Being A Rebel

The address of the headquarters is 02 P. Guevara.

Mary, a former member of the alliance sports a black cap worthy of Che himself. The Cordillera People’s Alliance; truly a people’s movement. The CPA’s affinities towards the People’s Republic of Cuba are undeniable. In fact, just recently, the CPA played host to Cuba’s Ambassador to the Philippines.

Socialism is the new cool thing. Wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt increases one’s cool factor very significantly considering rock icons such as Rage Against the Machine and Carlos Santana use Che as a fashion statement. In the Clayton campus of Monash University, dreadlocked, pot-smoking students walk around the grounds handing out “Support Socialism” flyers. Being anti-capitalist and anti-American denotes one is socially aware and non-conformist.

However, the edginess of being a rebel is overly hyped up and very misunderstood. 2 Guevarra Street, Baguio City is the headquarters of the true “non-conformists”. Socialism is really just an –ism. In the end it is all about the people. As Windel, the Secretary General from the CPA says, the CPA fights for the people; to free them from oppression and exploitation.

The Cordillera region is mineral rich and the mining industry is a dangerously profitable one. With that amount of minerals in the Philippines one would expect the people to be living life pretty good. However, The Mining Act of 1995 by the Macapagal government is definitely not an act that benefits the people. This act was passed as an initiative to revitalize the Philippine mining industry. The Macapagal government claimed that it would increase foreign investment which would in turn boost the nation’s economy.

Through the act, the government created deliciously lucrative packages to attract foreign mining companies which include rights to holiday tax and tax exemptions for the first 10 years. The act also allows 100% foreign ownership of mining land. This means that tons of money is flowing out of the Philippines. Of course there are increased work opportunities for the people. However, wages are low.

The big picture: foreigners steal from the locals, and pay them back 0.00001% of what they stole in exchange for labor. The CPA is not against mining and neither is it against development. They are against injustice. Their answer to the mining issue is to replace large-scale mining with small-scale mining.

Johnny Sawadan claims that it is proven that small-scale mining has a much more positive impact on the economy. Small-scale mining will be run by indigenous people, allowing them to have control over their own resources: baby steps in self-determination. This small-scale mining will be organized and responsible; taking into account factors like sustainability.

So what does Che Guevara have to do with mining in the Cordillera region? The mining issue really boils down to one of the most widely debated topics in the world: capitalism vs. socialism. Across the world, people in developing countries are being exploited and the situation is similar. Nike sweatshop workers ring a bell?

Both capitalism and socialism are heavily stereotyped. Capitalism is stereotyped as exploitative and evil (think Blood Diamond and An Inconvenient Truth) while socialism is stereotyped as being idealistic and radical (think Mao Zedong). If small-scale mining is implemented, resources will not be allocated to maximum efficiency as there is no competition. Prices will also increase as demand exceeds supply. Small-scale mining also fails to realize the global nature of the mining industry: an industry determined by market forces. In the long run, small-scale mining will no longer be profitable. If small-scale mining does run efficiently, it will unavoidably (according to principles of efficiency) become large-scale.

However, the capitalist system of large-scale mining is highly exploitative of the people, and destructive of the environment. Most of all, it involves taking land from the indigenous peoples through manipulative ways.

But can there be responsible capitalism? If people don’t buy shares in Anvil or Newcrest will these corporations still be mining in the Philippines? Will people buy shares in these corporations if they knew how people were being exploited? I’m going to make my new mission education.

by Grace