Social safety valve
EDITORIAL |
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United States diplomats stationed in the country offered an interesting insight into how Gloria managed to cling to power despite the many allegations of abuse and corruption during her term and that her endurance was mostly the result of the labor export policy then, and which Noynoy is pursuing now.
In an analysis of the masa phenomenon contained in a Wikileaks cable, US officials saw Gloria’s promotion of massive export of labor as not only providing the needed economic benefits of some $1 billion that enters the country every month consistently but also depriving forces arrayed against her during the period when practically the whole nation was calling for her to step down with the critical mass in terms of bodies on the street that led to the toppling of previous administrations.
The some 10 million Filipinos working overseas not only meant 10 million potential protestors neutralized but also 10 million less Filipinos to provide employment in the almost stagnant domestic economy under her.
The much-hyped 7.4 percent growth in 2007 and Gloria’s claim that the economy never contracted during her term was all the result of mostly private spending..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110906com1.html