Nabayaran Ang Mga Senators Natin?

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I saw a photo of a frail old Filipino man in his 60s but looked like an emaciated 80 years old because of lack of nourishment at Facebook who was clad in a white tee shirt with a bold print in front: “MAHIRAP KAMI, kasi MAGNANAKAW sina SENADOR, CONGRESSMAN, GOVERNOR, MAYOR, at KAPITAN”.

The entrepreneur spirit in me said: This shirt is cool. A lot of Filipino will buy it if I procure bulks of these stuffs in Divisoria and print - screen them myself just like what I did to college students’ shirts in the 1990s when I was teaching political science in a university in Dagupan City.

I learned this craft when I was a “vagabond” high school student as I watched how printing shops did their trade in the early 1980s in the war torn Mindanao.

Now I digress, salamabit!

DIRT POOR - Because of the dearth of jobs available and the problem of population explosion, poor Filipinos scavenge to meet ends in the Philippines.

The social anal list, er, analyst in me revolted where I fired in Filipino some volleys of shots, ala Tora-Tora plane, in behalf of the old man to the enemies at my Facebook board:

“Mahirap tayo kasi ang mga senadors inupuan nila ang Public Service Acts (PSA) na magbubukas sa economy natin kung saan mas maraming foreign investors papasok na dito, gaya sa Thailand, Singapore, at China because of the 100 percent ownership of the business na 40 percent lang sa kanila ang pag-aari sa kasalukuyan. Ang PSA ay approved na ng House of Representatives noong September 2017. Ayaw ipasa ng mga senators dahil ba kailangan nila ang milyon milyong pesos na pera at libring eroplano at helicopters sa election galing either kay PLDT, Globe, San Miguel, Aboitiz, JG Summit Holdings, Inc of the Gokongwies, SM Prime Holdings of the Sys, or other oligarch na sumisipsip sa dugo ng mga Pilipino at takot sa kumpetisyon ng foreign investors?”

The following day, I saw again at Facebook a half body photo of a poll cellar dweller senatorial bet Doctor Willie Ong with the following messages in the vernacular:

Hindi po ako tatangap ng campaign donations mula sa negosyante. “Hindi  din ako maglalagay ng TV ads dahil sobra(ng) mahal ito. Sa umpisa pa lang ayoko ko na mahawakan ako ng mga negosyante. Di bale matalo basta malinis ang daan na tinatahak ko”.

Cardiologist and health columnist Ong, No. 23 in the recent Pulse Asia polls, idolized the late Senator Juan Flavier.

The 55 years old Lakas party bet aims to push for affordable and accessible health care to poor pinoys.

Because of the spur of the moment, I got a lot as seen on my posts, I posted an incisive opinion that could incinerate the senators if they were stacks of trash papers poured by a gallon of “XTRA Advance” gasoline from Petron priced at P44 per liter nowadays.
 Giant Petron Corporation, by the way, is controlled by San Miguel Corporation.

“Kung ganito sana mga senators natin e naipasa na now ang amended Public Service Acts (PSA) kung saan dagsaan na ang pasok ng foreign direct investment (FDI) dito sa Pinas dahil 100 percent owned na ang mga negosyo unlike sa present 40 percent sa share ng foreigners. Sana nabawasan na ang 2.2 million na unemployed (October 2018 data from the Philippines Statistics Office) at ang mahigit 2.3 million (September 2017 data) na OFWs where madami ang abused and exploited, pero wala. Mukhang nabili ng lobby monies ng Oligarch sila. Malabo tayong maging economic turned around gaya ng China, Thailand, at Singapore kung saan 100 percent ang foreign and local ownership ng business. Kung na ipasa ng House of Representatives ang amended PSA bakit di maipasa ng mga senators several months before their term end in June 30? Dahil madami sa kanila kelangan ng milyon milyon na lobby monies, eroplano, at helicopter sa campaign trail?

Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam took most of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the ASEAN - 10 Region with U.S $77.83 Billion for the three of them while the Philippines got $7.93 Billion, according to the 2016 ASEAN Investment Report.
Our lethargic FDI figures happened because, one reason, our law dangles only 40% and even 30% for the foreign investors to control the capital of the corporation here while the Filipinos are given 60% and even 70% control of the business.
Sa media industry nga 100% Pinoy ownership, pero iyan ay nasa Constitution at hindi nakalagay sa Public Service Acts.
For decades this First Filipino Policy I called xenophobic or bias against foreigners deprive us with the presence of more FDIs where many of them even transferred, as a contract with the host country, their technological blue prints how they manufactured their products.
Have you seen air-conditioned buses plying the highways in the Philippines? Their brands are no longer Japanese’s Hino and Isuzu or South Korean’s Hyundai and Daewoo but those cheap but world classes Mainland China’s Yutong, Shenlong, and others.
Yes, the chink eyed Sinos not only snared more foreign investment but also chalked up how to make those products built by the Americans, Japanese, Germans, and others.
China is making now a commercial airline’s Comac C919 that would compete with American owned Boeing and selected European countries owned Airbus.
Thanks to transfer of technology if not cyber thievery the Chinese are famous, too he he he!
All-encompassing pala itong FDI’s hosting, kasi may employment na sa mga tao, magkaka industrialization pa sila”.

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(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)