EUROZONE’S BURNING, CONVENE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CONFERENCE!

EUROZONE’S BURNING, CONVENE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CONFERENCE!

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

Magandang gabi! Good evening!

Eurozone is burning. Before the flames would reach infernal levels, the contagion effects thereof burning the other regions of the globe, a global financial conference should be convened most urgently.

The purpose of the conference would be to configure a new financial architecture. Such a policy architecture would then as guidepost to all nation-states and regional alliances (EU, trade regimes such as ASEAN, NAFTA, Mercosur, others) to follow.

In the absence of such a policy architecture, palliatives can only emerge from the board rooms of incompetent bureaucrats. Among such palliatives now arising are: (a) Merkel’s solution to regulate hedge funds operations (financial derivatives); and, (b) Obama & US Congress’ regulations of speculative excesses of its stock markets.

Such palliatives are merely piecemeal solutions, even as they are too partial and parochial. They weren’t derived from a comprehensive paradigm that could have generated clear explications of the financial/economic crises of our times. They are reactive rather than responsive. Absent a policy architecture, and the piecemeal solutions will only have short-run impacts, and will be folded up when “things will get better.”

The top agenda that must be taken up are:

• Criminalize speculative excesses. Speculation has fueled bubble economies worldwide. Financial predators have emerged from the oligarchic quarters up North, who have played havoc on the equities and currency markets. If it will turn out beneficial to ban and criminalize hedge funds operations later, then so be it. Such vulture funds have no place in a civilized world where we witness poverty and hunger rising.

• Tobin Tax cross-border transactions. In no way should unbridled cross-border transactions be allowed without taxation. A minimum Tobin Tax of 0.75% on all such transactions should be imposed. Higher tax on derivatives and commodities futures of 1.5% can also be agreed upon. The accruing tax revenues will then be turned over to the United Nations and attached agencies for their operations & maintenance budgets.

 

• Condone fraudulent/usurious debts. Debts that are fraudulent or too usurious, notably those lent to developing economies, should be completely condoned. The same economies can then have a fresh start and breathing space for anti-poverty, jobs, and related social development efforts.

• Abolish the Jurassic Fund (IMF). It is now time to re-assess the International Monetary Fund, leading to its abolition. It does not represent the interest of the member-states, but is rather a middle man peddling the interests of global financial cartels. Its top executives come from the ranks of the same cartels. It had imposed austerity measures on many developing economies, causing more hunger, poverty, low wages, and unemployment. This Jurassic Fund (to borrow from Walden Bello) must go!

 

• Identify financial ‘White knights’. Authentic financial ‘white knights’ from among the emerging markets should be properly identified and urged to expand their operations. These financial groups can offer long-term financing at very low interest rates. The end-users should be authentic market players that are engaged in the productive sectors, which will end the practice of ‘white knight’ financing (such as the Yen Initiative Package) that lent money to financial cartels which in turn re-lent them at higher interest rates.

• Ban banks from speculative pursuits. Commercial banks and development banks, or all banks for that matter, must be banned from engaging in speculative pursuits such as hedge funds, commodities, and ‘hot money’ operations. Banks must service the productive sectors and must infuse moral philosophy in their organizational cultures.

 

• Abolish stock markets. Stock markets have never been instruments for wealth redistribution. They are filled with dirty operators. It’s now time to abolish them. In their stead should be instituted a direct link between investors and market players in need of fresh money, thus abolishing the stock trader as ‘middleman’. Reforming the stock markets isn’t the answer, but rather their abolition.

 

• Institute gold reserve standard. The gold standard of the past was abolished, in order that gold be hoarded by a few cartels up North. It is time to institute a new form of gold standard serving as stabilizer and securitization instrument for currencies. The standard will eventually lead to a re-institution of currency control policy which redounds to a more stable global economy in the long run.

 

Let it be reiterated, that should the present situation be allowed to go on, with piecemeal parochial solutions carved out at best, a bigger global catastrophe will be in the offing. A more colossal nightmare is now unfolding, which we hope the Northern countries’ incompetent bureaucrats can see at all.

[22 May 2010]

[See: IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com,

UNLADTAU: https://unladtau.wordpress.com,

COSMICBUHAY: http://cosmicbuhay.blogspot.com,

BRIGHTWORLD: http://erlefraynebrightworld.wordpress.com, ARTBLOG: http://erleargonza.wordpress.com,

ARGONZAPOEM: http://argonzapoem.blogspot.com]

EUROPE’S BURNING!

EUROPE’S BURNING!

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

Europe is on fire. Save for those who choose to be blind, the Union is going through an incendiary economic burn. How far will the economic burning go, whether it will spread to a larger continental inferno, no one can tell for now.

Before the EU’s creation, welfare policies were prevalent from east to west of the continent. Liberal reforms then arose, commencing with the Tory’s (Thatcher era) wholesale adoption and social marketing of the same, and copied by the conservatives and liberals of the continent alike.

By the turn of the century, upon the commencement of the Euro, liberal reforms already saw the uncontrollable ascent of predatory finance worldwide. Liberalized financial-capital markets paved the way for their immanence.

Among those instruments created by the predators was financial derivatives. To recall, a decade back the derivatives markets were already awash with exposures totaling over $150 Trillion, with 36% of these in the hands of British financiers while 15% were in Americans’ hands.

By 2001, the alarming projection was leaked out that derivatives will be inflated to exceed $350 Trillions within the new decade. At a time when the global economy was producing past the $40 Trillion in Gross World Product or GWP, it was sheer madness to consider debt papers of past $350 that could meltdown the globe in case of a gigantic bubble burst.

Europe was already flat on its back for a straight two (2) decades since after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Periodic stagflations and recessions have seen the rise of poverty incidence and, consequently, the re-emergence of neo-fascist movements.

Being strongly tied up to the U.S. economy, it was not surprising to realize that a contagion of the U.S. recession will surely hit Europe, which did happen. The ugly side of the formula was the aiding of ailing banks that were badly affected by the crisis, an intervention that was flawed and immoral as it entails using taxpayers’ money to aid criminal bank speculators.

Barely out of the U.S. contagion effect, Brussels was shocked to see that a new fire had started within the Eurozone— Greece to be exact. As this was happening, Spain also began to sneeze & cough, as some of its own banks (notably Santander) spiraled down bankruptcy scale. Other member-economies were also having their own financial crucifixions going by the early part of this current year.

If we diagnose what’s going on in the financial sectors of member states, we can easily pinpoint banks as hotspot fire sources. They were heavily into speculative pursuits, with enormous exposures to derivative operations.

Just exactly how that happened can be traceable to certain acts in the North by the mid-80s. Commodities markets have sprung up on that decade, even as a global recession took place then, threatening OECD economies. Liberal reforms were already permeating diverse sectors, and within the backdrop of liberalization, financial derivatives and equivalent portfolios were launched in mass scales.

Banks shed off their previous stance of inhibiting themselves from speculative pursuits. Soon they’d find themselves investing into every speculative games they could lay their hands into, inclusive of hedge funds operations.

Now, to fast track to the present, economists estimate that EU’s aggregate derivatives are within the range of $180-$200 Trillions, estimates that seem conservative. Measure this against the gross domestic product of EU at $13 Trillions, and you would be driven to ask: just exactly where will Europe get the funds to pay the hedged financials in case of bursts and massive bankruptcies?

If all of the hedge funds investors would ask for a forced payment of their total of, say, $200 Trillions more or less, who would pay for such debts? Where will the money come from? Is it morally right to extract taxes from European workers to pay up for the dirty debt papers in case? Is it likewise morally right to impose wage cuts on workers who were not the culprits in the virtual economy game in the first place?

Concerned Europeans should better rethink the Euro and ask whether the new currency really worked for their welfare. It is now clearer that the Euro was a sell-out idea and project, that it was launched to satiate the insatiable pockets of greedy financiers represented by the top financial houses there.

And Europeans better see how silly it is to allocate taxpayers’ money worth $1 Trillion to bail out ailing banks and industries hit by the rising meltdown. For measured against total debt papers of $180-200 Trillions, $1 Trillion would be ridiculously paltry.

Yet another ridiculous intervention is the austerity measure imposed by the IMF on Greece. We’ve had so many precedents of the deleterious effects of such measures on developing economies that aimed at eventually graduating from IMF programs as a salvation measure in the short run. While emerging markets are getting out of a burning house (IMF & austerity measures), Greece voluntarily entered this house. Unbelievable!

As per reports reaching my focals, Germany had the greatest exposures to Greece’s banking sector, with exposures running to hundreds of billions of euros. British financiers, on the other hand, have their hands full in Spain’s banks.

It isn’t difficult to forecast that the fire in Greece could spread to other eurozone economies. Not even the UK, which decided to stay out of the eurozone, will be spared from the bonfire. Spain is almost there now, and who knows what country will be next.

If banks and industrial conglomerates will simultaneously burn in all of the member-states of the eurozone, with total aid claims of past the GDP of $13 Trillions, then Europe will be on the brink of a continental inferno.

Concerned readers better think for yourself whether Brussels and the bureaucrats do have the right answers to the raging problems of Europe. Poverty incidences are now hitting past the 20% mark in member countries, while massive lootings of the financial and currency markets by predatory financiers take place every day in the continent.

Well, let’s all wait and see for what happens. Let us hope that a mad Nero bureaucrat wouldn’t appear to orchestrate the burning farther to infernal scale. That would bring a new nightmare to the whole planet if it happens.

[Philippines, 20 May 2010]

ONE ASEAN: GET READY!

ONE ASEAN: GET READY!

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

Good evening! Magandang gabi!

The dark clouds of the electoral contests are now getting clearer in the Philippines. With our polls settled and our elected leaders about to begin their mandates, I’d now depart from election-related advocacies and move back to the international-global arenas.

I have written quite enormously about international political economy and subsidiary themes for over two (2) decades. Even my blogging has been consumed with peregrinations on the international arena. So let me go back to this arena, even as I now clarify that I am a strong advocate of One ASEAN.

As I’ve elucidated in my past writings (see 2007-08 articles), I perceive the ASEAN as the larger polity to which my own country will return in the future.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, the whole of island Southeast particularly, were largely creations of Western powers. They used to be part of the Majapahit Empire, the world’s wealthiest region before Western colonization fragmented it.

Being a strong believer in ASEAN unity, I am willing to shed off my hard-line Filipino nationalism and don the cloak of pan-ASEAN patriotism. Majapahit was the original nation to me and to those who resonate with the same worldview, and eager am I to see my country return to the Empire.

The Empire no longer bears that name today. Rather, it goes by the name of ASEAN, short for Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But it bears the same geo-political and geo-economic contours of the Empire before it fragmented.

A benevolent Empire it was, as it used the fiat of trade cooperation to get membership into the polity. That is, to be able to become a part of the Empire, concur trade with its nexus and prinzeps. This was a much different track from the typical military occupation used by other regional and world powers to expand their territorial confines.

If we reflect back on what our state players are doing here today, where they’re concurring agreements and treaties using the most civil means conceivable to get to a higher level of unity, the same means actually revives the consensus methods used by our peoples in antiquity. Today, no matter how diverse our political, economic, and cultural systems are, we are talking to each other here, which is reflective of a ‘dialogues of civilizations’ approach.

From state-to-state and civil society-to-civil society talks, let us move on to direct people-to-people talks in the region. People-to-people interactions precede people-to-people cooperations. I strongly contend that people-to-people cooperation should eventually be the base for state-to-state and civil society-to-civil society cooperation and no less.

State-to-state talks are quite slow in results, even if market players joined state actors to buttress the former stakeholders’ positions. In some areas of talks, such as those involving territories, snags are observed.

People-to-people interactions and cooperation will do much to accelerate state-to-state talks that get snagged for one reason or another. The same cooperation can also accelerate the building of a pan-ASEAN identity which should precede any writing of a general treaty that will unify the region at least economically.

People-to-people interactions have already been taking place in the region for almost 2000 years in fact. Western colonization may have diminished the scales of interactions for a long while, but that era of imperialism is much behind us now.

As states, market players, and civil society players are preparing for larger talks ahead, let us noble peoples of the region go ahead and expand the levels of talks to build greater mutual confidence, appreciation of each other’s cultures, and trust. Along the way, we have fellow Asians and global citizens who will support our efforts as true friends.

In any way we can, let us get to know each other better. Let’s set aside utilitarian gains (e.g. get to know Asean pals who can become network marketing partners) and interact based on a true call of our hearts, of our souls.

That way, we contribute to building our preparedness for the grand future coming. We just can’t be caught flat-footed, not knowing what’s going on in our larger backyard because we allowed state players to monopolize the talks.

Fellow ASEANians, let’s get ready!

[Writ – Philippines, 11 May 2010. E. Argonza is adept at international political economy. He was a graduate student of former ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Wilfrido Villacorta, PhD. He has published various articles on the subject, as well as a book on global trade regime.]

WILL PHILIPPINE INSURGENCIES END SOON?

WILL PHILIPPINE INSURGENCIES END SOON?

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

Magandang hapon! Good afternoon!

It is still poll day as of this writing, as the day’s polling time has been extended till 7 p.m. Poll-related incidence had accordingly dropped by 200% since 2004, an encouraging development amidst a backdrop of systemic violence.

What I’d reflect about this time is the insurgency question: whether the country’s decades-old insurgencies will cease after the installation of a new national leadership. The communist and Bangsamoro insurgents have been conducting peace talks with the Philippine state for a long time now, and there’s no question that insurgencies’ end is in the wish list of diverse stakeholders.

In a society where trust has been torn asunder by the prevalence of polarized mind frames for centuries now, it is understandable that insurgencies will persist for some time. Building mutual trust and confidence is therefore a sine qua non to the end of insurgencies.

Economistic apperceptions of insurgencies, such as to account them solely to high poverty incidence, would hardly hold water. Canada, for instance, is a prosperous country with good governance in place, yet a part of it (Quebec) almost bolted away from the Canadian state.

Addressing poverty, which is now at 33-35% incidence rate, is surely a must, added to food security. There is no denying that this has been on the agenda of peace talks, aside from the options for the livelihood of combatant insurgents when they go back to the mainstream in the case of a political settlement.

What we can see from the economistic discourse is that addressing poverty and social injustices would be good approaches to re-building trust and confidence. During the first two (2) years of the new political dispensation, there has to be a trickling down of incomes to enable poverty reduction, which should convince the insurgents of the sincerity and competence of the leadership in handling the socio-economic malaise of our society.

Furthermore, there has to be relentless efforts made by civil society, church, state, and philanthropic groups to build a culture of tolerance and peace. Peace talks shouldn’t be left to government and insurgents alone, in other words, but should involve the broadest sector of society.

The building of mutual trust, confidence, and contextual building of peace and tolerance, will redound to constructing greater civility and cooperation. A ‘dialogue of civilizations’ is a broad manifestation of a culture of peace and tolerance permeating the private sphere, which is a cherished human condition by the peoples of the world.

Insurgents are incidentally growing old, and are getting weary of the war itself. They want peace, and this is a boon to the peace talks. In our day-to-day conduct of affairs as a people, we should continue to build trust in the private spaces of our lives. This, we hope, would encourage insurgents to forge new social arrangements with us on a people-to-people basis, a step that would bring us closer to a high-trust environment.

We must also continue to exert pressure on the Phiippine state and insurgents to continue to dialogue and put a time limit to the peace talks. Peace talks have already dragged on for decades, so maybe it would prove fruitful to put a time cap on the talks. We can use organizational instruments that we have, such as professional, crafts, and civil society groups.

Let us hope that we don’t have a hawkish regime forthcoming. A regime of hawks would be anachronistic to the overall trend today of higher expectations for peace and a sustained dialogue between state and insurgents.

We are all running against time today, even as we citizens of an war-torn country are tired and weary of the wars. New weapons of mass destruction, such as the Tesla Earthquake Machine or TEM, are moving out of assembly lines, and sooner or later they would be traded via organized crime groups to hot-headed insurgent and jihadist groups locally.

A wish indeed, let us hope that the two (2) insurgencies will be settled finally, with the former rebels integrated into the mainstream to participate in parliamentary politics and civil society engagements. This will give us breathing spaces we need to concur more social cooperation and economic amelioration in the short run.

With the large insurgencies gone, the police & military forces can then focus their efforts on clamping down jihadist movements that we perceive as illegitimate or criminal groups. In no way should government negotiate with groups that possess warped sense of community and are unwilling to recognize the full import of dialogue and tolerance.

[Philippines, 10 May 2010.]

MY MOTHER’S NOBILITY BLOODLINE: MARCOS, BRUNEI KINGSHIP, MAJAPAHIT EMPEROR

MY MOTHER’S NOBILITY BLOODLINE: MARCOS, BRUNEI KINGSHIP, MAJAPAHIT EMPEROR

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

My Noble Pedigrees: Maternal & Paternal

 

This note concerns my bloodlines, which, to my own amusement, traces to ancient noble pedigrees, both on my maternal and paternal lineages. That I was birthed by parents who are both of noble roots is surely privilege enough, as the DNA (genetic) of ancient nobles –notably (a) Kingship and (b) Priestly classes—is of such profound construct, rendering it as one deep enigmatic mystery of antiquity that is being unlocked only in recent times.

 

My parents—Steve Narag Argonza and Felisha Nonesa Delago—were sired by mothers who are of noble pedigrees: my father Steve, from his maternal Narag lineage; and, my mother Felisha, from her maternal mother’s Nalundasan y Marcos lineage. I will focus this article on my maternal line [my father’s lineage will be treated in a separate article].

Oral tradition plus historical studies were the basis for me to infer conclusions about such bloodlines. That is, I based my conclusions on secondary information + anecdotal accounts, given the lack of financial resources on my family’s part to launch a thorough biographical research on the subject. It takes at least P2 Million to conduct a genealogical research with 6 months time frame today, or P4 Millions for both lineages, with the results published as quality books, an amount for an agenda that no one in my family could think about (Filipinos aren’t accustomed to spending for genealogy research).

Nalundasan y Marcos: Root of my Mother’s Grandmother Angela

 

My mother Felisha (she used Felisa in the 20^th century) is among children of Soledad Nalundasan Nonesa and Leopoldo Delago. The Nalundasans and Nonesas are from Ilocandia, while the Delagos are from the Central Visayas.

As per anecdote of my maternal kins (notably the Ilocos-based), my maternal grandmother Soledad was mothered by Angela Nalundasan y Marcos. She is a sibling of the late Julio Nalundasan y Marcos, gentry and politician, who was for some time a legislator in the Commonwealth Era Congress. As to how many siblings were the total, no data came my way. The knowledge bucket ends with the sibs—Angela and Julio—with no oral legacy about who were their parents, sibs, and related roots.

Tragedy marked the situation for the Nalundasan family, as Don Julio chose to slug it out with his 1^st cousin, Don Mariano Marcos, for the bailiwick of Ilocos Norte. Based in Batac town, the two gentry (i.e. Big Landowners) competed for the congressional seat at one juncture, whereby Don Mariano lost to Don Julio. That Nalundasan poll victory ignited a chain of events that saw Don Mariano’s brilliant son Ferdinand land in jail, blamed as he was for the assassination of Don Julio.

It was a double tragedy for my great grandmother Angela, as she chose to marry a commoner on top of the trauma of her brother Julio’s gory death due to political violence. The members of the Gentry class, to recall our history, comprised the nucleus of power that came from the Encomienda (Spanish era) who, prior to American occupation, comprised the exclusive Principalia town leaders of old. From ancient nobility were they rooted, and the Nobility held the protocol for marrying a member only to a member of another Noble family, or later of Gentry family. Strict adherence to such protocol was observed, which led any wayward member, more so a young woman, to lose her (a) inheritance of property, (b) expansive good breeding & High Culture, and (c) access to corridors of power and circles of esteemed friends and fellows.

Being a male-centered society, the mainstream Ilocandia gentry ensured that family authority, possessions and their dispositions were passed on to a male scion, notably the eldest male. Incidentally, no anecdotal data came my way as to whether Don Julio is the eldest scion, but one thing is sure: Angela is female, under-privileged as gender, and married to a commoner, or behaved contrary to the protocols of the class to which she belonged to. Not only did she lose a conferred title as Doña, all privileges to possessions, accessions, and esteem she likewise lost.

Royal/Priestly and Commoner DNA’s Differences, Curse of Breaking Protocol

 

As per my own deep studies into the ancient mysteries, the Benign Creators of ancient humanity ensured that the general population possess only a 2-strand DNA to delimit access to higher Divine connections and endowments. Such was truism for the folks or commoners, who were largely evolutionary Laggards, unfit to rule and make wise judgement for the common welfare. Save only for two classes, the Kingly and Priestly classes, whose DNAs went beyond 2 strands, the extra (out of a total of 12 human DNA strands) enabling them to connect to higher reality dimensions for greater knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration needed to perform their duties, for indeed great responsibility went along with rulership and administration of a realm.  

That was the reason behind the Caste System of antiquity: avoid the dilution of genetic structures, by dis-allowing any member of the noble Kingly and Priestly families to marry with the commoners. With the conditions set for good breeding and culture, the souls of persons with gifts for leadership, wisdom, intellect, and philanthropy embodied accordingly among the nobles. Neither should those from Kingly (Royal) family marry those from a Priestly family, as each class has certain special roles to perform and are of distinct temper meant only for their class. Yet in the conduct of affairs for the commoners, both King and Priest collaborated, for the good of all.

Breakage of the protocols of conduct by any young member of the nobility does not only mean a lost of access to properties, power, and esteem. Often than not, the aggrieved family plants curses on the betraying youngling, with the negative energy (‘jinx’) sufficient to bind the wayward and offsprings to existential misery till up through the seventh (7^th) generation thereafter. One cost of the betrayal is marring of offsprings’ genetic stream, rendering the Nobility traits recessive thus, and the birthing of simpletons, morons, abnormals, or persons whose later mediocrity would invite defamation more than esteem from the community and locality.

The offsprings who bear the Nobility DNA will hardly feel the special impact of such a treasure, as the special genes remain dormant. Not until a later descendant would, upon maturation, unintentionally marry a person who bears a similar Nobility DNA pool within. The long dormant recessive traits would then waken up, and serve as beacons to Higher Dimension Beings to birth children with artistic and luminary talents accorded a person who will be a future Civilization-Builder, or at the minimum, an Achiever worth the esteem of peers and community.

Marcoses Trace to Brunei Kingship and Majapahit Emperor, Gold Treasures Top!

It was during my studies about the Majapahit Empire and the vast treasures of the region that I stumbled upon knowledge of the gold of the Marcos family. Along the way did I discover that the Marcoses of Ilocos do trace descent from the ancient Brunei kingship. In turn, the Brunei kingship (+ princes & princesses) carried the bloodline of the founder Majapahit Emperor whose scions spread their seeds by cross-marrying with the noble bloodline members of Malayan kings and princes in the vast expanse of southeast Asia.

So vast is the treasure hoard—of the Malayan royal families—that enabled them to build High Culture for all Malays. Southeast Asia was avowed as the richest region of the world during the heydays of the Majapahit, with gold treasures so gargantuan that their quantities and prices today are overwhelming and mind-boggling. Upon the arrival of the conquering Western powers, the Emperor ensured that the treasures are well kept and safe, by distributing them among the diverse kingships and principalities of the Malayan realm. [Note: Ferdinand Marcos’ gold hoard was estimated by 1.33 million tons by the Limcaoco Committee tasked to do studies and treasure hunts so concerned.]

As to how the Brunei kingship connect to the Marcoses, I could at best hypothesize that a prince or princess of Brunei was married to an Ilocandia spouse who, in turn, belonged to the Ilocos nobility. That auspicious marriage amplified the process of depositing huge hoards of gold bars/treasures from Indonesia and Brunei through the Ilocos corridor [note: the local Nobility already had treasures prior to the marriage]. Such treasures were sufficient to propel food production boom and international trade in Ilocos, a fact that could have spilled over to the Ibanags of Cagayan who were also ruled by Nobles.

Today, the same Noble/Royal families are silently working out to envision grand projects that will end global poverty and see economic progress for all nations. Needless to say, the Nobles will bankroll the projects, with a global institution entrusted to solve global poverty and meet the needs of all. At one juncture, the late Ferdinand Marcos envisioned an Asian Monetary Fund and Asian currency, which will be bankrolled by his gold.

Looking at the composition of the Marcos family itself, being wise and conforming to the protocols of the ancient nobility, it’s no wonder at all to see luminary figures and professional champions among them. Ferdinand married a Romualdez (Imelda) who comes from the gentry likewise and, without doubt, is of ancient noble pedigree.

The Nobility DNA IS THE TREASURE!

 

For any person of excellent Breeding and High Culture, virtuous at the minimum, it would appear impeccable that possession of a NOBILITY BLOODLINE IS THE TREASURE foremost of all. For a person with little virtue, worldly, greedy and materialistic, the sight is upon the possessions as the foremost treasures of the family.

Possessing a Nobility DNA can have two consequences: (a) a well-bred & cultured person, grounded in solid virtues, will propel forces and attract person who will ensure success worthy of a High Achiever, if not a great Civilization-Builder of sorts; (b) a mediocre person, of low breeding and without culture, materialistic and greedy, will propel forces and attract persons of negativity, leading to the possible self-destruction of the person concerned.

As for my own kins in the Nalundasan y Marcos lineage, both of the Delago and Robles families that spinned off from Grandmother Soledad, it is up to them to choose their own paths to follow based on their perceptions about this Inner Treasure. The Nobility DNA will always remain intact, however it may be recessive now for us all, shall never be stolen, and waiting for that moment, by which shall come forth scions who will ennoble the family line and attract Graces from the heavens. This is not a promise, but a vast possibility brought forth precisely by that Treasure borne by all descendants of Angela Marcos-Nalundasan Nonesa.

[Manila, 03 August 2015]

MANILA WILL BE DESTROYED & SUNKEN AFTER PLANET NIBIRU FLYBY CATASTROPHE

MANILA WILL BE DESTROYED & SUNKEN AFTER PLANET NIBIRU FLYBY CATASTROPHE

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Gracious Day to you all!

I was invited to be the resource speaker for a Round Table Discussion just last 26^th of July, 2:30-4:30 pm, on the subject titled “Planet Nibiru: Flyby, Catastrophe, Challenges.” A discussion group—Insight Fellowship Circle—conducted the discussion, as they regularly hold discursive engagements regularly on a monthly basis.

For a quick browse on my talk & discussion, please follow the following publication [summary of the Nibiru RTD] in this same IKONOKLAST: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com/2015/07/planet-nibiru-flyby-catastrophe.html

Many questions and inputs from the Fellows of the Circle did crop up during the RTD on Nibiru. Being Filipinos who are based in the global city of the nation—Metropolitan Manila—they were interested to know most of all the prospect of Manila being damaged by the catastrophe.

My answers to their queries were very straight forward. As regards the whole Philippine Islands, my estimate is that 6/7 of the archipelago will sink to the seabed as it goes along the tectonic plate (Philippine plate) that will most likely experience subsidence during the catastrophe peak (c. April-May 2017).

Manila falls mainly on the Western side of the quake fault. Almost all lands to the west of that Fault will go below the sea level, as a combination of monster quakes, tsunami past 150 meters altitude, and superstorms will smash up the entire metropolis and archipelago probably beginning on the last week of April of 2017 (or maybe 2016 as some other analysts and researchers argue).

I actually had too many meditation and dream visions—precognitive sensory observations—of the forthcoming global catastrophe, from the late 1980s through the current year (2015). Tsunami 7-10 times taller than the tallest coconut trees, waves taller than condominiums, entering the Manila bay; waters rising fast, inundating a high rise city section, rapidly gobbling up a condominium whose panicky residents tried to pump out the waters but to no avail; ghost city with no residents to boot, its high rise structures already in total shambles and rubbles, with the last standing structures of a high rise building (close up view) crashing down as its weakened structure can’t withstand the pressures of accumulated waters on its upper storeys; and more.

In 2012, the last dream vision one fine night showed that my present residency then, a 4-floor apartment, was filled with waters. I was then residing at the 4^th floor, which, as per my vision, was filled with water like it were an aquarium full of clear water, with fishes gamely fishing about. I instantly felt difficulty in breathing during the dream scene, like I were simulating the feeling of those persons who will die by drowning.

That residence, in UP Village of the hilly Quezon City, lies to the West of the Fault. Being clearly sunken, like unto an aquarium, is indicative of the possibility of a sunken Manila (metro) after the catastrophe. Amusingly, the water of the “new sea” was so clean, thus showing the effect of the melted ice caps that will cleanse dirt and salt off the dirty waters of modernity, ensuring new life for aquatic species.

I had a recent vision, in dream, showing my present residence in total shambles. Yet this residence’s neighborhood remains intact, though a ghost town of totally flattened homes and buildings, in a hilly area near the Commonwealth Avenue of Quezon City. My 2-floor aparment building was merely a single floor in the vision, the roof gone and so is the cement structure of the 2^nd storey, all window materials gone, the wall on one side totally gone. Like bombed out by warplanes, the scenery so surreally dreadful.

That the apartment building and neighboring structures still stand, as per dream vision, is indicative of the survival of the East side of the fault after the catastrophe. Social, cultural, and economic life can always return on that side, which can extend all the way eastward to the Rizal highlands that will, in the main, be the safe havens for survivors.

In 2012 did I also see precognitive vision of a future Big City that will be encased on crystalline dome. Several times did I see such dome contours rising from the plateau or related areas of the Rizal highlands, probably at the edge of Antipolo on its south moving northwards toward BosoBoso, Tanay, and contiguous areas. The future city I saw while standing at the patio of the 4^th floor of my residential unit, often at noontime during warm sunny days.

Appreciably, Manila’s quake & calamities preparedness is being honed at this juncture. As of this writing, a Big Quake drill was held in the whole metropolis, with certain national agencies, e.g. Department of Health, steamrolling the preparedness simulation. This preparedness honing bodes well for Manilans as a whole. Hopefully, such a preparedness will be extended to monitoring the skies or space for celestial bodies approaching that may indeed bring forth catastrophe, such as the Planet X or Nibiru, comets, and big meteors.

[30 July 2015]

PLANET NIBIRU: FLYBY, CATASTROPHE, CHALLENGES

PLANET NIBIRU: FLYBY, CATASTROPHE, CHALLENGES

Prof. ERLE FRAYNE D. ARGONZA

Manila Ph, July 2015

• Sociologist & Economist, Development Specialist, Spiritual Teacher/Initiate – Brotherhood of Light
• 4 Books & 56+ Academic/analytic articles published
• Blogs: IKONOKLAST- erleargonza.blogspot.com, ARGONZAPOEM – argonzapoem.blogspot.com, COSMICBUHAY – cosmicbuhay.blogspot.com, ASCENSIONGUARDIAN – ascensionguardian.blogspot.coms

BACKGROUND

Planet Nibiru or 10^th Planet (UB213) currently revolves back to the Sun, simultaneously as the Sun’s twin star returns. Upon flyby on Earth’s orbital (or near it) as both heavenly bodies return to far space beyond Pluto, catastrophe is the expected impact. Humanity is confronted with gargantuan challenges to survive, revive civilization, and surpass its present level of social and spiritual progress. [Nibiru revolves around the Sun every 3600 years, while the Brown Dwarf does so every 26,000,000 years.]

SPECIFICS

H.P. Blavatsky on 30 Planets. Initiate, Theosophical co-founder, 1^st Dispensation messenger. In her essay about “Planets Visible and Invisible,” she revealed that the Solar System has 30 total planets: 10 visible, 20 invisible (higher dimensional). She also mentioned about a sun/star behind Jupiter…Astronomers confirmed only 8 planets by the time HPB died in 1890. Later, Nemesis, twin star of Sun, discovered.

Blavatsky on Polar Changes. Across her writings, notably Secret Doctrine, she contended that the Earth’s poles change periodically. The time draws near when such a change takes place, shifting the locations of the poles and axis.

Search for Planet X, Pluto Discovered. At the turn of the century (20^th), the search for planet X was partly fulfilled as Pluto was discovered c. 1930. That, however, didn’t stop astronomers from searching for Planet X. In the 1950s alone, over 100 research articles dealt with Planet X (as per Gerald Clark’s report).

Dwhjal Khul Prophesies Visibility of Etheric Plane Planets prior to 21^st Century End. Initiate & guru, channeled his Wisdom contributions via Alice Bailey. Accordingly, people’s Etheric Body Eyes will open, enabling vision of etheric plane ecology, devas (violet), and planets. His 1918-48 messenger mission was to release 2^nd Dispensation of the Wisdom. [See Treatise on White Magic, and Treatise on Cosmic Fire]

Edgar Cayce Prophesies Polar Shift & Cataclysm. Initiate and healer, he revealed in his psychic readings (done 1938-42) that a planetary polar shift will happen, resulting to cataclysm, by end of period 1958-98. Landforms change as continental parts sink while new lands emerge from the oceans. Floods & submergence of Europe, Japan, India, U.S. coasts + interiors vividly described. California returns to the sea even before the shift. [See book of Jesse Stern, Sleeping Prophet]

Carlos Ferrada Predicts Planet Hercolobus & Dark Star Flyby, Catastrophe. Brilliant Chilean astronomer, predicted in 1940 that a 10^th planet (Hercolobus) and Sun’s twin star (Dark Star) will flyby Earth, resulting to catastrophe. 10^th Planet will be as near as 14 million kms on flyby. [See Marshall Masters’ & YowUSA report]

Dr. Zecharia Sitchin Releases Sumerian Tablets Study, Nibiru & 3600-Year Revolution. Cultural anthropologist, among few experts of hieroglyphics. Accordingly, Sumerians clearly described the Nibiru planet’s location, revolution, its races of Annunaki (who bred Earth humans), factional clashes (Enlil vs Enki), possible return very soon. [See book 12^th Planet, 1977]

USA Pioneer & Voyager Space Missions, Planet X Secrecy. Since after Apollo, USA sent off space missions to far space. Voyager mission purposes were tight-lipped. After preliminary findings from the missions, 100+ UG (underground) bases were built, using trillions of dollars. UG computer system launched, to compute precise calculations of a planet X. Puzzling UG facilities investigated, ending in cul de sac. [See Bob Fletcher reports]

Dr. Harrington (US Naval astronomer) Discovers Planet X! Top caliber astronomer, built observatory in New Zealand (south hemisphere). Requesting access to both Pioneer and Voyager telescopes in far space, he observed astounding presence and specs of a Planet X as it was approaching Solar System from behind Neptune & Uranus, with mass 5X larger than Earth’s. He publicly released his report in 1992, interacted with Sitchin who interviewed him for a documentary. In 1993, he died of cancer.

Vatican Accepts ETs, Observatory in Arizona, Ends Sci vs Spirituality Debate. Vatican built two special units, the astronomical bureau (managed by Cardinal Balducci) and Religion & Science bureau (directed by a sociologist). Vatican had since openly pronounced ET existence, life in other worlds, and ended Religion vs Science debates. It installed an infrared telescope observatory in Arizona (Nibiru observe!) to augment its two (2) earlier observatories. Philosophically it had advanced ahead of other churches and of most scientists. Its knowledge vanguardism is an offshoot of openness policy of Vatican II.

Russia, China, Europe Elites Build UG Shelters, Catastrophe Preparedness. Russia built 5000 UG bases, China built both small and extralarge bases, European elites built shelters in the Alps. Following the US precedence, these powers are catastrophe-prepared.

Sal Rachele Forecasts 2017 Wormwood Flyby, Catastrophe. Initiate, academic & guru, predicted nearly 10 years ago yet that the biblical Wormwood will flyby comes Year 2017. His time frame tallies with calculations of experts. He is among the 100 messengers of 3^rd Dispensation who were most emphatic on the planetary Ascension. [See www.salrachele.org]

More Scientists Join Research & Forewarnings! Led by astronomers, more experts have been coming forward about Nibiru & Brown Dwarf. Collaborating with astronomers are physicists, mathematicians, engineers, social scientists, communicators, independent researchers. Latest estimate is that Nibiru’s diameter is 22X larger than Earth’s (see Gerald Clark reports). 2017 is most likely flyby (crosses Earth orbital). YowUSA reports that Nibiru now revolves around Brown Dwarf among its 3 planets.

Cataclysms After 2^nd Q 2017 Nibiru Flyby. Electromagnetic excesses, dust storms, dark days & nights, monster quakes, superstorms, super-tornadoes, giant tsunamis, massive floods, polar shift. Japan, Europe, India, Korean peninsula, eastern Australia, US east & west coasts (150-km sea becomes of Mississippi River), Central America, vast parts of ASEAN (Ph 6/7 sunken), vast parts of Siberia, coastal China, Arabian peninsula possible bygones. New lands arise elsewhere. As per YowUSA, the tidal powers or pulls by Nibiru-Brown Dwarf-Other Planets suffice to empty an ocean and splash the gigantic tsunamis on land. E. Argonza visions past 100-meter tsunamis, totally destroyed cities & rural zones, Manila’s west sunken (west of Faultline below sea) though east can survive. Places nearest Equator expect tallest tsunami and sinkings.

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RIZAL: MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Erle Frayne  Argonza

Visionary genius, patriot, martyr for Philippine independence, Gat Jose Rizal was a man too far ahead of his own time. So titanic was the luck that came upon this blessed archipelago, the Philippine islands, for the embodiment among its humble people of this encyclopedic mind, Dr. Jose Rizal. He is impeccably a ‘man for all seasons’. And he is the national hero of the Philippine nation.

Most nations declare among their top patriots a warrior or military leader as their ‘national hero’. But for the Philippines, ours’ is a genius, an intellectual giant, a mind capable of engaging in issues so recondite and subjects so diverse that, in so short a span, he was able to pen an enormous variegation of topics that befit, in their totality, an encyclopedia. At the age of 35, he was terminated by the demonic imperial forces of Spain, but he never died in vain. On the contrary, his death continued to inspire libertarian patriots here and in other Asian lands, an inspiration that continues for our youth till these days.

Mystically gifted, little did people know that he was actually transformed into a spiritual guru before his death. His guruship was unique, in that he mentored his fellows on the wisdom of nationhood and patriotism. One of his avowed readers if not disciples, Mohandas Gandhi of India, followed in his steps and became, upon his transformation into a spiritual master, a mentor of nationhood and patriotism just like Rizal.

So mighty a mind Rizal possessed, without doubt, that till these days his works overshadow the combined works of his own fellow patriots, including those who’ve gained double doctorate degrees and published widely in academic circles. Rizal’s following is solid, he need not further articulate nor gesticulate thoughts in the vogue of a desperate social marketing campaign, for even long after his death, youthful and scholarly minds read him, try to follow his ethical precepts, and emulate his exemplary patriotic behavior.

He was the first Filipino. Before his time, the term Filipino was bestowed only on those Spaniards born and raised in the Philipines. The Malayan natives were pejoratively called Indios; Chinese, Sangleys; Aetas and IPs, negritos and montanosas; and Muslims, Moros. With scathing indictment of arrogant racism of  Spaniards most especially the friars, Rizal declared, with his mighty pen, that from this day on everybody born and raised in the islands will be called Filipino. That was how we islanders were to be bestowed with the name Filipino, a term that will stick till way into the distant future when a ‘Filipino race’ will evolve from out of a mere nationality today.

In his thoughts he pre-empted the political philosophy of Antonio Gramsci, the eminent Marxist leader of the Italian Left. Rizal mentored his fellow patriots that it will prove unwise to wage an insurrectionary campaign and seize political power, at a time when the ideas of nationhood haven’t permeated the private sphere yet. The most fitting strategy for that long-term goal—of building nationhood—is education. Build the new world’s ideas first till they become hegemonic, after which winning a revolution will be more facile as it was in the French revolution. That’s Rizal, and that’s Gramsci as well, but Rizal preceded Gramsci, let the world be made aware of this fact.

In gender relations, Rizal was no less ahead of his time. He scorned the ‘Old World woman complex’ so deeply that he chose to bury this woman in catacombs of history, which he did by killing Maria Clara, the Old World’s embodiment, in his novels. He advanced the idea of Modern Woman in the figures of the ‘women of Malolos’, even as he championed women who were civic-minded, actively engaged as co-partner in shaping the modern world, intellectually adroit and well-schooled. The Filipino nation he likened to the figure of Sisa in his novels, a nurturing mother who no matter under dire duress will never self-destruct but will stand out firm, tall and well-esteemed by fellows.

Amid Rizal’s liberalism, he never had any fondness for anarchism. Following Zola’s novel-writing tradition (e.g. Germinal), Rizal embodied the anarchist in the young bourgeois creole Ibarra who, at the end of his novel scripts, self-destructed. Anarchism can never be a substitute for prudent authority that should follow the Enlightenment principles of reason, progress, fraternity, and scientific verity. He was a true-blue liberal nationalist, never an anarchist.

We Filipino nationalists will continue to be inspired by Gat Jose Rizal. And his thoughts, the most treasured jewels of Asia during his time, will continue to inspire us, diadems that we magnanimously share to all enthused Fellows of the Planet, thoughts that mentor and serve as balm on the soul, like unto those writ by the most sagely personages. For these are the thoughts of a man no less sagely than the wisest of the days of old, thoughts that long after they are gone will continue to make waves into the minds of men and women of many generations yet to come.

Hail Gat Jose Rizal! Glory, genius, grandeur!

[12 June 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE: ASIA’S BEACON OF HOPE

Erle Frayne Argonza

Philippine solidarity to all Fellows on Planet Earth!

On the 12^th of June 1896, as the sun was rising, the Philippine Flag was raised for the first time in Kawit, Cavite. The Philippine National Anthem was also played, in the genre of classical marches, putting it alongside the French Republic’s anthem. Emilio Aguinaldo, first president of the new republic, declared the independence of the Philippines from Spain and the official birthing of the Philippine nation-state.

That moment of victory, no matter how short-lived it was as the American forces soon snapped off the flame of liberty in the islands, was of gigantic significance to all Asia. For the first time, a modern republic was born, forged from out of the struggles and blood of the Filipino people, who fought arduously against the mighty empire of the Spanish Crown. Over three (3) centuries of Western imperial cruelties, demonic calumnies and abominable barbarities were officially ended that day.

All of Asia watched the unfolding events in the islands then. The young patriarch of the nation, Dr. Jose Rizal, was terminated by the Spaniards in 1896 yet, but his ideas of nationhood spread like wildfire across the archipelago after that infamous moment of his execution. With the founding of a new republic, the Asians realized that nationhood ideas, typified by the thoughts of Rizal, were viable. No matter how mighty an evil empire would be against a colonized people of Asia, the latter will be able to forge collective might and will, terminate imperial rule and build a new sovereign nation-state.

Thus were our fellow Asians emboldened to study the path of national liberation, build the patriotic ideas and revolutionary movements that will serve as their executor vehicles, and wage libertarian campaigns to the finish, even if it will take thousands to millions of martyrs to conclude the national liberation project. Gandhi, Aung San, Sukarno, Sun Yat Sen and leading patriots from fellow Asian lands, who read and digested Rizal’s writings well, stood out among our great leaders in Asia, and the rest was history.

Modern nationhood in Asia started in my beloved country. This is an established fact, though seemingly ignored and forgotten. Because it started here, let it be the duty and obligation of all fellow patriotic Filipino to continue to spread goodwill and good faith unto all the peoples of Earth, whether from developing or developed states. For in today’s context, there are those powerful predatory forces that aspire no end to snuff out the nation-states in the name of their ignominious greed, lust for power, and tyrannical might.

Back home, here, we nationalist patriots continue our struggle against the pro-colonial forces in all spheres of life. Rizal’s dream here hasn’t completely galvanized yet, as the pro-colonials and the oligarchs they serve are ensconced in all terrains of social, cultural, political and economic life. We nationalists are in the margins, while the pro-colonials and pro-oligarchs are hegemonic, and so we will continue with our struggles until the destructive dragons of colonialism and oligarchism will be effectively slaughtered here.

Let the world remember this heraldry, that on the 12^th of June 1896, nationhood and the values that underpin it (sovereignty, liberty, brotherhood, patriotism, prosperity) were born and planted in the Philippines as the first instance of nationhood in all of Asia. This being the sublime narrative, we patriotic Filipinos shall continue to bear with us the flame of liberty, and will defend the values that forged nationhood to the last instance of our breaths and energies. That which was first will be the last to fall, and will, with the blessing of Divine Hierarchy, never fall in spirit and wisdom to pursue the grand mission of helping other nations build their own narratives and practices of nationhood.

Hail the Philippine nation! Glory, genius, grandeur!

[12  June 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

NEO-NATIONALISM TAKES CENTER STAGE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

This paper now ends with a note on the prospects of neo-nationalism making waves. Note that Old Nationalism is the dominant discourse within the nationalist streams, and this fact is fully recognized in this paper. Old Nationalists will definitely have a hard time digesting the premises and contentions presented in this article. Being anchored on Western discourses, secular and materialistic to the extremes, the said articulators will have none of neo-nationalism save for viewing it as another exotic fad that will soon fade away. This is understandable. “Old dogs can’t learn new tricks!” goes the idiom, and this holds true in every sphere of human endeavor.

But one thing is sure at this juncture: New Nationalism is germinating right at the very center of state power, as the President herself expressed her subscription to and advancement of the new discourse. Surely, a coterie of like minds are gravitating around her, who are looking for an alternative to the neo-liberal frameworks that sorely failed, but who nonetheless find the extremist dirigism of Old Nationalism passé and repulsive. GMA’s reaching the helm of power signifies that nationalism has finally won amid over a century of struggle, as patriots of diverse ideological orientation won the previous electoral rounds nationwide. But a new phase of nationhood is coming into being, an evolving context that demands a corresponding new discourse to defend it and root it firmly.

Being one among those who strongly desire for an alternative framework, I am inclined to think that many potential articulators are waiting in the watersheds of civil society, political parties and state bureaucracy for the new discourse. Many of them began with the Old Nationalist frame but now find the old frame dilapidated and requiring gross recasting or replacement. My forecast is that it will take just about a minimal work to concur a synergy of efforts among these stakeholders. The moment that the synergy commences and gains momentum, neo-nationalism will quickly move into the mainstream, engulfing civil society, political parties and the state like wildfire. It may even serve as the new inspirational light of the business sector. And, who knows, maybe even church stakeholders, notably the bishops, would regard neo-nationalism as life-giving elixir-in-a-bottle floating amid wild seas intoxicated with every kind of antiquated ideological frames that have become inimical to national growth.

Such is the enormous prospect of neo-nationalist discourse gaining centerfold, that even the neo-liberal advocates might follow suit, taking its cue from the bandwagon effect of the new discourse that may take place in just about a couple of years from its inception. The neo-liberals are under fierce attack from everywhere, and are on the retreat, and the only graceful retreat for them is to find common grounds with the new discourse, even if they may not embrace the discourse entirely. After all, the (new) discourse does not seek to destroy the market, that it is inclusive as it appreciates the role of various stakeholders in the development game, from paupers and vagabonds to gentry and capitalists. The strength of the discourse lies precisely in this inclusiveness, a strength that makes it worth applying in the practical world.

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]

THE OLIGARCHY QUESTION

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

What should the nation do to the oligarchs? Remember that the constitution and strengthening of the nation-state, as clearly indicated by historical accounts, involved the class factor, to wit: the various middle and lower classes forged a united front to overthrow the trilateral alliance of the monarch-nobility-priesthood. Nationhood was and will always be a struggle against predatory oligarchs, as exemplified by the violent overthrow of the gentry (monarchy, priesthood/Church, nobility) to be able to advance the gains of the French Revolution. Likewise did the socialist revolutions in various countries resulted to the strengthening of the nation-state, a strengthening that was achieved precisely through the institutional decapitation of the oligarchy, the physical elimination of many of its members and the seizure of their assets.

In the Philippine case, the oligarchy is represented by (a) the landlord-capitalist oligarchs and (b) the Catholic Church. The landlord-capitalists were the products of the commercial era of the 19^th century up through the industrializing era of 20^th centry, while the oligarchic Church exists as a carry-over from the feudal Hispanic era. On the one hand, the landlord-capitalists have begun to preach ‘corporate social responsibility’ coupled with Santa Claus dole-outs handed over to ‘shirtless folks’, many of whom are shanty residents. On the other hand, the Church has been preaching a ‘preferential option for the poor’ as mandated by the post-Vatican II doctrines, coupled with ‘basic ecclesial organizing’ among communities aimed at contributing to ‘social capital’ and empowerment. The question is, do such sets of actions coming from the oligarchy suffice to redistribute wealth and contribute to poverty alleviation?

The maximalist solution is the one offered by Old Nationalism as a response to the question. The domestic Bolsheviks, whom we count among nationalists in the Philippine setting, are particularly hot on seizing the assets of the landlord-capitalists (‘comprador class’ as the Maoists labeled them collectively) and declaring these under state control. But the same (old) nationalists are silent about Church wealth, which is so enormous it is clear that Church oligarchism is a factor contributing to the ailments of our society. Is it because the Church had contributed immensely to the growth of the Left, by way of the politicization of many bishops, clergy, religious and ministers along the Maoist/Marxist way, and by the utilization of Church convents for such purposes? So now it seems that a Left seizure of power, if ever, is a surefire guarantee for perpetuating Church oligarchism, while landlord-capitalist wealth gets seized and declared as state assets, if not as Communist Party assets.

Neo-nationalism may very well consider the minimalist solution to the question. Sequestering assets by the large-scale and jailing/exterminating oligarchs may only be fruitful in the short-run. But if the value-base of possessive individualism, greed and predatory practices, including usury and rent-seeking, are not eradicated, oligarchs will again appear in the future, thus returning us all to where we were before, as billionaire oligarchs are now appearing by the dozens in post-Bolshevik Russia. “If you can’t beat them, join them!” is likewise unsound, as this is tantamount to capitulation to oligarchism. The minimalist way begins by declaring that oligarchs, when presented with sound options, can participate in the development game. With the strengthening of institutions, they will also begin to exhibit more accountability and responsibility, by first exhibiting truthfulness in their tax declarations and payments, henceforth fattening the public purse no end.

The structural landscape is now changing, and oligarchs are compelled by the exigencies of the times to recognize the winds of change. Gone were the days when oligarchs were as powerful as Zeus and His Olympian Entourage who can never be prosecuted for their crimes, inclusive of crimes of extracting unjust rent from people’s purses without public consent. As the Meralco case demonstrates, erring oligarchs do go punished, or at least the erring firm cannot just engage in criminal acts without being penalized. When civil society is strong and every kind of public interest group vigilantly watches the oligarchs’ acts with zeal, the Olympian stance of greedy oligarchs receive stunning blows by way of court litigations. Meanwhile, oligarchs in localities who commit heinous crimes, such as that of a former mayor in Southern Luzon, got jailed for such crimes, something that was unimaginable in the past. Institutions of justice are now galvanizing, thanks in part to a vigilant civil society and the synergy concurred by the state with it.

I would now boldly declare a forecast that in the long run, transcendent values would permeate the private sphere so greatly, resulting to greater compassion and the return to simple lifestyles. Eventually, the oligarchs will voluntarily share an immense portion of their wealth to the people, through stock sharing schemes, donating large stockholdings to social enterprises, and funding the equity components or even the working capital of social enterprise ventures. Other more exemplary acts will be in the offing too, benign acts that are truly redistributive and not just rhetorical clichés of ‘corporate citizenship’.

Correspondingly, a more radical organizational culture will crystallize, such that, during times of crisis, Big Business will no longer have to downsize in order to continue to gain profits and declare dividends. Rather, the remedial step will be to cut down on the working hours and temporarily cut down on wages and pay scales, so that no one gets unemployed in the process. That is because the personnel are also co-owners of the physical assets. Furthermore, as already suggested earlier, new accounting systems will arise that will more than highlight human assets as the most important assets in the agency, thus eradicating notions of downsizing or expelling people during crisis periods. The ‘corporate citizen’ will therefore become a living organism, unlike today when the concept is simply a strategy to evade taxes by diverting profits to corporate foundations.

Should we follow the Bolshevik way, it means that eventually the local Bolsheviks would become the new oligarchs. The Communist Party becomes the all-powerful economic Santa Claus owning vast assets, while the branches of government controlled by the Party, such as the army and parliament, will also respectively own vast assets, utilized for earning profits that will fatten the purses not only of the said organizations but of their CEOs’ as well. And when market reforms will be undertaken as Bolshevik dirigism can no longer be sustained, new capitalist-landlord oligarchs will emerge, blessed by the all-powerful partocrats with the mandate to “let a thousand millionaires bloom!” As the party oligarchy and the new landlord-capitalists enrich their purses, multitudes will continue to live the lives of paupers, homeless and jobless, cared by no one other than by howling winds of uncertainties and stray dogs who keep them company. Surely, this maximalist route is not the most pro-active route to counterveil against oligarchism, but is in fact a most reactionary route, the stuff of outdated Victorian-era vampire formulas of sucking rent from out of the toiling folks.

As to the Church assets, which will be luckily retained in the advent of a delusional Bolshevik victory, the key is the Bishopric. Bishops are the power-wielders of the Church, and are necessarily the biggest obstacles to change within the Church. “In the long run, we shall all be dead!” declared Keynes than, and such will be the state of the bishops: the Old World bishops will be dead soon, as new generation bishops take their place. Not only are the same Old World bishops—due precisely to their feudalistic, sexist and Victorian-era prudish (pretending) mindsets—the stewards of the vast assets of the Church, their ranks are also replete with narratives of sexual misconduct, corruption and every type of scandalous misconducts from cryptic figures. Hopefully, the new generation bishops will go beyond mouthing ‘preferential option’ discourses to uplift the poor, and move soon enough to redistribute the vast Church assets by proclaiming their utilization for developmental purposes. Such assets can be used to collateralize credit as well as for loans that should be offered at very low interest rates, thus converting the Church into a ‘white knight’ at last.

Meanwhile, the Old Nationalists who are still waving the insurrectionary flag can still recoup by joining the legal stream, as some entrenched leaders of communist front organizations are now doing. Their party groups can join political society, while their mass movements and NGOs will continue to operate as civil society groups, and become part, hopefully, of those forces that will popularize to our people the ‘rule of law’ and ‘rule of reason’, in other words become authentic modernizing forces. Such is a very welcome move by the insurrectos, and is in fact the forecast pathway for the concerned rebel forces.

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Reform the international financial system

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Reform the international financial system

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

The global financial system is indubitably a homestead of predatory financiers. Usury and global speculation, the masterpieces of financiers, are the enemies of nations. Usury in international finance is at an all-time high, raising questions about the legality and moral propriety of   current lending practices. Incidentally, the said financiers are the ones who exercise the clout within the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, whose chiefs have always been CEOs from the bank headquarters of the financiers. The said banks have always acted out as the marketing agents of financial cartels, even as many nations that have followed the austere ‘structural adjustments’ imposed by them have been reduced to paupers.

 

It is high time for ‘white knights’ to appear in global finance, lending money accordingly for developmental and investment purposes at very low interest rates (lower than 1.5% annually) and at very long-term payments (25-50 years). Such institutions are now beginning to appear, but creditors remain cautious about their moves. Such institutions are autonomous from the power orbits of the Western financial cartels, are well niched in Asia (e.g. China), and appear to be creditor-friendly.

The reform though should go beyond the ‘white knight’ route. We must actively participate in Asia’s establishment of its own monetary fund and a single-currency regime, and take a leading role if opportunities allow. It may prove beneficial yet to re-institute a regime of gold reserve standard, which should back up the Asian currency. This same monetary fund will then serve as the regional ‘white knight’ that will provide credit to nations in need in the region and continent. The actions will also accelerate the economic cum political integration of the ASEAN and the economic integration for the entire East Asia, steps that will further stabilize the national economies and continuously sustain their respective growth. Meanwhile, a regional currency can stabilize soon enough upon its launching, that it would be a difficult job for criminal financiers to manipulate it, such as the success of the ‘Euro’ now exhibits to the globe.

 

Still another key intervention measure is the control of predatory speculation through a ‘Tobin tax’ on cross-border currency and related purchases (J. Tobin’s proposal in the early 70s). A tax of 0.75% alone on the current cross-border exchanges, which amounts to $300 Trillions annually, would generate $2.25 Trillions. The said money will then be used to fund the operations of international organizations such as the United Nations, UNDP and authentic international NGOs for social development purposes. The money can also be used by ‘white knight’ financing institutions of international scale. This set of actions will then induce reforms in the other institutions, with chain reaction effects leading to declining speculation in the long run, as the oligarchic bankers/financiers adjust their rates to more competitive rates in the face of challenges coming from global ‘white knights’.

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Strengthen national banking and the monetary system

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Strengthen national banking and the monetary system

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

 

Economic stability at all levels demands the strengthening of a national banking system, and concomitantly the strengthening of monetary system with sovereignty-backed parameters and rules. First and foremost of monetary missions is the re-assertion of the powers of the Constitution of the Republic over the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Needless to say, the country today faces a weak national bank, and necessarily a weak monetary system engendered by it. Sovereignty questions impede the effective operations of national banking in the country, as indicated by the excessive meddling of the International Monetary Fund, acting as agent of the global financial cartels, in the Bangko Sentral’s operations. The first step should be a thorough investigation by the Congress of the Republic to determine precisely who owns and controls the Bangko Sentral, and conduct related oversight functions to assess the entire consolidated assets of the said bank inclusive of unaccounted precious metals.

Should there be a need to institute maximum monetary controls, the national bank should be mandated by the Congress precisely to exercise such controls through a regime of currency controls, where found warranted. In no way should our national currency be subjected to attacks by predatory financier speculators, as what the latter have been doing from the mid-1997 onwards. Money is the lifeblood of the economy, and rendering our money under a regime of free exchange rates and free trade leaves us extremely vulnerable to the machinations of such greedy forces, further weakening our national economy. Monetary controls are the best antidotes to the ailment of a weak currency. Were it possible to revive a system of gold reserve standard, then let such a strategy be studied and enforced, to ensure stability in monetary concerns and the currency markets.

The interest rate controls should likewise continue, but the state must see to it that the rate regimes are within the bounds of sovereignty parameters, representing thereof the national interest and the subsidiary interests of the various social sectors. And, should conditions warrant, our national bank should be among the key initiators for constituting new supra-national institutions, such as an Asian Monetary Fund, thus signaling our participation in reforming the entire financial & monetary system (see below). Our involvement in an Asian Monetary Fund could be a fitful strategy to finally exit from the International Monetary Fund, further strengthening our national banking and monetary system.

 

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Concur co-stewardships with communities affected by extractive industries

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Concur co-stewardships with communities affected by extractive industries

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Our mining sector had been in the doldrums for quite some time now. The production levels of both (a) base metals and (b) precious metals have surely been at lackluster levels. Meantime, logging has been totally banned to arrest further deforestration and its accompanying desertification and soil erosion. It is only in the energy sector where extraction has been impressively high, and the sector is appreciably a very dynamic one even in terms of R&D considerations. We are now at the crossroads concerning such sectors as mining and forest resources, where a revivified extraction is in the pipelines but couldn’t move because of constitutional and/or statutory constraints.

Note that most of the country’s natural resources for extraction are habituated by (a) tribal peoples and (b) migratory slash & burn peasants. Such populations have long ‘guarded’ the resource-rich habitats. It would surely be a faulty policy to drive them away—hidden under the euphemism of ‘relocation’—in order to give way to a mining concessionaire. Likewise would it be unsound to merely integrate some of their members as wage laborers for the extraction operations. Such actions, derived from regarding the people as ‘high disutility’ entities, are plain reactionary, even as they push the populations to the limits, leading to the folks to constitute hostile millennial movements and rebel separatists. The moves are reactionary as they contribute to the weakening of the nation, to the fragmentation of the national community.

The most pro-active path to address the concerned issue is to design and concur stewardship arrangements with the said populations. Three things are addressed by the stewardship: (1) the people will stay in the area, with better housing and amenities, who in turn will monitor and safeguard the entire operational sites; (2) where necessary, the same folks will be employed in the operations and administrative jobs where applicable, on a first priority basis; and, (3) the people will be co-owners of the firm, with equity/stock participation derived through a calibration of their productivity potency, historical role in stewardship of the area, and other variables. It is argued that this stewardship path is the win/win formula for the state, investors (market), and the communities concerned (‘social capital’/civil society). Consequently, the contribution to the GDP through resource extraction jumps up to a historic high level.

 

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Continuously open the market to external investors

NEO-NATIONALISM’S PREMISES & CONTENTIONS / Continuously open the market to external investors

 

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

National savings continue to hover at a pathetically low rate of seventeen percent (17%), which is significant but is way below the minimum of thirty percent (30%) to render it as ‘critical mass’, like that of our neighbors’. The problem cannot be addressed sufficiently than through a continuing inflow of capital from external investors. Note that in today’s global context, the term ‘foreign capital’ has already lost its meaning, as the boundary between ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ has been effectively erased. The cross-country partnering cum out-sourcing arrangements among diverse firms have become the norm of today’s business, rendering obsolete the previously sacrosanct notions of ‘domestic’ capital and ‘foreign’ direct investments. Not only that. Latest researches have verified that transnational corporations or TNCs now tend to create more values within their host countries and reinvest the profits locally than remit them back to their ‘home country’ (a term that has also begun to lost meaning).

This doesn’t mean though that such investors should be served ‘free lunch’, through very long regimes of tax havens or through spurious ‘strike-free zones’ (read: haven for wage freeze) which makes our laborers appear like wild jackals who need to be perpetually gagged. Some forms of valves (capital controls) should also be instituted, so that the capital investments and profits wouldn’t just flow out like hemorrhage the moment that the economy hits cyclical crisis. Surely, pro-active measures can be devised to let the said investors stay, more so for those that truly re-invest their ROI for their original and diversified business concerns, as well as to those that conduct dynamic R&D and truly transfer technology.

 

In today’s globalizing context, corporate ‘national champions’ have become obsolete. The bygone era of ‘national champions’ can still be observed in the names of certain firms, such as in the names Philippine Airlines, Philippine Long Distance Telephone, or in Bank of America, American Express. Asset re-structuring is the norm, and large corporations are becoming rapidly globalized. Mergers and de-mergers are happening at rapidly ‘chaotic’ paces. The circumstances challenge investors/stockholders to quickly grasp the lesson of   ‘thriving on chaos’ or else their ventures would face bankruptcies and foreclosures as what befell many former large ventures, inclusive of former ‘national champions’.

The thought that “foreign capital might harm national interest” is simply passé and out-of-context, in as much as the term ‘foreign’ has lost its meaning save for the antiquarian Old Nationalists who regard foreign things as essentially dangerous (but are they not using foreign frameworks in their perceptions of foreign things?). Let the investors come in, recombine their assets with our domestic investors’, extend their stock participation beyond the forty percent (40%) constitutional limit. Note that “our very own” big corporations are participating in ‘foreign’ countries, and their levels of investment participation go beyond forty percent (40%). It is high time that we readjust our thinking about the matter.

[From: Erle Frayne D. Argonza, “New Nationalism: Grandeur and Glory at Work!”. August 2004. For the Office of External Affairs – Political Cabinet Cluster, Office of the President, Malacaňan Palace.]