Tattered safety nets

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

To appear pro-people and assuage blabbering reformists and petty bourgeois counterrevolutionaries, the Estrada government has implemented so-called �safety nets�, steps that would supposedly protect the people from the �negative effects� of �globalization�.

One example, a law that levies a tax on imported goods subsidized in their country of origin, has been enacted supposedly to shield local products from competition. This covers mostly agricultural products from Europe and the United States. But with the very low tax imposed and the goods� extremely low cost, these products nonetheless end up cheaper than local ones.

Second is the Anti-Dumping Act that supposedly prohibits dumping of cheap commodities in the Philippines. Tariffs are also slapped on goods proven to have been dumped in the country. But before a country or company can be declared to have violated this law, a lengthy process is required to prove that equivalent local products are indeed endangered by the dumped imports.

Some academics and selfproclaimed progressives also call for �fair trade� or the �extension� of target dates for implementing full liberalization. They proceed from the foolish notion that �fair� trade is possible between imperialists and their semicolonies if the latter�s non-existent industries are given enough time to �develop�. They labor under the illusion that the Philippines could transcend its chronic crisis without going through revolutionary change. They deliberately extend a special service to imperialism.

06 May 2000
English Edition

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	Interview with Ka Roger
	All-out imposition of imperialist dictates on the economy
	Tattered safety nets
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