Economic Nationalism

With the birth of the new nation, finally free from the 400-year domination of our Spanish overlords, the Philippines gingerly started taking baby steps toward becoming a true republic. The aspiration for political freedom naturally had to be accompanied by a desire for a functioning commerce run by Filipinos for Filipinos. Thus the era of “Economic Nationalism and Economic Self-Sufficiency” commenced with the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI) leading the way as the vanguard of changes embodying the new ideals appropriately labeled the “Ang Bagong Katipunan.” The battlecry was to patronize local products and to reduce dependence on imported goods and merchandise.

But for context, just what exactly was happening in the Philippine business scene at this time and how did it evolve? Note that the Philippines originally was born out of the desire of Europe for spices only to discover instead precious minerals such as gold and silver that came in handy to finance the global expansionist ambitions of Spain. Mercantilists further changed the profile of business when the consumerist desires for tobacco and sugar by the West gained ground. In turn, this led to the importation of manufactured merchandise as the local populace, primarily the wealthy landed of the sugar and tobacco industries and traders who had enriched themselves from earlier generations by exploiting our natural resources and cash crops such as abaca, tobacco and sugar, craved the finer products of the West.

With increasing prosperity came a greater demand for imported goods which consequently heightened pressure for increased production of our main products to finance the importations. To cope with the increase in local production, the Americans introduced more efficient production systems using newly invented mechanized equipment from the West.

Over time, the business community aspired to locally produce merchandise that originated in Europe and America igniting the impetus for Filipinos to manufacture in the Philippines and to encourage consumers to buy locally. Government, of course, had its own share of the till and financial interests as the system generated revenues from tariffs levied on imports, exports and income taxes generated by local businesses. Then as now, taxes would be a cost that had to be necessarily reckoned with and like any astute businessman would do, be managed down to its possible minimum in order to remain competitive.

The chamber was the venue as the interplay of all these considerations were discussed and consensus reached on how best to lobby the government on tariffs and importation caps and to set fair play agreements among themselves. This exclusive enclave of businessmen in the industries that were thriving was the moving spirit behind CCPI.

Unfortunately, what instead became a big hit was an exhibit that purportedly demonstrated the way of life of a people newly conquered by the Americans.

As the Americans took hold of the country’s direction, and to fuel greater demand for our products albeit limited to unprocessed raw materials, the Philippines was introduced by America to the greater world through our participation spearheaded by the chamber in the St. Louis World Exposition of 1904.

Unfortunately, what instead became a big hit was an exhibit that purportedly demonstrated the way of life of a people newly conquered by the Americans. This was an Igorot village that showcased the natives’ way of life based on anthropologist Albert Jenks’ view that the Igorots were the most savage people in the Philippines that created the impression, intended perhaps to justify our colonization, that it would be to the benefit of the Philippines to be pacified and civilized under the guidance of Big Brother America. Of course by colonizing us, the US would then have access to the Pacific, for its export, military and other strategic considerations.

Subsequent years saw the CCPI successfully lobbying for the removal of discrimination against Philippine Business as enacted in the Tariff Act of 1909, or the Philippines-US Fair Trade Agreement; the 1913 Underwood-Simmons Tariff Law establishing free trade relations between the Philippines and the US; and the 1923 abolition of the US-PI Postal C.O.D. that put local merchants at a disadvantage.

In national governance, the CCPI made political inroads as it actively participated in naming Filipino Cabinet members in the 1917 Filipinization of the government. On advocacy, CCPI issued a manifesto, “Ours First, Yours Later,” in 1926 urging Filipinos to patronize local products; sponsored “Made in the Philippines Week,” and organized the “National Congress of Filipino Businessmen” and the “National Economic Protectionism Association” in 1934.

Until next week… OBF!

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