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EDITORIAL: So close,
but still divided by a gulf
It is amazing the difference a one-and-a-half hour plane ride can make. Taiwan
and the Philippines are neighbors, and in some places resemble each other
climatically and geographically. However, when one boards a plane at Taiwan
Taoyuan International Airport and disembarks at Ninoy Aquino International
Airport in Manila, one has crossed a massive gulf in historical legacy, economic
development and government effectiveness.
Taiwan and the Philippines became colonies of Japan and the US respectively at
roughly the same time, 1895 and 1898, and were both abandoned by their colonial
rulers after the end of World War II. Before their colonial eras, both Taiwan
and the Philippines were governed as provinces from Beijing and Mexico
City/Madrid, and enjoyed relative autonomy outside the major cities.
Despite these superficial historical similarities, the two countries developed
in vastly different directions. Japanˇ¦s colonial era in Taiwan was characterized
by the construction of infrastructure that acted as a base upon which the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) later built Taiwanˇ¦s economy after fleeing China
in 1949. The Japanese built roads, universities, hospitals, a postal service,
railroads, ports and a modern economy based on a modern government. They fought
the Aborigines in the mountains and crushed all rebellions against their rule,
unifying Taiwan for the first time in its modern history.
The Japanese had a far different impact on the Philippines during their short
but brutal occupation in World War II, leaving many painful memories and
accomplishing nothing to help the country.
In the Philippines, the US first kicked out the Spanish, enlisting the help of
former Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo, a revolutionary and independence
activist in the late 19th century. However, when he realized the US just wanted
to take the place of the Spanish, he led his armies in a war against the US that
resulted in the brutal killings of anywhere between tens of thousands and 1
million Filipinos. The population of the Philippines was devastated and the US
took on a military dictatorship role, something that did not really happen in
Taiwan on a similar scale until the KMT initiated the White Terror period in the
late 1940s.
True development passed the Philippines by, and that can be seen today in the
way the countryˇ¦s economy is run. The Asian Development Bank said in 2008 that
12 percent of the Philippinesˇ¦ GDP was made up of remittances by Overseas
Filipino Workers (OFW), and that number has grown in the past four years, with
OFW remittances surpassing US$465 million at the same time exports are slowing,
contributing to a stable 4 percent GDP growth rate last year.
Taiwan, on the other, still makes the lionˇ¦s share of its earnings from exports,
something the Philippines cannot match. Both countries differ in terms of
infrastructure, too. In central Manila, buildings that were bombed during World
War II still stand empty, while Taiwan has embarked on a mass rapid transit
building spree in all its major cities.
The Philippines has much to gain from working closely with Taiwan and vice
versa. Although talk of a Taiwan-Philippines free-trade agreement (FTA) has gone
on for years, nothing has ever come of it, even though Taiwan has already inked
something similar to an FTA with China ˇX the Economic Cooperation Framework
Agreement (ECFA). Manila places more emphasis on economic deals with Singapore
and Seoul, but Taiwan is a lot closer geographically, and an FTA could benefit
the export markets of both. Taiwan could import raw materials from the
Philippines and export manufactured goods, something that is notoriously
expensive there because of all the tariffs involved.
In this way, maybe Taiwan and the Philippines could help close the yawning gap
that has opened between their societies.
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