Part IV of a Miniseries: "The Filipino and the 'Clash of Civilizations'"

T he Overseas Filipino workers, immigrants and dual citizens (OFWIDC) do not realize their financial clout and influence over their people back in the homeland. I wrote before that the Media Breakfast Club members share the OFWIDC's saying that they are still bullish on the Philippines.

S ome wags like poet-pundit Fred Burce Bunao opine that the solution to all the problems in the Philippines is to do another "1898 deal." They say that the OFWIDC simply have to buy the Philippines like what the United States did in acquiring the archipelago from Spain. The purchase price may exceed $20-million due to the greenback's devaluation.

Bunao and Company's idea may sound like a joke. But in reality, it may be the only option even for ending the "Clash of Civilizations (CoC)" in the Philippines.

As I wrote in an earlier article, the OFWIDC could easily pay off the foreign indebtedness of the Philippines, especially if they support the innovative solution proposed by James D. Robinson III, a captain of American industry. Mr. Robinson proposed the organization of a new entity that he called the "Institute of International Debt and Development (I2D2)" Details of the I2D2 will be published again in this web site.

Aside from the I2D2 proposal, a consortium of OFWIDC may be able to buy some of the debt papers of the Philippines for as low as 30 cents to 50 cents to a dollar.

The OFWIDC can generate more income and resources, so as to raise more funds to "buy" (sic) the Philippines. They can pool their resources and engage in business activities. I wrote an article as part of my "Reinventing the Philippines" series that told about some of the enterprises and endeavors that OFWIDCs could do. For instance the huge (and still growing) corps of Filipino-American medical professionals could organize what could become the biggest health-maintenance organization (HMO) in the United States. It can also extend the HMO's operations to the Philippines.

The Filipino Americans earn more than $42-billion (spelled with a "B") every year. They are able to send more than $7-billion in remittances to their kin and friends in the Philippines every year. I said that if the entire amount of $7-billion was used in buying Philippine debt papers, the total indebtedness of the Philippines could be retired in less-than five years. Then the more than $4.4-billion in interest payment and debt-servicing fees that the Philippines pays every year could now be paid in pesos to the OFWIDC consortium. The OFWIDC as the new creditors can use these interest payments as investment funds to generate employment for, and income to, their relatives and friends (the original recipients of the remittances).

But all of these grand plans and financial dreams have to be reduced into viable feasibility studies. The men and women of the Federation of Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC) would have to be tapped in evaluating this series of proposals. If found viable, the proposals could be improved and made operational. Perhaps some of the FPACC members who belong to the Federation of Philippine-American and -Canadian Societies of CPAs have to bring in also their organization. In short the FPACC can initiate the formation of a federation of federations ("FoF"). I proposed this "FoF" to the NaFFAA leaders in May 2000 but they laughed off the idea.

There are other activities that a FPACC-led "FoF" can attempt to do. One viable project is a Filipino-American credit union. Two Southern California-based Filipino-American Rotarians, Rene Fruto and Ernie Delfin, have tried to get this credit-union project off the ground. There was another project that I endorsed to the NaFFAA in 2000. I called for the establishment of a Filipino version of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Foundation (MALDEF). I submitted also the idea of a MALDEF-like venture to the Philippine-American Bar Association of Southern California way back in 1993 but its officers never bothered even to acknowledge my letter. The NaFFAA guys threw also my proposal into the wastebasket. But I keep on plugging the aforementioned suggested solutions for the socioeconomic (and political) problems of the Philippines.

This series is merely an eye opener. You ain't seen (or read) nothin' yet.

(To be continued . . .)

Editor’s Note: To read the earlier articles of this series, please just click on these hyperlinks:

The Filipino and the Clash of Civilizations, Part I

The "Clash of Civilizations" Now Brewing in California?

Is the Philippines the Prototype of the "Clash of Civilizations?" (Part III)

Overseas Filipinos Can End the "Clash of Civilizations" in RP (Part IV)

Illiteracy Fuels the Ongoing “Clash of Civilizations” in RP, Especially in Mindanao (Part V)