Globalization: Its Impacts on the Philippine Environment

8/17/2019 Globalization: Its Impacts on the Philippine Environment

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Globalization:

Its Impacts on the

Philippine Environment

A

urora

Alerta Lim

Central Philippine University

(UBCHEA Visiting

Scholar at

Warren W

il

son College)

1. INTRODUC

TIO

N: THE PHILIPPINES

AND

THE PHll.JPPfNESI

TUATION

The Philippines is

an

arc

hip

elago situated on

the

eastern edge

of As

ia. It is bounded to the west by the South

China Sea and

to th

e east by the Pacific Ocean. Its nea rest

neighbors are

th

e Malaysian province

of

Sa bah and the In

donesian territory of Kalimantan, both on Borneo to the

Southwest. Acro

ss

the

South China Sea, about 620 miles

west, lies Vietnam, and a similar distance to the east are the

Palau islands. China lies about 320 miles t the north.

1l1e Philippines, a tropical country, consists of7, I07

islands,

with

a land area ofalmost 116,000 square miles .

l11crc

are

six

major is

land

groups. The largest and

most

densely

populated is Luzon, and is the site of the capital, Manila.

Mindanao IS the second largest is land, forming the southern

landmass. Between

is

a cluster of islands collectively called

the Visayas, the principal of which are Panay, Negros, Cebu ,

Bohol, Samar, Leyte, and Masbat

e.

The fourth group is

M ndore, a mountainous island in the

so

uth of Luzon. So uth

w

es

twards towards Borneo is

Pa

l

awa

n,

a,

long, thin, pencil

like island . Finally, in the far

so

uth arc the Sulu islands,

from

the wes tern tip ofMmdanao to within a few miles ofBorneo.

With such a large number of islands, the Philippines bas a

long

coastline which totals 21,773 mi les, even longer than

that of the USA. The highly indented coast

has

created 60

natural harbors and there are about I3, I28 square miles

of

coral reefs

wi th

around 400 species

of

coral which are home

to hundreds of species of fish.

Filipinos today are a curious blend of he East and

West, showing strong Malay, Arab, Chinese, Spanish, and

American inputs. The

Phi

lippines had been under foreign

domination which grea

tly

influenced its social , cultural, reli

gious,

ed

u

ca tional

, :

d

politicalsystems. The co

lon

izers al

so

left

the ir footprints on the country's environme nt . There are

over 80 languages

and

dialects throughout

the

country. The

official language is Pi/ipino the standardized form

of

g -

lo

which

is

the

lan

guage in metro Ma nila. English is used as

a medium of instruction and in business and in government.

The total population is 73 million

with

an average annual

growth

rate of2

.3%.

Urban

population is 46%

and

94% of he

people are literate. Ninety percent of he population are Chris

tians, 5% are Muslim and the remainder, a mixture of Bud

dhists

and

animists.

Of

he Christians, 92% are

Roman

Catho-

lie

and ex,

arc Pro testants.

Our country is basically agricultural. One-fifth of

our gross domestic product is contributed by the primary

agricultural secto

r. If

we consider agribus

in

ess, then over

one-half

of

our economy is agricultural. Primary ag

ri

culture

accounts for40% of otal employment in the Phi lippines. The

daily cost of li

vi

ng for a family

of

six is P441 ($9) in metro

Manila , P334 or $6.50 (agricultural)

and

P355 or$7 (non-agri

cultural)

for

those residing

in

other regions. The minimum

wage

is

P1

98

per day or $4 in metro Manila and PI31- PI88

($2.60-3.75)

for

nonagricultural workers outside metro Ma

nila.

n THEIMPACfSOFGLOBALIZA.TIONONTHEPffiLD>

PlNEENVIRONMENT

As viewed by the Philippine government, global

ization is supp osedly the key solution

to

the country's un

derdevelopment and poverty. The global financial bureau

cracies include the International Monetary Fund TMF), the

World Bank (WB), and the World Trade Organization WTO).

The major component of globa

li

zation is the removal of re

stric

ti

ons

on

the

movement

of

capital, goods,

re

sourc

es,

tech

nology, and services among nations. The earlier GATT (Gen

eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) dealt mainly with the

liberalization

of

tariffs on industrial products. The Uruguay

Round in 1995 added several new issues suc h as intellec

tlia

l property rights (IPR), services and investment measures,

as

well

as agricu

lt

ure,

and

transformed GATT

from

a co

ntra

ct

among member countries into a full-fledged organization, the

WTO. This changeover from the old

GATT

to the WTO with

expanded powers a

nd

jurisdiction marked the passage

of

he

age

of rade agreements into

the

globalization of policy-mak

ing.

A.Impacts on Ag r iculture, Biodiversity, and La nd Usc

The Agreement on Agriculture (AOA)

was

sup

posed to result in the reduction

of

agriculture subsidies in

the North to

i m p r o ~

the market access

of

those co

un

tries

that export agriculmral products. However, the agreement

obliged developed countries to reduce domestic subsi

di

es

by only 20% and, in contrast, most developing coumries had

no

or little domestic or export subsidies. This imposes global

competition on the domestic farm sector. Farmers unable

to

compete

with

cheaper imports may not survive. Agricultural

liberalization also raises world food prices which may benefit

food exporters but about I00 Third World food importing

countries

face

a

hi

gher

food

import

bill.

Fai thful to GATT and the WTO,

th

e Philippinegov

errunent encouraged the entry of mported agricultural prod

ucts including those that can be locally produced such as

ri

ce, co rn, sugar, livestock, poultry, a

nd

fish. With lower tar

iffs and

higher levels ofteclmology with wh ich the imported

crops arc produced, they tum out to be relative

ly

cheaper

than the country's domestic products. This results in unfair

market competition.

The main targets of he government's development

plan were the rural areas, and this transformed the agricul-

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tural landscape as a showcase for commercial

and

export

onented production. Subsistence and staple crops were r

e

placed wuh high value crops (HVCs). Staple crops such

as

rice and com gave way to more saleable products such as

mangoes, pili and cashew nuts, cassava, cotton, castor beans,

asparagus,

and

cut

flow

ers.

For the period 1990-1995, the HV Cs contributed

about $693M or 38%of he country's agricultural export. The

se

rious implications

of

he

shift

to

IJV Cs,

secondary to

land

ownership and livelihood, are food insecurity and environ

mental degradation. HVC growing

is

promoted through the

practice

of

contract growing in which fanners are contracted

by transnational corporations (TNCs) to grow a speci fied

crop

at

specified quality standard

s.

IIVCs intensify TNC co n

trol in agriculture. TNCs become involved from pl anting to

trade without really owning the land. In the practice

of

con

tractgrowi11g HVCs, fanners are ordered to follow the recom

mended doses

of

fertilizers and pesticides in order to ac

hi

eve

the standard quantity and quality.

The use ofchemical fenilizcrs and pesticides poses

a threat to

the envtronmcnt

as

well

as to

the health

of

the

wo rk

ers. For exa

mple, in

Mindanao ambulances are on standby

whenever fann workers spray the deadly pesticide Mocap

in banana growership farms

in

Davao del None. Soil eros ion

and de se rtification are already evident in some places in

Mindanao where contract growing of IIVCs is prevale

nt.

In

Cotabato, farmers comp

lain

ofsiltntion in

th

e

ir

irrigation sys

tem because

of

the pineapp le plantations.

He

eding the call for globalization,

th

e government

permits the conversion

of

prime agricultural lands into indus

trial center

s,

expon processing zones, and real estate. The

irreversible conversionof farmland contributes to the grow

ing loss ofagricultural resources and the country's best soils.

The

loss

of

rich

agncultural lands

to

settlements and indus

trial uses displaced peasants who then encroach upon mar

ginally-productive hilly forest areas. This results in misap

propriation

of

land resources whereby fenile lands arc used

by

business while marginal lands are cultivated and further

decrease forest areas.

The land allotted

for

ri

ce

and

com decreased from5

mtlhon hectares to 1.9 million hectares, thereby decreasmg

the supply

of

these staple crop

s.

The average daily rice re

quirement in the Philippines is 22,000 metric tons. The ac tual

yield per hectare of

rice

land is only about 2.82 me

tri

c tons

annually.

Even

if

he

yield is doubled

in

the-remaining hect

ares lor

ri

ce (1.2 million), the production would still be short

by 282,000 metric

tons.

This results to a

low

rsupply of the

dietary needs of the population.

The introduction of the high yielding varie ties

(JIYV s) of rice supposedly to increase agricultural produc

tivity actually promoted TNC ag

ribu

siness

in the

Philippines.

The IIYVs are more aptly called high response varieties

because they can only increase yields wi th high fenilizer and

chcrmcal mputs. The fannl rs, under the World Bank-spon

so red

Green Revolution ,

were

told to shift to rice and com

IIVY hybrids.

Heavy reliance on fann chemicals has resulted in ( I)

increased soil acidity; (2) mcreased nutnent load ofsurround

mg wa ter bodies due to fertilizer nmoff; (3) decreased pest

reststance;

and

(4) genetic erosion accompamed by

111creascd

crop vulnerability

to

pests a

nd

diseases. Fertilizer use has

spawn ed other problems, particularly water pollution. The

growth

of

algae blooms in some waters ha s b

ee

n attributed

to inorga

ni

c fertilizers with nitrates. Increased pesticide usc

also increases pest resistance. Resistance was noted to be

pronounced

in

fruit

and

vegetable

in

sect

s.

Pesticide u

sc

po

ses

health

ri

sks

to

consumers as high accumulation

of

pesticide

residues

in food

has been discovered. From 1980 to 1987,

there were 4,031 cases of p

es

tic

id

e poisoning monitored by

governm ent hospitals, 15%

of

which were fata

l.

The bulk of seed trading is given to private seed

compa

ni

es and traders which include foreign and foreign

affiliated seed companies such as East-West Seed Corpora

tion (Dutch), Pilipinas-Kane

ko

Seeds Corporation (Filipino

Japanese)

and

Pioneer Hi-Bred (American

).

Other than the

seed trade,

the su

pplyof fenilizers, pesticides

and

herbicides

is controlled

by

transnational companies {TNCs) such as

Dayer, Rhone-Poulenc, Ctba Geigy, and Sandoz.

t is

esti

mated that 30% of he global seed market ofS 15

million

to S17

million is controlled by 20 companies. TNCs, through the

traders, dictate the prices

of

the seeds and other farm com

modities as well as the prices at which the vegetables and

other produce arc bought, plac

ing the farm

er

s, who

arc tlw

primary producers, at the lo

si

ng end.

The shill

from

a food lirst"

to

an export lirst"

po

li

cy is justified on the grounds

of

food security, because

export earnings are supposed to pay for food imports. How

ever, expon-oriented agriculture has reduced fo od security

by encouragi ng a shift from small-scale sustainab le produc

tion to large-scale non-sustainable industrial production. t

also brin

gs

changes

in

ownership

of

ou

r natural resources

mel

means

of

production

from

small au tonomo us producers/

owners

to

large corporate and commercial interes ts. Peas

ants are displaced from farming whi le co111111ercial interests

take over land for industrial-scale production ofcxpon com

modi ties such as shrimp, vegetables and meat.

While small-scale indigenous shrimp fanning has

been sustainable over the cenruries, shrimp exports requite

th

e establishment

of fac

tory famlS for sh rimp production.

Each acre

of

shrimp

fam1

needs 200 shadow acres to sup

ply resources and absorb the wastes. Large scale shrimp

farming

is so damaging because

it

requires enormous quanti

tic

s of ish lo r shrimp feed , most of which is converted to

wn stc that is poured into the sea, polluting the water

and

damag

in

g mangrove

s.

Shrimp farming also destroys the

coas tal agriculture because the factories require the pump

ing of seawater into the shrimp ponds. This causes

sa lini

za

tion-reducing drinking water supply

and

destroying trees

and crops near the shrimp factories.

The original purpose of Intellectual Propeny Rights

{IPR) is rewarding innovation wlule ensuring disclosure and

sharing of knowledge for enabling funher innovatton. The

Trade Related Intellectual Propeny Rights (TRIP) agr

eeme

nt ,

however, opens the door to the patenting of life fornlS such

29


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as microorganisms and modified genetic materials,

thu

s pro

viding the boost in

in

cen

ti

ves

desi red by the biotechnology

industr

y.

This

will

be detrimental to the global environme nt

because of

he

present lack of controls and accountabili ty

in

bioteclu10logy research, and application will

lik

ely acceler

ate biodiversity loss and could threaten the natural ecosys

tems.

Some I I patents have already been filed

in the US

and Japan covering

th

e ex

tr

ac

ti

on

and usc

of

nat

a de coco

from

coconut, a major cottage industry in the Philippines,

and patents by.foreign entities

and

individuals were filed on

lagundi and banaba, two Philippine plants with medicinal

quahttes. The French fasluon house, y •es St. Laurant,

has

al

ready secured a patent

for its

perfume fommla whtch

IS

based on the Philippines' native

/lang-/lang

flower.

TRIP is a concern because

of

the threat it poses to

the very existence

of

agrarian communities.

As it

stands

now,

an individual or company cancollec t aplant from a develop

ing countr

y,

modify it or isolate a useful ge ne, patent a n

ew

plant variety or product that contains it, and appropriate all

linancial benefits witl10ut having to make any payment to the

communities whose traditional knowledge enabl

ed

th

e plant

to

be

identified

in

t

he

first place.

B. The Effects on Philippine Industries

The Philippines has long comm

itt

ed itself to the

struct

ural

adjustment programs (SAPs) of the IMF and the

WB

. Under the country's

SA

P

in

1980. it devised the lirst

trade libaalization program that included import

lib

eraliza

tion

and

tariffreforms. There was

no

need to

imp

o

rt

c

hi

cke n

meat since the domestic chicken production was adequate to

meet local requirements. However, the counrry's adherence

to

the

IMF-WB SAPs and the GArr paved t

he

way for

the

sudden influx

of

imported chicken

from

developed countnes,

threa tening the local poultry industry. Under the new IM F

program,

it

was made clear that

the

governm ent 's recovery

hin

g

es

on its adherence to further liberalization, deregul

a-

ti

on,

and pri vatization.

The liberalization

of

he telecommunications indus

try actually opened

up

the sector to foreign domination. A

number of foreign investors took advantage of the free

atmosphere

by

forging partnerships with local compa

nies.

13riti

sh, Swedish, Canadian,

and

S

in

ga porean firms arc among

the

owners of

the

top telecommunications companies in the

country today. Two n

ew

modes of communication arc

the

Internet

and

mobile cellular phones. However, private

ow

ner

s

hip

means putting profit ahead of service, thus on

ly

the rich

and the middle c

la

ss, comprising only 20% of

he

population,

can avail themselves of these.

Beverages are a perfect example of an industry

turned global. t is also a perfect example ofan msigntficant

product turned into a virtual need through relentless market

ing

and

advertising. The top beverage transnational compa

rues, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, have taken O\ er

the

drink

preference

of

Filipinos as well as the business ofloca Ibever

age manufacturers. Local liquors and spiri ts, such as

tuba,

fermented drink from the sap of coconut trees,

basi

from

fennented sugar cane,

tapuy

brewed from

ri

ce, as well as

local

fruit

wines are no match to theTNC foreign wines whether

imported or manufactured locally.

The Philippine sugar industry was also caug

ht in

GAIT. n order to fulfill the government's commitment

to

G

ATT

as well as to correct the sugar shorta ge

in

the country,

sugar is imported through the private sec

tor.

The El Niiio

phenomenon and land usc conversions have resulted not

o

nl

y

in

smaller cultivated areas but also delayed harvests

and low sugar yield.

Be yo

nd

the

i

ss

ue

of

speculative pri ce

su

rges and government

int

ervention, the Philippine sugar

indu stry is threatened by the entry

of

cheaper importedsugar

and the eventual removal

of

US quotas.

The mining industry, instead of being

tr

eated

as

a

basic resource indusrry, is being co

unt

ed as a dollar-earner.

Its contribution to the economy has always been mea sured

in

terms of its ability

to

generate export earnings,

taxe

s, and

employment. The Philippines has earned a slot in the wor ld's

major producers ofgold, copper, silver, chromium, and nickel.

Th e mining process has always been equated with environ

men tal destruction such as deforestation, slope destabiliza

ti

o

n,

so

il

erosion, desertifica

ti

o

n,

water

re

sour

ce

degrada

tion, defertilization, crop damage, siltation, alteration

of

er

rain and sea bottom topography, increased water turbidity,

and air pollution.

The mining industry is not only

po

lluti

ve

but ex

tractive as well. The mining process in the Philippines entai ls

bulldozing large quantiti

es of

rock

and

land und erground or

flattening mountains

to extract minerals from chunks ofore.

For example, one ton of gold ore produces a minuscule 2

grams ofgold, about the size of a headache tablet.

To

extract

a metric ton

of

copper,

2.2

metric tons

of

earth and rocks must

be removed

in

the process. Aside

from

mine wastes

and

tail

mgs

which afTectthe physical environment,

th

e major

issue

is the socioeconomic dislocation and displacement

of

both

upland and lowland peasa

nt

families

in

the mining area,

the

subsistence miners, indigenous peopl

es in

ancestral domains

and the people's rightful claim over thecountry's min era l and

other natural resource

s.

Energy development is one of the sectors opened

up

to foreign investors who bring

in

huge capital through

various arrangements wi th the govemment's privatization

program. Mo re energy is needed to meet the needs of the

industries. Geothermal energy development occurs

in

moun-

tainous areas with secondary forest growth and river sys

tems.

It

s environmental impacts

in

clude de-vegetation, so

il

erosion, land alteration (especially during construction, ex

pl oration and drilling),

de

struc tion

of he

natmal habitat and

waterpollution. Water pollution during well testing and power

generation and toxic components ofgeothermal effiuents and

drilh.ng fluids could contaminate surface and groundwater

in

th

e area. Forexample, the Visitang Naga

Ri ve

r near t

he

Tiwi

Geothermal Plant had concentrattons of heavy metals. Sulfur

oxide emissions adversely affected the trees

in

the Southem

Negros geothemml area. Coal-fired power plants

have

a ma-

jor impact on air quality.

S02

,

NO, CO,

C0 2, particulate

mat-

ter, fly ash, and dust emissions cause respiratory tract infec-

30


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tions in surrounding communities. Oil exploration also cause

the destruction

of

coral reefs. Hydroelectric plants usc large

1mpoundmg areas displacing the mhabitants in mundated

places. Changes in

the

hydraulic regime of the rivers also

affect the loca l aquatic environment.

As

an offsh

oo

t of globalization, the transportation

industry h

as

expanded. However, the increase in

tJ1e

number

of vehic les, especia lly in urba n areas, has given rise to traffic

problems and worse, a higher inciden

ce

of

respiratory

di

s

cases.

C.

Glob alization and the Philippine Fo rests and Coral Ree fs

The irresiStible forces

of

population growth and ru-

ral poverty are consuming the lush tropics. The loss of

for-

ests has major worldwide co nsequences. including globa l

climatl.

cha

nge and the massive extinction of plant and

ani-

ma l species. In tropical areas, floods and droughts have cata

strophic effects when trees no longer protect the soil.

The Philippine forests are among the

most

diverse

m the world and are also the most endangered . Latest

es

ti-

mates place

the

country's remaining forest areas

at

5.6M

hect

ares from 20M hectares a century ago. This forest cover is

roughly

18.6%

of

he

cou

nrry

's total

land

area.

For the

Philip

pines to

be

ecologically sound and able to sustain

it

s eco

systems, its ideal forest cover, or what is

fit

for it

s narrow,

mo

unt

ainous te

rr

ai n, should be

54%

of

it

s land area. rorcsts

arc los t du e to

th

e insa tia

bl

e demand for lan

d,

timber, cash

crops,

nnd

va luab le com

mod

it

ies

such as gold

and

oil.

As

a consequence of industrializat

ion

, coral reefs

arc also destroyed. Rampant coral reef destruction is attrib

uted primarily to siltation due to logging-induced erosion

and mining wastes. Destructive fishing practices like dyna

nute fishing

and

muro-ami fishing to provide "instant catch"

for

fishcm1en

have also been responsible for the current state

of our coral. Cyanide is usually used by tropical

fish

collec

tors to m

ee

t the demands

of

he world market. Hard and so ft

coral die within three months after the application of sod

ium

cya n1d

e.

ILl.

CONCLUSI

ONS Al ''D

RECOMMENDATION S

The Philippines, in

its

desire for development, em-

braced the World Trade Organization and its magic call for

open

markets

and trade liberalization.

However,

we hav e fallen

prey to the system's more "deleterious effects" the widening

of'

income gaps among countries and t

he

displacement of

de

velop

in

g countries

in

th

e global mar

ke

t.

Gl

oba

liza

ti

on has crea ted w

inn

ers and losers

3

/. losers

mostly in the developing countries, like the Phi lippines. The

importation of foreign goods has changed the consumption

pattern of he Filipinos creating the massive problemof so

lid

wa s

te

s. The shift from traditional agriculture to expon prod

ucts

and

the fast-tracking of industrial and energy develop

ment have affected our social, economic, and physical envi

ronments. From a

food

sufficient country in the early sixties,

the Philippines ha s been transfonned into a grains-deficit

country, particularly in the last two decades as transnational

corporations and big agr

ibus

inesses

for

export products have

3

taken over the agricultural sector. Lack ofemployment

in the

count

ry

has also forced quite a number of our people, both

men and

women, to leave their families and

work

abroad.

Our new president , Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, wams

against indiscriminate globalization. She says that" gl

o-

ba lization is dangerous if it is not accompanied by appropri

ate reforms and strengthening of institutions."

May

I, there

fore , conclude that what the world needs is fa ir trade not

free

trade.

f

there must be globalization,

it

should be humanized

in order to create a healthy and sustainable life for all.

REFER

ENCFS

Anderson, Sarah, ed.

Views

from the South:

7/ze

Effects ofGiobali:ation and the IVTO 0 Third

World

Cou

ll

trie.v, C

hi

cago:

Int

ernational Forum on Globa

li

zation, 2000.

Walden Bello, "Building an Iron Cage: The Bretton

Woods

In

stitution, WTO and

th

e South," in And erso n, Sa

rah , ed.,

Views from

th

e Sowh:

The

Effects ofGiobali:ation

a11d the JVTO on Third World Countries, Chicago: Interna

tional Forum on Globalization, 2000.

Manin

KJ1or,

"I low the South

is

Getting a

Raw

deal

at

the

WTO,"

in

Anderson, Sarah, ed.,

Views

from the Somh:

The

Effects

o

Globali:ation and the IVTO on

71tird World

Cou

ntries, Chicago: International Forum on Globalization,

2000.

Vandana Shi

va,

"War

Agai

nstNature and the People

of

th t

South," in A

nd

erso n, Sarah,

ee

l., Viewsfromthe So uth :

l lte E.fJects o Globalization a d th e IVTO_o Third World

Countries, Chicago: International

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Globalization: Its Impacts on the Philippine Environment