Lessons of history

We should study history for one practical reason – so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Today, the lessons of our EDSA People Power revolt, how our ideals were betrayed, are lost to us. What we remember of EDSA People Power are the traffic jams we suffer as we annually commemorate it.

I missed the book launching of retired General Jose Almonte because the roads around the subdivision where I live were closed for the EDSA celebration. Reading my advance copy of the book was my way of commemorating. It is a book that explained a lot of things in our nation’s recent history. Anyone who dreams of change should read it.

General Almonte had long been characterized in popular media as a mysterious and even a sinister man. I sort of half believed the stories about him until I met him. Listening to him talk about his idealistic dreams for a just society and a progressive Philippines convinced me he is a patriot, the kind we need today.

Endless Journey, the memoirs of General Almonte launched at Club Filipino on EDSA Day last week, was written with the help of respected journalist Marites Danguilan-Vitug. Once you start reading it, it is difficult to put down. It will also elevate your blood pressure as you share his frustration in battling entrenched corruption and moral decay in society.

General Almonte didn’t just have a front seat view as contemporary Philippine history unfolded, but played an active role. It was interesting to read how he tried to get the deposed dictator Marcos to give up his loot in Operation Big Bird. His account of his role in RAM may be controversial, but credible.

I like best his commitment to leveling the playing field in business, which led to the dismantling of the Cojuangcos’ PLDT monopoly. But it wasn’t just PLDT. Other industries needed to be opened up too.

The General said he lost some friends and was demonized by others as he pursued his vision. Here is his story as reported in his book.

“…we opened up to the extent possible, industries such as shipping and banking… In one of the Senate hearings that I was called to, when I explained the liberalization thrust of the Ramos government, I said that I had yet to know of a country which became poor because it opened up its economy. All countries that had liberalized in East Asia progressed. They were stagnant when they were closed.

“Tony Carpio took the helm in steering the interisland shipping industry out of the control of a few.” He explained the deft legal move of Carpio…

“The prior operator rule prevented for several decades competition in interisland shipping. Under this rule, existing shipping lines had a veto power over new companies that wanted to operate in the same routes… the prior operator rule became an obstacle to the modernization of the shipping industry. Upon my recommendation, President Ramos issued an administrative order abolishing the prior operator rule. Soon thereafter, new roll on/roll off vessels plied the sea lanes, making possible the nautical highways that connect our islands today.

“Restructuring the shipping sector was surgical, swift and clean. We did not experience the acrimony of the PLDT breakup. But I temporarily lost a very close friend, Daniel “Bitay” Lacson, Jr who was running Negros Navigation…

“A few years ago, in one gathering, somebody embraced me hard. It was Bitay… ‘Please forgive me,’ he said in his usual self-effacing way. He thanked me for pushing the reforms which, he initially thought were going to harm business. ‘I used to be very angry at you,’ he continued. ‘But these benefited not just me and my family, but others too.’”

The banking industry was due for liberalization. “About 15 families had control of the entire commercial banking system of the country… the Bankers Association of the Philippines functioned like a cartel…

“With the help of Congress, we opened up the banks and the monopoly was weakened… The law that was passed allowed for 10 new foreign banks to operate in the country, with six local branches each, increasing the number of commercial banks to close to 50 in 1996 (from 32 in 1993).”

The other interesting story is how they ended the near monopoly of Philam Life Insurance, then under AIG. It was 100 percent foreign-owned and lorded the industry.

Again, General Almonte gives credit to Tony Carpio who figured that liberalizing the insurance industry did not require new legislation. FVR merely amended the Negative List under the Omnibus Investments Act to exclude insurance from the list of businesses closed to new foreign investments.

This earned the General the enmity of Maurice Greenberg of AIG. He recalled that in a diplomatic function in Malaysia, Greenberg refused to shake his hand. It created an awkward moment noticed by no less than US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. The General relates what happened next:

“Kissinger must have noticed my discomfort, because he came over and stood between Greenberg and me. That was the first time I had ever met him.

‘General, I’m going to the Philippines and you will be my host,’ Kissinger said.

Greenberg interrupted, ‘Henry, I will host you in Manila.’

‘No, no. General Almonte is my host,’ the gracious Kissinger replied.”

Greenberg went on to seek an appointment with FVR to appeal the changed rule on the insurance business. The General managed to prevent such a meeting from taking place.

“Greenberg knew, though, that I was the one who scuttled his audience with the President. Tony and I met with Ramos and explained to him why he should not entertain Greenberg. As long as it was in the national interest, Ramos did not care about not having audiences with jet-setting personalities such as Greenberg.”

But even General Almonte knew his limits. “One area that was symbolic of the agrarian reform program that we did not touch was Hacienda Luisita. We did this in deference to President Cory Aquino. She was a big reason that Ramos won the presidency. And I could sense that her attachment to Hacienda Lusita was strong and deep.”

The other interesting story is how FVR was endorsed by Cory. FVR was asked to send his political adviser to meet with Cory. He sent General Almonte.

According to the General, it was Frank Drilon as Executive Secretary who met with him. This is his recollection of the conversation:

“If President Cory does not endorse Secretary Ramos, would he still run for president?” Frank asked.

“Of course he would,” I replied. “Please tell the President, if she will not endorse him, my sense is he will have a better chance of winning.”

“How can that be possible?”

“We have just completed his campaign platform. If Ramos becomes president, it will be his program of government. Our vision is simple: we will put the Philippine house in order by leveling the playing field. In the process, we will promote a culture of competitiveness and meritocracy.”

“But you don’t even have a political party,” Frank said, seemingly surprised at our ambitious goal.

“That’s not a problem. We will create one.”

“You have no political experience, no media experts, no corporate backers, no logistics, no political strategist…”

“You are correct. What you are saying hurts, because the truth is always painful. Having corporate backers is an advantage but also a disadvantage. Anyway the thing is, we are very clear on what we would like to do for the nation. That’s important.”

So it is. FVR won, but unfortunately, the General’s dream for a progressive and egalitarian Philippines is still a dream more than a decade later and may have suffered a setback. This is why the general says “nation-building is a protracted struggle”. His book calls it “an Endless Journey, it is like a relay without end. The most we can do is pass on the baton to the next runner, to the next generation.

“The baton is symbolic of the nation’s building block. To be useful the baton or building block must be forged in terms of the core values our heroes died for: dignity, honor, freedom, justice, self-determination, tolerance, peace, malasakit.”

The General thinks “that if we articulate our identity/our meaning as well as our goals/our purposes in terms of these core values, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish despite our imperfections, or because of them.

“By these core values, we are enabled to work for the improvement of the nation’s human condition—meaning, less corruption, less patronage, less poverty, less injustice, less inequality, less violence, less Mamasapano…

“By these core values, everyone will be inspired to hunger and thirst for a life lived only when it is right to live.”

It is an endless journey. And we shouldn’t lose faith as the journey takes us through disappointments and heartaches.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco