PNoy to lend $ 1 billion to IMF?

Question: Why gov’t is lending $ 1 billion to IMF? Answer: We are a rich country pretending to be poor. This critical phase of PNoy’s presidency, months after flaunting his multi-million dollar Porsche before hungry Filipinos, will have its mark in history for its vulgar display of humility in the complete opposite. It is yet another fleck in the eye just when our government (Manila’s MMDA) covered the slum areas with huge tarpaulins imbedding in them some pictures of heaven during that recent Asian Development Bank conference held in the country.

Malacañang maintained that our country has the obligation to lend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with $ 1 billion or 42 Billion in our currency after benefitting from IMF’s assistance for the last 40 years. No doubt, this forms part of our international reserve being an asset in foreign currency. With this money, our government pins its hope that it can help stabilize the crisis going on in Europe. Wow! It’s more fun in Europe this time. It’s legal or economic framework is not enough. Economic planners posit it could earn certain interests which would redound to our benefit, but the proposition in any debate would be the moral issue of the proposal.

It is inconceivable to touch international reserves to help other countries in their economic depression as we are also an ailing economy. This government plays a savior but by then, could it gain command and respect from the international community after doing such obligation? The Philippines, classified as an agricultural economy, developing, poor country is what we call a third world country. A foremost Filipino nationalist Claro M. Recto was said to favor foreign loans instead. He said that when we borrow money from abroad for our economic development, we become the capitalists, and therefore retain the profits. To reconcile this lending and borrowing therefore is like farting and coughing at the same time which everybody wants to avoid.

Membership in the IMF is a prerequisite to the membership of the World Bank (WB). It is said that the biggest stockholders of IMF are also the biggest stockholders of WB. The United States owns the biggest slice in the capital stock of WB. Meanwhile, the highest authority of IMF is the Board of Governors. It is in our economic class that by tradition, the managing director is always an European who is acceptable to the United States. As member of IMF, PH is given a quota which determines the foreign exchange and its voting power. Higher quota here means higher percentage of votes. If the Philippines has only $ 1 billion in the $ 456 billion standby fund of IMF, then it has only contributed too little (making the obvious more obvious) as compared to industrial countries, the richest countries with the largest subscriptions.

Well, well, well. It’s Pnoy’s financial system that takes its course. One thing, why $ 1 billion? How did Malacañang fix it in such amount if only to satisfy the idea to help other countries? What are the parameters and limitations to touch something from the international reserve? The welfare of the people is still the supreme law and perhaps the conscience of this government. Is it not incompatible with the wishes, aspirations and needs of the Filipino People?

There is a vast difference between national economists from nationalist economists. The “Filipino is worth dying for” principle, we pray, may flow in the blood of PNoy. His idea may be very incompatible or misplaced, for delicadeza’s sake to lend money abroad when in fact, the energy crisis in Mindanao continues to surge, adding to the woes of our banana growers now in dire crisis. The government that loses its track to the moral issue of lending its money for the benefit of foreign countries is a government that definitely loses its sanity. There will be a lot of explanation to do before this lending issue will fan an ember of debates, if not protests.