Comparisons generally are odious and should be avoided where possible. But I find myself unable to resist the urge to make a comparison with regard to last week’s rejection by the Duterte administration of a $278 million (250 million euros) grant from the European Union (EU) to the Philippines. The comparison that I’m going to make is between President Rodrigo Duterte’s Secretary of Finance, Carlos Dominguez III and former President Ferdinand Marcos’s Minister of Finance Cesar Virata.
Mr. Dominguez, whose department is the channel for official financial flows to the Philippines, has come out in support of the rejection of the EU grant, which was triggered by the EU’s rebuke by Mr. Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. Turning down the EU’s $278 million was perfectly OK, in the Department of Finance chief’s view. “The proposed EU grant would (have involved) a review of our adherence to the rule of law,” Mr. Domiguez has declared.
Rejecting an offer of grant funds from an institution deprives the Philippines of the amount of money that has been rejected. Considering that the Duterte administration has announced a super-ambitious program of capital spending – “Build, build, build” is its mantra – I expected a large protest with President Duterte.
Upon being informed of the rejection plan, the DOF chief should have told his boss something like this … “Mr. President, our administration has embarked on an ambitious capital spending program and therefore we will need all the financial resources that we can get access to. I urge you, Mr. President, to reconsider your decision to reject the EU grant.”
Mr. Dominguez’s action invites a comparison between him and one of his predecessors, Cesar Virata, this country’s longest-serving (1970-1986) chief fiscal policymaker.
Given his professional philosophy and record, Cesar Virata would have reacted differently to a Presidential desire to reject a financial grant from EU or any foreign donor. Unlike the present Secretary of Finance, Cesar Virata would not have given his approval to such a Presidential move. On the contrary, he would have protected it.
In discussing the matter with President Marcos, Cesar Virata would have made two points. He would have told President Marcos that the Philippines had not yet reached such a fiscal position that it could now afford to turn away foreign donors of financial assistance. And he would have told President Marcos that a rejection of foreign assistance has implications that go beyond the economic domain and therefore should be avoided.
It must seem highly ironic to Mr. Virata, now the vice-chairman of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, that no foreign offer of financial assistance was ever rejected by the 14-year-old Marcos martial-law regime, which received increasing criticism from the Western countries and the international institutions. If ever there was anyone who had ample reason to experience pique, it was Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Truth to tell, I am disappointed with the Secretary of Finance over the rejection of the EU grant. Carlod Dominguez III is basically a decent person, and I dare say that if he were still a private businessman he would not have favored the rejection. What we have here is a case of a good man who is in bad company.
At the outset I spoke of comparisons’ being odious. Cesar Virata versus Carlos Dominuez III is an excellent example.
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