RJ Jacinto
I am a mediaman. I have been in media for almost 60 years, ever since I put up my first radio station in the backyard of my parents’ home at the age of 16, but it still amazes me how 1 news story can be told and twisted in many different ways.
Freedom of speech and freedom of press is something we all fought to have and need to protect, but that does not come without responsibility. It is ironic how journalists, those who wield the most power can act the most irresponsibly and without accountability. Although we have many great journalists in this country, it is a shame that a good number forget their first responsibility is to serve the public by correctly informing them and even worse, are used to serve malevolent agendas and interests.
I am disappointed in the way Rappler chose to present their news about my appointment by needlessly mentioning a (long) settled case that happened almost 20 years ago, during the Asian Financial Crisis where I was treated unfairly due to political interests against me during the Erap regime when I was perceived to be very close to former President Ramos, whom Erap persecuted. Irresponsible journalism being used to further business agendas is nothing new to me - during this time, those with interests used PR firms to twist the facts under the guise of “investigative journalism”. This is the article that Rappler chose to link to for their “announcement”, not so subtly trying to open up criticism to our President.
First of all, what Rappler conveniently failed to mention is that this case had been fully settled years ago. Secondly, since this was brought up, I’d like to take this opportunity to put this to rest once and for all:
I supposedly received a “behest” loan through my political connections with former President Ramos, nothing could be farther from the truth... I would like to let you be the judge of that -
Our company bought the Buendia property valued at 40,000/sqm at a price of 150,000/sqm from PNB, the highest price ever paid for a property in that area at the time. We put down a 20% downpayment of $28million on the property and took out a dollar loan from PNB for the rest because PNB offered financing against a mortgage. The same bank that gave out the loan for the property sold the property - thats right, no money ever left the bank and what they loaned me went back to them in the form of a mortgage (PNB showed a P3.7-billion profit because of our purchase). We paid down $12million of the loan/interest, then the Asian Crisis happened and like most businesses, we had to restructure because it was force majure and the Crisis was beyond the control of the borrowers. However, some of those close to the Erap regime wanted the property (at that time, PNB was government owned). While other dollar loans were restructured during the Asian crisis, ours was not. The foreclosure on the property was politically motivated.
In summary, we bought the property at a HUGE premium, paid PNB $40million for a property we never used (there is no building until now), PNB booked a P3.7 Billion profit, went public/IPO then took back the property. If this is a favor - I’d be happy if my friends didn’t do me any favors for the rest of my days.
My question is this - Why is Rappler making a big deal out of a settled dispute that is 20 years old? PNB is happy, I was the one that gave them money, they did not give me money. If I am happy, and PNB is happy why is Rappler not? Could vested interests also be influencing Rappler like those “investigative journalists”? It is about time that the ordinary Filipinos unmask these biased and irresponsible news organizations. Lets ask, who is subsidising Rappler now?
I became convinced that President Rody was the man who would lead us when we talked last year. We talked about ways to improve our country ranging from education, defense, exorbitant food prices (if a fisherman sells fish for P20 in the province, that same fish is P120 in a Manila market keeping both the fisherman and the common man poor) and eventually arrived at how our countrymen have been suffering for so long.
We have failed them.
30 years after Martial Law the poor and suffering remain poor and few remain in power, often to the detriment of the common man.
Our main industry has become the export of bodies. Not cars, not electronics or clothes. Human beings. And although our economy has been doing very well over the last few years, this comes at a great social cost. This is not sustainable.
Our OFWs are our heroes. We have millions of OFWs keeping our economy afloat. But how many children grow up without their parents? How many families are separated?
Right now, people need to go out of the country just to put food on the table. They cannot even enjoy their own country.
This is why President Duterte and I agreed on the need of industrialization to create jobs.
We agreed that reviving and finally finishing a Philippine Steel Mill is needed if we want to spawn manufacturing and build our country. Going out of the country must be a choice, not a necessity. The jobs must come here not we go to the jobs.
Most people are familiar with the story of me putting up my own radio station and being lucky enough to release hit records as a teenager, what some may not know is as a 19 year old Ateneo Economics graduate I worked for our family's Steel Mill as Senior Vice-President and helped my father in founding the Steel Industry in this country (Iligan Integrated Steel Mills now known as National Steel) while attending law school at night.
Putting up a Steel Mill was a huge gamble for our family. It was the largest industrial undertaking at that time (1960s).
Our family was in banking and insurance. My father, who helped my grandfather put up Philippine Bank of Commerce with the Cojuangcos (the first Filipino-owned private bank), talked to us kids and told us that he had a choice, to either put up more banks and live comfortably, or do something meaningful and put up a Steel Mill which would benefit the country. We told him to put up the Steel Mill.
It was a massive project that saw the Philippines building the 2nd largest Steel Mill in Asia (to Japan) and the 1st Steel Mill in South East Asia. We were 2 years ahead of POSCO of South Korea. We even sent our engineers to POSCO to help them set up their Steel Mill. Doesn’t that blow your mind? Look at Korea now and how progressive they’ve become? What has Korea become known for? Samsung, Hyundai, Ship-building, all these things have one thing in common - Steel.
Steel is such a critical thing to building a country. It is in everything - roads, bridges, buildings, your house and roof.
When World War II started, what did Gen. MacArthur first bomb? Steel Mill. What was the first thing Japan put up after the war? Steel Mill.
To be a truly independent country, you need a steel mill. Without a Steel Mill, you cannot even make your own weapons for defense. Right now, our country buys most of our steel from China. Taiwan, such a small country, was able to stand up to China. Why? Steel Mills. It has 2.
It is the mother of all industries. Without a steel mill, you cannot even make machines for other factories.
This is why it takes national will to decide to put up a Steel Mill and protect it. Because it is a long-term investment and commitment that secures the country and spurs industrialization. If we can tax cars exorbitant amounts (to the detriment of the people) to "protect" a sparse car-assembly industry, why can we not protect a Steel Industry which helps ensure our security and economic independence? Up to today, Japan and the USA still protect their steel industries.
We were operating our Steel Mill profitably in the 60s, but Marcos wanted our family to give up control to him. My father refused and Marcos started violating the tariffs, protections and forward exchange contracts that pegged the dollar to the peso for the steel industry THAT WERE ENACTED INTO LAW BY CONGRESS, allowing imports to come in.
Then came Martial Law, we were exiled and the Steel Mill was taken over at the point of a gun. Which would have been bad enough except they elected not to finish the steel mill integration and instead chose to keep on importing raw material. Of course, keeping on importing raw material meant easier skimming off the top.
Integrating the Steel Mill meant that we could produce Steel from iron ore. There are 3 phases to fully integrate a Steel Mill. We were able to complete the first two. The final phase that needed to be finished is the Blast Furnace. If we had done this, we would have not needed to import anything to make our steel and we would have even been ahead of South Korea.
Our country is so rich, we have iron ore. Japan or Taiwan does not even have iron ore and they have Steel Mills. Right now, we strip our country of its natural resources only to sell it abroad and buy it back at many times the price. That doesn’t make much sense economically.
After Martial Law, Juan Ponce Enrile as the Head of the Revolutionary Government under Cory ordered the Steel Mill returned to us but again, those who were in control and with interests, who used the Steel Mill’s cash flow for their laundering to establish the Binondo Central Bank (a black market dollar operation ran by former SGV people who also ran our Steel Mill at that time), prevented the return for fear that we would find out about these anomalies. These are the same people who have continued to be in power, brokering from president to president, until recently.
The Steel Mill was mismanaged and sold several times to foreigners. It is now closed and abandoned and deteriorating. Iligan, where the Steel Mill was, was a thriving city full of energy while the mill was operational in the 60s and 70s. Today, it is a shell of what it once was.
During our meeting last year President Duterte and I also discussed the Philippine Business Island as a solution to creating more jobs and driving investments to the Philippines. Between their rising labor costs and recent hostile actions, foreign investors are leaving China. They have even started investing in countries like Vietnam, India and Indonesia as alternatives to China.
We all know the hazards of doing business in the Philippines. There is so much uncertainty and you don’t exactly have a level playing-field. You can wake up one day and be victimized.
Economic Zones are not the answer, we've had PEZA for over 30 years and still we just get the crumbs. People are still forced to go out of the country.
Big foreign investments need a big macro approach. They need the right infrastructure and the right configuration. Factories need other factories that produce their raw materials, preferably within their vicinity. They need the right tariff-protection and power-costs.
We need to offer them something that other countries cannot. The concept of the Philippine Business Island is this - if we can lease land for military bases, why not lease a whole island for business that will create jobs and create a massive influx of of investment in the country. In this island, the investors can be separate from our ports/customs, corrupt officials, judicial interruptions and poor infrastructure and traffic. They can police themselves and configure the island and infrastructure just how they want subject to our sovereignty and with the conditions that they hire Philippine labor, they have a mix of businesses that benefit the Philippines and that they take care of our environment.
Big investors and multinationals need land - We have 7,107 islands.
They need labor - We have millions of excess SKILLED, ENGLISH-SPEAKING workers.
They prefer a democratic climate - we are the showcase of democracy in Asia.
It just makes sense. We could have a progressive island like Hong Kong or Singapore within our country without borrowing from abroad again and while earning from the lease. Who would have thought that we would see that in our lifetime? We have to give President Duterte credit for thinking out of the box for solutions. This could very well kickstart the Philippines into becoming a developed nation.
President Rody and I have also discussed the sad state of our telecomm service in the country. I have been the President/CEO of Philcommsat Holdings for 8 years, representing the government. Philcommsat is the pioneer Telecomms and Satellite company, being around since the 70s - even before Smart and Globe.
Right now, around 65% of the Philippines still has no broadband service. There are two ways to receive internet - from submarine cables and from satellite. Currently, we only receive internet from submarine cables which enter the country through landing stations controlled by Globe and PLDT. We need to consider sourcing internet from satellites and receiving them via VSATs to service both areas with inadequate service and areas with no broadband service similar to how Australia rolled their internet out.
We also need to promote competition in the industry. We need to streamline rules so that smaller providers can enter and augment Globe and Smart in the areas they are not servicing.
To close, I would like to thank everyone for their congratulations and well-wishes.
From banking through my grandparents to the Steel Industry from my father, our family has done our part to contribute to the Philippine Economy. I too have been contributing in a smaller way - I have been an entrepreneur since 16. Owned banks, retail stores, pioneered micro-financing in the country and continued our Steel Roofing company. I happen to be a successful musician too. Our guitar company supports a whole manufacturing industry in Pampanga and my radio station (DZRJ turned to Radyo Bandido) was the one June Keithly used to call people to EDSA (and get rid off Marcos), which I am proud off.
When the President and I talked about this, it seemed so long ago. After I egged him on to run and make the sacrifice, it is only my moral duty not to abandon him and work hand in hand with him in making the changes he wants.
I am grateful for his trust. At our age, it is our last-hurrah and our moral obligation to help steer this country in the right direction and give the younger generation the best chance to succeed after us. There is not one person in this country who does not want to make it better. The change will come from all of us and together we will succeed …Lets Rock N’ Roll!!!
