Global crisis should prompt Aquino to find new dev’t paradigm

Global crisis should prompt Aquino to find new dev’t paradigm

The Migrant Heritage Commission said it is high-time for the government to change its development paradigm, especially in the wake of reports that 1,000 Filipino teachers in Prince Georges County and Baltimore in Maryland are facing deportation.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com

The deadline for development was yesterday.

A migrant organization based in Washington DC in the United States has called on the Benigno Aquino III government to focus its effort at developing local industries in the Philippines by promoting science and research programs instead of relying on labor export to sustain the economy.

In a statement, the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) said, it is high-time for the government to change its development paradigm.

The MHC is a service institution for immigrants in the US, which is providing for their legal, education, cultural development, and information needs. It provides assistance to Filipinos with immigration and labor cases.

The group said the worsening global economic meltdown that had its flashpoint in the US severely affects Filipino workers abroad. It cited the cases of retrenchment of some 1,000 Filipino teachers in Maryland and the discontinuation of hiring of Filipino nurses in the US.

“These massive dislocations are an indication that labor exportation cannot be the sole paradigm of development. It should make us realize that we have to go back to our own issues, and develop our own local economy where families could stay together and need not leave the children in order to respond to basic necessities,” said MHC co-executive director Jesse Gatchalian.

Human rights lawyer Arnedo Valera, co-executive director, said the Philippines continues to be poor because of the absence of locally-based industries that spawn jobs and create self-reliance.
Valera criticized the Philippine government’s continued reliance on labor exportation as a way to sustain the economy. He cited reports from the Department of Labor and Employment showing that an average of 2700 Filipinos leave the country everyday to work overseas.

“The dollar remittances of these overseas Filipinos are mainly used for consumption and education to propel the same kind of system,” Valera said. He said having an economic system reliant on remittances from abroad makes for a vulnerable economy.

“It does not create a long-term solid foundation of industrial strength and stability,” he said.

Dollar remittances comprise 10 to 13 percent of all Philippine revenues. The Philippine Central Bank, however, has reported that between 2008 and 2010, these remittances have gone down by some 25 percent because of the effects of the global recession.

Need to increase budgets for agriculture and health 

According to the MHC, the Philippine government should provide sufficient budget for scientific projects and researches, particularly on agriculture and health.

Valera said the Philippines has rich and vast natural resources, but majority still live in poverty..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/07/global-crisis-should-prompt-aquino-to-find-new-devt-paradigm/