Makalipas ang 34 taon na nawala ang oligarkiya ni Marcos ay bakit parang nararamdaman pa rin natin ito?
Ito ang tanong ni Calixto V. Chimkiako, board director ng Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, sa kanyang talumpati sa relaunch noong Agosto 14 ng librong “Some Are Smarter Than Others” na isinulat ni Ricardo Manapat.
Ang relaunching ay kaalinsabay ng ika-29 anibersaryo ng publication.
Sinagot ni Chikiamco ang kanyang tanong sa pagsasabing ang bansa ay may “isa pang authoritarian na may fascist tendencies bilang isang lider at tulad ni Marcos ay ipinasara ang ABS-CBN.”
Sinabi ng speaker na nagpapatuloy ang rent-seeking system, ang percentage ng exports sa GDP ay ang pinakamababa sa ASEAN at ang kasalukuyang “oligarkiya ay karaniwang nasa regulated service industries, tulad ng power, telecommunications, shipping, ports at sa ibang non-tradables kung saan ang kanilang interes ay nasa regulatory capture at mahihinang government institutions.”
Idinagdag pa niya na tulad ng Marcos oligarchy, kasalukuyang dinodomina ng mga monopolyo ang ekonomiya.
“We have the most concentrated economy in Asia, according to the World Bank. Nothing much has changed in agriculture, despite land reform. Rural poverty and agricultural stagnation persist. In the political sphere, we only have formal democracy, but political institutions are controlled by political dynasties,” sabi ni Chikiamco.
Tila pinatutungkulan ang pahayag ng kasalukuyang administrasyon na ‘change is coming’, sinabi ni Chikiamko na si Marcos ay may ipinagmamalaking Bagong Lipunan at ‘revolution from the center’.
Gayunman ay binigyang-diin niya na hindi binago ni Marcos ang import-dependent at inward-looking protectionist nature ng Philippine economy.
“Marcos crony capitalists were just exploiting their monopoly positions in the domestic economy unlike, say, in South Korea, where the chaebols were disciplined by selling to the global market. Foreign loans plus the export of people as OFWs were for a while financing the recurring trade and payments deficits until the huge loan repayments themselves became the problem,” aniya.
Aniya, kalaunan ay tinanong ni Manapat kung ito ay likas sa human nature.
“I will answer Manapat, if he were alive today, that no, the fault lies not in ourselves, but in our history. We are just path dependent. We are the creatures of our past,” pagtatapos ni Chikiamco.
