Our unique brand of nationalism

HOW dare some foreigners pollute our waters? Don’t they know that polluting Philippine waters is a transgression that’s exclusive for Filipinos?

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said that Glenn Defense Marine Asia very clearly violated government regulations in dumping wastewater within Subic seas.

“We will not allow the waste of foreigners to destroy the marine life and the source of livelihood of our people,” she said after a Senate inquiry into the alleged discharge of wastewater inside Subic Bay.

Bravo, Senator Loren! Sic it to those foreigners! They should realize that we Filipinos are so nationalistic that we want even the polluting of our environment to be done by Filipinos alone. We don’t need any outside help to do this. After years of independence, we have learned to be self-reliant on the destruction of our environment.

There was great hue and cry over the reported dumping of untreated wastewater by Glenn Defense Marine Asia inside Subic. That’s but right. Of course, there’s no whimper of protest when Filipinos pollute our waters, or even our air. Philippine industrial plants have been polluting Pasig River for decades but its okay. They could continue their merry ways. They’re Filipinos first and foremost, right?

Squatters throw their garbage into the river but what the heck, they are Filipinos and we love our own. What’s more, they are economically disadvantaged so we accept the reality that they will be treating our waters as their big septic tank and depository of trash. But when this reality is depicted by, say CNN and a James Bond movie, the loud outcry could reach the heavens. How dare those foreigners depict something that would put the Philippines in a bad light? All nationalists should condemn any portrayal of this reality by any foreigner!

The scandal of the “overpriced” national broadband program involving a Chinese company had hogged the headlines for years. The emphasis of most of the news stories had been on the Chinese firm. Filipinos resent such intrusion of aliens in their exclusive domain. Even before the NBP project, and many years after it, many projects undertaken exclusively by Filipinos have been and will be overpriced. Filipinos involved in the overpricing are generally considered smart. But once some aliens get caught feeding on the corrupt practices of these Filipinos, focus of the inquiry and prosecution will be on them, not on the Filipinos.

The Sin tax

The Senate version of the Sin Tax bill contains a provision requiring 20 percent of the tobacco raw materials to be sourced locally. When Sen. TG Guingona warned that the Philippines could run afoul of the World Trade Organization with this quantitative requirement in a tax measure. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the proponent of this provision, barked, “I will not sacrifice the tobacco farmers of my region for the benefit of those from other parts of the world!” Sen. Franklin Drilon, sponsor of the Sin Tax bill, later accepted this amendment by JPE. Now, let’s hope no sanctions will be imposed by the WTO on the Philippines because of this provision.

Drilon had previously deleted from the Sin Tax measure a provision in Republic Act 7171 calling for the direct remittance to provincial governors of the province’s 15percent share in the excise tax on the local production of Virginia and barley tobaccos. Tobacco farmers in the Ilocos Region had complained against the alleged misuse of this fund by local government officials. In fact, many even call Republic Act 7171 as “Seven-Awan, Seven-Awan,” with “awan” meaning “nothing” in Ilocano.

Sen. Bongbong Marcos, however, proposed to restore this original provision of RA 7171 and Drilon accepted it. The 15-percent share of the provinces is estimated at P4 billion a year. There should be safeguards to prevent the misuse of this fund, otherwise complaints of “Seven- Awan, Seven-Awan” will continue.

The tobacco farmers, together with workers in the alcohol industry, have better protection in the amendments introduced by Sen. Ralph Recto and accepted by Drilon. One amendment seeks to allocate P750 million a year for four years to help displaced workers and farmers in these industries. Each displaced worker or farmer could get a maximum of P150,000 in unemployment insurance.

The other amendment by Recto seeks to give some P250 million a year for four years to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to conduct job training courses for tobacco and alcohol workers seeking a fresh start, with each worker entitled to at least P50,000 worth of training.

In accepting these Recto amendments, Drilon said these “safety nets” could help the workers and farmers augment their income and assist those who may want to shift to other livelihoods or crops.