PH is now haven for techno-trash
REPORTERS from the ancient times had special antennae for sniffing grand pronouncements that seemed off and incredulous. Put simply, grand pronouncements that were not tethered to reality. And too grandiose to be true. So, when the Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA) announced several months back that it was establishing a special enclave for financial technology (fintech), Bitcoins and online technology innovators, I immediately asked this question. Is that a real thing? Or just the makings of a scam? I asked the questions in a column because I sensed something was off. Why would techno innovators settle in far-away Cagayan, or operate under the ambit of the CEZA office in Pasig City, if they are legitimate, game- changing technology innovators?
I do not do technology. I don’t have a single social media presence, one of the few Filipinos still off-grid. But even in my off-grid status, I sensed that something was wrong.
Why not settle in Metro Manila, where networks and connectivity are better? Or better, why not settle in the Bay Area, or Seattle or Tel Aviv where angel investors and venture capitalists are always on the lookout for the next startup to fund? And the next tech unicorn to support with a fresh round of funding?
Mr. Raul Lambino, the CEZA head who holds the lofty rank of a Cabinet member, responded quickly, via a lengthy letter
to The Manila Times that disputed the column. He hailed the fintech/ cryptocurrency/ online locators at the CEZA as some version of the second coming.
That issue would have been settled Mr. Lambino’s way had the slew of “online/ technology” firms registered with the CEZA really dealt with legitimate technology work, innovating for a better world and a better country. Like working on apps to lighten the burdens of ordinary life. Or, revolutionizing payments via fintech to ease the lives of those outside of the financial mainstream.
The September 17 issue of
proved that something was slimy and fishy with the “online / technology” innovators operating under the CEZA. The lead paragraph of the story said: “The CEZA suspended the license to operate of Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd and its service provider Grapefruit Services Inc. pending investigation into the reported investment scam targeting Chinese investors.”
The CEZA’s Fintech and Cryptocurrency unit did not initiate that action. It would have probably papered over that scam were obscuring that scam fell in the realm of the possible. But then, the Philippine National Police ( PNP) and Fugitive Search Unit of the Bureau of Immigration ( BI) drew the first blood. The two agencies rounded up a total of 277 Chinese workers affiliated with Grapefruit after an online investment scam was uncovered.
The PNP and the BI are looking deeply into the issue, on how registered “fintech and cryptocurrency” are using their CEZA cover to do illegal online business. The PNP and the BI were probably stirred to action — OK this is just said in jest — by the firm’s ill-fitting nomenclature. Why in the world would legitimate technology innovators have names such as “Grapefruit” and “Quickpay”? Those names constitute “red flags.”
The broader question is this? Is the Philippines moving to get the title “techno-trash” haven of the Asian Region? The CEZA scam is just one of the reasons. The bigger reason is this. What is officially online trash in other countries is most welcome here. Take the case of the Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs.
Last month, China, through Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, requested the Philippine government to ban online gambling and all forms of illegal cyber activities. “As is well known, online gambling is a most dangerous tumor in modern society detested by people across the world. It is a shared hope that the problem could be effectively dealt with,” Geng said.
But what was described by China as a global menace, which is probably a threat to our national security, is regarded differently in the country, the lifesaver of the country’s heavily indebted real estate industry.
Because the POGOs pay more for office space than the traditional big renters, the business process outsourcing companies, the color of the rental payments apparently obscure the cancer that gambling deals on the broader society. Or the bigger and more important national security consideration. Plus, the serious assault on our laws, from labor laws to tax payment rules.
On physical trash, we already have plenty. On top of the
from the US clothing chain Goodwill, where you can buy used clothing per kilo for recycling into there is the trash from Canada. We also have trash from South Korea and Japan, mostly used bicycles and furniture. We have rotting meat and low quality rice brought in by greedy traders and importers.
“Techno- trash” is the new thing. And it is darker, more sinister and challenging. It is society’s tumor that would inevitably develop into full-blown cancer.
It is proper to end this piece with what global leaders have said about cryptocurrency. Warren Buffet once called it “probably rat poison squared.” Economist Nouriel Roubini called it a “cesspool.”
Economist Robert Shiller, a Nobel Prize winner, said that Bitcoin would be extinct by the year 2118. It is a “speculative bubble,” Shiller added .
In Cagayan’s neighboring province of Isabela, according to an email sent to me by a broadcast journalist, the former mayor of Angagdanan, Isabela is fearing for his life. He filed plunder charges against the top government officials led by Gov. Faustino Dy 3rd, which the Office of the President referred to the Office of the Ombudsman. Now, Noli Siquian, the former mayor, cannot even lease his house. The Department of the Interior and Local Government and the PNP should protect Mr. Siquian. And the Ombudsman should speed up the review of his complaint to determine the merit. Citizens have inherent right to sue government officials. And those doing so, if harassed, should be protected.