to the United States at the Treaty of Paris for $20
million. The old masters left and the new masters
arrived. Consequently, the fallacy that had been going on for more
than 300 years was corrected: the natives who had been derogatorily called
“indios” became the new “Filipinos.”
The first thing the
Americans did was to integrate the new Filipinos into the government patterned
after the American civil service. Another was to educate the
Filipinos in the language of the colonial masters, which is the exact opposite
of the Spaniards who discouraged – nay, banned – the indios from
learning Mother Spain’s language. Only
the Filipinos (non-natives) and the favored elite were allowed to
speak Spanish.
It
didn’t take long for the Philippines to progress after gaining its independence
on July 4, 1946. In the 1960s, the Philippines was second only to
Japan in terms of economic power. When the corrupt Marcos
dictatorship took power, the country came to be known as “The Sick Man of
Asia.”
Fast-forward to the
Duterte era. President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he couldn’t stop
corruption in his administration no matter how hard he tried to stop
it. He also complained that the trafficking of illegal drugs
continue to mercilessly destroy the lives of millions of
Filipinos. He was so frustrated that he was thinking of
stepping down.
But then came another
threat to Philippine sovereignty – the Chinese colonization of the
Philippines. Indeed, the threat is three-pronged: influx of Chinese
nationals, trafficking of illegal drugs, and debt trap diplomacy.
Influx of Chinese
nationals
China’s
“One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) expansion into the Philippines has drawn various
industries that created new economic opportunities. One of them is
offshore gaming known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO), which
was established after Duterte took over the government in 2016. There
are now more than 50 POGO licensees, many of whom are Chinese groups.
The influx of Chinese
gaming companies has created another industry – real estate. Due to the demand
for POGO facilities, offices and houses of the Chinese nationals, property
values have skyrocketed. The growth is phenomenal. POGO companies
employ mostly Chinese nationals that deprive Filipinos of much-needed
jobs. Their flimsy reason is they speak Mandarin, which is what the
Chinese gamblers from China speak.
Indeed,
the influx of Chinese nationals to the Philippines has taken a quantum leap. As
a group that’s known for not assimilating with the general population, the
Chinese would build in no time hundreds of ethnocentric communities –
mega-Chinatowns -- that would control the economic activities in major
population centers.
Trafficking of illegal
drugs
The illegal
drug operation involves various players, to wit: Foreign drug
manufacturers, smugglers, corrupt government officials, shabu laboratories,
drug lords, corrupt Customs officials, corrupt PDEA officials, corrupt police
officers, drug pushers, and drug users. It’s a hierarchy where all the players
play a part in the distribution network that has turned the Philippines into a
country of drug-induced zombies. It’s destroying the country!
The drug problem started
at the top of the food chain – the drug manufacturers that are based in
China. The Philippines has become the major distribution hub because
of the corruption in every level of the government structure. Corrupt
government and local officials protect the
smugglers, shabu laboratories, and drug lords, who in turn bribe the
corrupt Customs, PDEA, and police officers.
Debt trap diplomacy
Debt trap diplomacy
Studies
show that the Philippines is very vulnerable to “debt trap” because of China’s
high interest rates. Compared to Japan’s interest rates that range
between 0.25% and 0.75%, Chinese loans come with an interest rate of 2% to 3%,
which is 12 times higher than those from
Japan. Yet, the Philippines and other poor and underdeveloped
countries would take Chinese loans only because they’re part of the OBOR
packaged deal. It’s a trend called “debt trap diplomacy,” a new form
of neo-colonialism.
In his attempt to
improve and modernize the country’s economy, President Duterte is seeking more
loans for the country’s infrastructure buildup in the next four years totaling
a whooping P8 trillions ($150 billion). Since infrastructure
projects don’t generate revenue directly, the country could fall victim to
China’s “debt trap diplomacy.” Indeed, falling into a debt trap
could lead to Filipinos’ subservience to China – second-class citizens in their
own country, just like it was during the Spanish colonial period.
China’s ambitious
trillion-dollar OBOR project has attracted 70 countries in Asia, Oceania, Africa,
and Europe with railway lines and shipping lanes. However, to fund
OBOR, China offers high-interest loans to poor and developing countries, which
makes one wonder: What happens when these countries are unable to pay their
loans? Well, it’s just like having a house or a car that you
can’t afford to pay the loans; the lender would either foreclose your home or
repossess your car. In the case of OBOR projects, Chinese loans
use natural resources and assets as collaterals that she could take possession
of if a country defaults on her payments.
To date, eight countries
are vulnerable to debt traps: Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives,
Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. One country, Sri
Langka, had fallen into a debt trap already; she had defaulted on her more than
$1 trillion debt to China. Recently, she handed over the Port of
Hambantota and other projects to several Chinese state-owned
companies. Another one is Djibouti, which ceded control of a key
port to a Chinese-linked company. Djibouti is strategically located
at the strategic Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea, an
inportant sea-lane that connects to the Suez Canal.
It’s important to note
that China has a preference for taking over shipping ports that are along the
OBOR sea routes that would bring goods – particularly oil and gas -- from as
far as Africa and the Persian Gulf through the strategic Strait of Malacca all
the way to China. With China controlling shipping ports along the
OBOR sea routes, which are often referred to as China’s “string of pearls,”
China’s domination of the sea-lanes is assured.
Neo-colonial masters
In
regard to the Philippines, with China’s high interest rates, the current
government’s debt of approximately $123 billion could rise to over $1 trillion
in 10 years. Given the humongous loans that the country gets from
China, what’s the likelihood of China taking possession of Philippine assets if
she defaults on her loans? There are lucrative assets that China
could take over such as the oil-rich Recto Bank, Benham Rise, Malampaya gas
field, Clark and Subic Bay Freeport Zones, Port of Manila, Port of Cebu, mining
companies, and others.
Indeed, with the influx
of Chinese nationals, trafficking of illegal drug from China,and the likelihood
of defaulting on her Chinese loans is pretty high. With her
geostrategic location in the South China Sea, where $5-trillion worth of goods
pass through each year, it makes the Philippines a high-value target for
China’s imperialistic expansion.
If China establishes
herself as the neo-colonial master of the Philippines, the Filipinos would then
become the new “indios” and the Chinese colonizers would be the new
“Filipinos.” Does that sound like it would be the Spanish colonial
era except that the Chinese would take the place of the Spanish colonial
masters? Is this history repeating itself? The question
is: Is it inevitable or could it be prevented?
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