Generally,
Filipinos are intensely focused on the Philippines. They hardly
notice what is going on with the rest of the world except when
global crises erupt. It was therefore a wonderful but tiring break
for me to go to four European cities for a week and catch up with
what is happening in the rest of the world.
The cities visited were Berlin, The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam.
All in the space of one week, including travel time! I realized
once more how interconnected we all are and how global events
impact on the ordinary Filipino.
Berlin: Global finance and the Filipino
This coming November, a very important global conference will
take place in Doha, Qatar. This is the Financing for Development
meeting, which will assess the status of efforts to generate adequate
financing on a global scale for development, particularly the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
All country members of the United Nations, including the Philippines,
are expected to come. The multilaterals, e.g. the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund, including the regional development
banks, will be in attendance. The proceedings will be observed
by international civil-society organizations and business organizations.
Preparatory meetings and discussions are already held in the United
Nations. Many countries are readying for active participation
in the Doha meeting by conducting national consultations.
Germany, one of the G-8 countries and a major global player, has
gone beyond domestic consultations. On September 9, the German
government convened a big development-policy forum involving not
only the government, the business community and civil society,
but also experts and officials from different parts of the world.
In this way, the concerns of developing countries were articulated.
These inputs situated German interests in the context of financing
requirements of developing countries for the MDGs.
Senior United Nations officials participated in intense discussions,
along with representatives of the multilaterals, private banks,
finance ministers of South Africa and Mali, the state secretary
for International Development of Norway, religious leaders and
representatives of global civil-society organizations, including
Social Watch.
Three topics were covered in vibrant sessions: the global status
of the MDGs and benchmarks for common action; mobilizing international
resources; and mobilizing domestic resources.
I was part of a three-person panel which critiqued the proceedings.
The other two members were the deputy executive director of Unicef
and the director general of the Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development of Germany.
Focus of the debates was largely on what is still needed for MDGs
to be achieved, and the roadblocks to adequate financing for the
MDGs. Lively discussions focused on official development assistance
and alternative sources of financing.
As for domestic resources, passionate discourses centered on forgone
taxes due to perks, holidays and exemptions offered to investors.
There were detailed discussions on how to protect the interest
of host countries in extractive industries like mining. Exchanges
on governance and corruption were inevitable.
I ended my critique with a description of the Alternative Budget
Initiative convened by Social Watch, which advocates for increased
budget allocations for the MDGs. I warned that the MDGs may not
be attained by 2015 and emphasized the need for a sense of urgency
and, at the same time, of hope.
Yes, the very issues which are currently being debated in the
Philippines are debated globally. So when is the Philippine government
calling for a national consultation?
The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam
When they learned that I was in Europe, Filipino graduate students
of the Institute for Social Studies, led by Marivic Raquiza, asked
me to visit them in The Hague and give an update on developments
in the Philippines. We had a very lively exchange on social and
economic issues, with politics thrown in for good measure.
The proposed theses of the students are very interesting and provocative.
One of them is on homosexuality in the New People’s Army,
entitled “Comrades and Lovers in Arms.” Hmm.
The Netherlands is one of the most active countries supporting
the work of civil-society organizations through its international
nongovernment organizations (NGOs). There, Janet Carandang of
the Social Watch Secretariat and I had meetings with Dutch NGOs.
It was stimulating to share updates and views on Philippine developments
as well as the global scene with Oxfam-Novib and Cordaid in The
Hague; Icco in Utrecht; and Transnational Institute in Amsterdam.
Touching base with like-minded institutions from across the globe
enhances global solidarity. It assures us that we are part of
an international movement and that we are not alone as we struggle
and carry on our sometimes lonely advocacies for the wretched
of the Philippine earth.
(Ms.
Leonor Briones is a former National Treasurer of the Republic
of the Philippines. She is currently teaching at the University
of the Philippines' National College of Public Administration
and Governance. She is also a co-convenor of Social Watch Philippines.)
European
sojourn