Legaspi: True independence, 2

IN MY last article, I tackled the issue of Philippine independence. Now, we continue the discussion of how far have the Philippines achieved its independence from foreign intervention and domination? Is the Philippines an independent and sovereign State?

Let us once again look at our economy. It is still an economy subservient to the “dollar economy.” The prices of goods are still dependent upon the changes in the exchange rate of the peso and the dollar. Of course, there are things to consider in order for one to declare a higher power of the peso.

But, why had we not declared a higher power of the peso over the dollar? If the Arab countries had declared this, why can’t we? If they say because their national treasures are vast, then we have more.

Why does the Euro have higher exchange rate? Is it because they have a lot of investors in there? We have more in our country. Who declares the value of the exchange rate? This is the time that we have to disengage with the foreign currency exchange and make the peso the currency every foreign land will hope for. This could be done.

Another issue is our contract workers abroad. We have to increase and upgrade their value. The government has to declare that our human and labor force should be at par with nationals from other countries.

The government should not impose so much on private schools so that we could innovate and make our graduates at par with those from other countries.

They must be marketed in a way that they should not be seen simply as skilled workers. We need to tell the world that these are professionals and are better than your graduates. Our young professions are better than graduates of “great universities” abroad. Our professionals have the skills to survive and the practical knowledge of the career they had chosen.

Look at the products of the “great universities,” they always base decisions on research and could not decide. Our products are better. All we need is a new outlook independent of the “box” that foreign countries had designed for us.

It is high time to design a curriculum that is for the Philippines and we can really call our own. Globalization and internationalization are only good if framers thing of the common welfare and not the interests of each nation.

We have to be independent on the issue of governance. We need to make a better government tailored to the needs of the country. We have to create a new form of governance that is not an effect of the foreign schools of thought.

We need a form of governance that would cater to the majority of the Filipinos and not simply the elite. We have to coin a new form of ideology and stop being recipients of trashed western and eastern ideologies and political thoughts.

What the present administration is doing, less the stupid relations with China is leading towards an independent and Filipinized form of governance.

The Marcos administration had set a political platform unique for the Philippines. It was ostracized by foreign intellectuals to be a failure because their books and “bibles” did not contain the precepts of Marcos.

They fear that a new order from a “small” colonized nation might destroy their capitalized ideologies. They toppled down Marcos and placed a weak leader trained to follow and not to lead.

Duterte is one “hard-headed” leader that “big foreign capitalist” interested in the resources of the country fear of. It will not be surprised later on that these people will once again use us to destroy an independent leader. We have to be careful that we will not be derailed by the propaganda of the right.

Philippine independence, where are you?