Predatory governments a threat to democracy

Our government tried dipping its hands in the corporate pot during the dictatorship. When effective controls were lifted in the post-Martial law regimes, government owned and controlled corporations lost profitability and closed down. This affected growth which forced government to institute privatization to generate revenues.

When governments such as ours assume a predatory nature, foreign investments tend to get affected. If you look at the figures, the more predatory a government becomes, the less FDI flows in.

However, in the case of Meralco, this regime thinks it can do a better job managing electricity rates than what the Lopezes are doing. In the interest of the public, says Ermita and Gloria poster boy Winston Garcia, it's time to seize the utility firm from private hands. This policy is a reversal from the previous government privatization stance.

If this happens, what now with oil companies? Surely, this sends a chilling message to all those companies directly transacting with the public. Next to Meralco, will Gloria run after oil companies such as Shell, Petron, Caltex, etal? All the more she should do that. These oil companies rake in billions of pesos of profits.

How about telecommunications companies? With high call rates, all the more should Gloria and her misfits seize them to effectively lower rates. They should be seized as well.

Its a laudable effort on the part of Gloria to call for a lowering of electricity rates since compared with our Asian neighbours, our power rates are higher than them. A lowered electricity rate brings in more investments since the investment climate is perceived to be better.

Gloria's efforts at enhancing our competitive advantages as an investment site are sterling accomplishments. Nonetheless, Gloria should not be targetting just Meralco. She should also target PLDT, Bayantel and Globe Telecommunications. She also should take over Shell, Petron and Caltex, the three big players in the oil industry. Next to them, she should also seize food companies, especially those rice importers since they directly affect Pinoy lives. And even those wheat traders. All should be fair game.

As expected, we tend to like reverse growth instead of progressive growth. Predation is an anti-thesis of democracy. This is an extreme form of nationalism, an aberration in an increasingly globalized world.