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By now, the government should have learned the proper relationship
between the private and public sectors on managing the economy. As
the experiences of the Marcos and the post-EDSA regimes show, an
imbalance in policy is bad for the national interest.
Marcos set up state enterprises during his time.
This led to a revolt by businessmen, some of them allied with
foreign groups, who thought that they had a minimal role in the
economy. Although FM’s 11 major industrial projects were okay,
cronyism became the issue—and this led to his downfall.
Those policies were reversed during the time of
President Aquino and later during President Ramos’ time. Thinking
that the Marcos policies were bad, the two presidents opened the
economy to foreign investments and privatized the state firms.
Although the businessmen were elated, this did not really redound to
reduced prices.
We should remember these two situations in
considering the proposal of Sen. Edgardo Angara to reduce the powers
of the National Food Authority (NFA) vis-ŕ-vis the grains market.
If Angara were to be followed, the NFA will be abolished and
replaced by the private sector to manage the rice supply.
I believe the NFA should remain as it is. It
should be able to balance the role of the private rice traders whose
motive is to generate profit. Businessmen will always want a
profit—which we don’t begrudge. But their intention to make
money should be balanced by public service which only the neutral
NFA can perform.
Of course, there will be petty corruption in the
NFA, as there was corruption in the old NARIC, NGA and RCA. But that
part of the problem should be the role of the Ombudsman and the
police agencies. But fear of corruption should not be a reason to
abolish the NFA whose role in the market cannot be replaced by
privateers.
Foreign traders are apparently pressuring
President Arroyo to limit the role of NFA in rice trading.
Obviously, there are some foreign interests involved in rice
trading. One report said the President was considering “rolling
back the government’s direct role in subsidizing expensive rice
imports.”
Sen. Chiz Escudero wants to retain NFA’s role.
He said “I hope Mrs. Arroyo is not thinking of implementing this
change in the middle of the crisis. The timing is very bad. Even
with a subsidized current NFA rice price, the public still cringes
with the high prices of the daily staple.”
“If you hastily forfeit the subsidy being
given by the NFA now, the public will experience a double price
shock. Changing the mandate in the middle of a yet-to resolve
problem is like a captain abandoning his crew and his ship in a sea
mishap.”
The other issue is the planned (or has it been
consummated?) sale of 40 percent of Petron, held by Saudi Aramco.
For the sake of national interest, the government, possibly through
the PNOC, should hold those shares to cushion the impact of the oil
crisis.
I am glad that Sen. Miriam D. Santiago is
protesting the lack of transparency in the sale. But my point is we
should correct the previous error of selling Petron to a foreign
entity. I remember that during the debates in the 90’s, then Rep.
Joker Arroyo of Makati opposed the sale on the ground that we needed
a state firm to balance the power of the private oil firms.
Even from the short-term goal of raising money
for the government, the sale of Petron shares to Ashmore, a British
firm engaged in fund-management, is wrong. The government should
have first bought the shares and then have them sold later to the
market for a premium. In that way, we could have money for the
treasury.
Multinationals win
If you ask me, it is not the people who won in
the recent battle in the cheap medicines law. The winners are the
multinational firms who control the medicine market and the doctors
who are beholden to the foreign firms.
The removal of the generics-only provision in
the law nullified all the good intentions of the lawmakers. In the
private offices of the doctors, they will only prescribe the
medicines produced by their sponsors among multinational firms. That
is the reality that the conference committee did not take into
consideration.
The absence of a regulatory board means that the
private groups can do as they wish. And what these groups wish is
more profit. Congressman Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan predicts that
Congress will have to think of another remedial law six months after
the implementation of the law. Reason: the Cheap Medicines Bill will
fail.
The National Press Club
Members of the National Press Club should go to
their clubhouse this Sunday to vote the incoming officers. Voting
starts at 1 p.m. after a conference in the morning. The main issue
is the sale of the Manansala mural. The incumbent officials who sold
the mural said they want to monetize a deteriorating painting. But
critics say the painting was beyond the commerce of man.
jules42na@yahoo.com
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