SINOPHOBIA AND FALSE ILLUSIONS?

lot thanks to media and many false prophets of doom and boom in our midst. These days the reading public is treated to worst-case scenarios in the international front

dramatic change in the quality of their lives, especially those that are mired in the poverty trap.

Sinophobia

and it is front-page news. The other

docked in the Davao pier and it was headlined. The administration calls this “Sinophobia” — fear of

gave cause for this fear when it grabbed a few islands in the West Philippine Sea and installed military hardware in some.

remind us that unlike the Span-

they never invaded us despite the proximity of our nations.

They are also quick to recall that our relations with them has spanned country taught us to make gunpowder, mine for gold, make umbrellas, and clothes. On the negative side, they also introduced all forms of gambling like mahjong,

During the Spanish era the gov

- migrants to become agricultural laborers. Many became gardeners supplying vegetables to towns but many more went into retailing and

dominated the cash-crop economy of the provinces, which their descen

- tors also invested in land, especially

lands, which they subleased to ten- Tarlac, who were moneylenders and were quick to take over lands whose tenants defaulted on loans. are having a difficult time solving the pesky poverty problem and accomplishing development goals not because of lack of competence or industry but due to endogenous factors — political, social and economic dissidence, corruption and poor governance which have conspired to make this country’s forward momentum extremely difficult.

Since it is a given that public policy, executive initiatives and congressional enactments seem inutile in increasing levels of productivity income and employment in the country, our public

- tutional and legal means to solve the unsolvable. Tinkering with the

the fact that the Malolos, Marcos and

the lives of our people.

Now we want to change the government from a Manila- centric unitary form of government to a federal system, which is supposed to be the magic potion to solve all the ills of the country. The rationale given for the change of government is the concept of imperial Manila — a mantra that has actually gained traction because local government units have been deprived of funds.

Well, that might have been the case prevented the implementation of the

- volution because of the fear of losing their power over the provinces.

My fear is that in the planning and implementation of national goals, federal states will produce too many cooks who will spoil the broth. As someone who has worked in the crafting of national development plans at the national regional and local levels, we can honestly say that without the NEDA and the

which may be done away with by the federal states, it would be chaotic with horses pulling in several different directions only to produce an ill-designed development quilt.

supposed to be the cure-all for all the ills that plague the Muslim communities in Mindanao. When you come to think of it, you wonder what the illustrious leadership of the Muslims in the

government did to alleviate the plight of their brother Muslims. Of course, we know that the Ampatuans who controlled Maguindanao economically and politically, did nothing except

about the Rasuls, Alontos, Pendatuns, Tamanos who occupied the highest