What is the first impression of our neighbor, the Philippines, across the sea? Is it the sunny sands of a tropical island nation? Is it sweet and delicious mango lychee? Or is it a territorial dispute in the South China Sea game?
Our country sometimes refers to the Philippines as a "small country." But from a global perspective, the Philippines is by no means a small country, but a "medium country" in the standard sense: the Philippines covers an area of nearly 300,000 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 110 million, which is 1.2 times and 1.6 times that of the United Kingdom, respectively.
The narrow and densely populated basic national conditions and a large surplus population have given the Philippines another unique "national business card" - "Filipino maid".
As a high-quality labor resource, Filipino maids known for their hard-working and hard-working work are all over the world, creating and accumulating a lot of wealth for the Philippine country. But at the same time, a large number of young and middle-aged people leave their hometowns to make a living, which also directly reveals the country's "pain point" - the backward level of economic and social development, which cannot provide enough jobs, which is also one of the important characteristics of the "failed country".
So, does the ambitious little Marcos have the ability to turn things around, break the curse of a failed country, and let the "Filipino maid" who is wandering in a foreign land return home as soon as possible?
I. "Revenge of the Prince" - the historical entanglement between the Marcos family and the "Filipino maid" group
On May 9, 2022 local time, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. won the Philippine election and successfully ascended to the presidency. It is worth mentioning that this young Marcos, who is more than a year old, was also received by Chairman Mao.
In 1974, Marcos Jr. visited Beijing with his mother, Imedet, and Chairman Mao Zedong cordially received them. At the time of parting, Chairman Mao hugged and said goodbye to each other.
In the trillions of nanny labor export markets around the world, why can the "Filipino maids" from the Philippines rise to fame and prosper for a long time?
What are the inexplicable grievances between the "Filipino maid" group and the Marcos family? In fact, behind the rise of the tide of "Filipino maids", there are specific historical and practical factors to consider, which is a special product of the historical development of the Philippines.
Among them, the Marcos family, especially the father of The Younger Marcos, the old Marcos, who was the president of the Philippines at the time, played a key role.
As early as the Age of Discovery, the Philippines, which had become a Spanish colony (1565-1898), began a small-scale, sporadic export of overseas labor. Filipinos at the time served primarily as crew members in ocean-going trade across the United States and Asia.
To this day, ocean crews remain an important part of The Philippines' labor exports, accounting for about 20 percent of the total number of Filipino labor abroad. The truly organized, large-scale export of overseas labor began during the Period of American Colonization of the Philippines (1898-1946).
At that time, the rapid development of capitalist industry and commerce in the United States, especially the prosperity of the plantation economy, required a large supply of overseas labor. As a colony of the United States, the Philippines is naturally "near the water", and has become the main source of labor for American plantations.
However, it must be noted that the status of Filipino labor in the United States at this stage is extremely low, almost slaves. Around 1930, there were 100,000 Filipino laborers in the United States, who made outstanding contributions to the economic development of the United States, but did not have citizenship rights.
After the independence of the Philippines, the United States enacted the Return of Filipinos Act in 1935, which repatriated Filipinos stranded in the United States.
Through this period of history, it is not difficult to see that the history of labor export in the Philippines, which has lasted for hundreds of years, is actually the history of the filipino people being cruelly exploited and enslaved by the imperialist powers, and the Western capitalist powers should be responsible for the backwardness of the third world countries.
By the 1970s, a severe economic crisis had erupted in the Philippines, with weak economic growth, poor livelihoods, and a surge in unemployment. How to maintain the stability of the country's economy and solve the problem of employment has become the top priority of the whole country.
In 1974, then-President Marcos promulgated the Labor Code, which attempted to alleviate the Economic Difficulties of the Philippines by exporting labor, and "exporting labor" officially became the national strategy of the Philippines.
In order to help domestic people go abroad to earn a living and find employment, the Marcos government led the establishment of the "Overseas Employment Development Committee", which is responsible for weaving and coordinating the export of labor services and providing technical and linguistic training for overseas workers. The Government has also organized the establishment of a large number of overseas migrant intermediary companies to match workers and overseas employers.
At this time, in addition to engaging in traditional infrastructure construction in developed countries, more and more young women began to engage in domestic service, which is the original source of "Filipino maid" and the opportunity and starting point for "Filipino maid" to go to the world.
By the 1990s, the number of "Filipino maids" engaged in domestic service industries had accounted for 25% of the total number of overseas workers in the Philippines, becoming the backbone of the Philippine overseas migrant workers.
The rise of the "Filipino maid" trend, on the one hand, conforms to the rapid growth of domestic helper demand in developed countries and regions, and also benefits from some unique specialties of the Philippine national and social structure.
First of all, the average Filipino family generally has a large number of children, and the older children take care of their younger siblings, which is the daily experience and "leaning skills" of almost every Filipino.
Domestic education is also attached great importance to schools in the Philippines, and home economics courses are also offered in universities.
Secondly, all migrant workers must take the qualification examination of the Ministry of Labor, and those who pass the examination can obtain the qualification for overseas employment, which ensures the quality of migrant workers.
Third, as a former colony of the United States, the Filipino people have a certain ability to communicate in English, which is one of the important reasons why British and American countries give priority to them.
Second, "the sadness of the hero" - the plight of the "Filipino maid" is an important manifestation of the failure of the Philippine state
The hard work of "Filipino maids" has made outstanding contributions to the development of the Philippine national economy. Their outstanding deeds are also remembered by the Filipino people. The Philippine government has also awarded them the title of "National Hero".
However, behind the seemingly glamorous name is actually the pain of leaving home and the heartache of suffering. From the very beginning, "Filipino maids" have suffered many unfair treatment, they are regarded as "low-end laborers" by some developed countries, they are deliberately lowered their salaries, and even suffer personal injuries.
In the 1990s, some incidents of abuse of "Filipino maids" were exposed one after another, and the living conditions of "Filipino maids" began to receive widespread attention.
The early images of "Filipino maids" often had a strong tragic color, and they suffered many inhuman treatment in this era of civilization. In Hong Kong film and television works, the image of "Filipino maids" is often very unbearable - they are dark-skinned, short and fat, their names are basically "Maria", and they are often accompanied by theft, child abuse, and sometimes they are the object of abuse by employers.
Since 1980, some Filipino women have begun to marry in developed countries such as Japan and the United States under the banner of overseas migrant workers. As a "subsidiary property" of "Filipino maids," the business, dubbed mail-order bride, lasted nearly 10 years in the Philippines.
With the scandals of foreign governments abusing and even torturing Philippine wives breaking out, the Philippine government finally announced a ban on the business in 1989. However, the news of the bullying and abuse of "Filipino maids" is endless and endless.
In Japan, Maricris Sioson, a Filipino woman who danced in a bar in 1991, was beaten to death for refusing to provide pornography, and before her, at least 33 singers and dancers had died in Japan.
In 2019, Acosta Baruelo, a 26-year-old young Filipino woman, simply forgot to take back the furniture that was drying outside her home, causing the furniture to be discolored by the high temperature, and the angry Saudi tycoon's employer tied her hands and feet to a tree and exposed her to the sun as punishment. In the end, it was through the active rescue of the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it was safely brought back to the Philippines.
What is more crucial is that the tragic situation of the "Filipino maid" is a direct manifestation of the failure and weakness of the Philippine state, and solving the unfair treatment of the "Filipino maid" has become an important issue in the Philippines' foreign relations.
Also in 2019, a "Filipino maid" working in Kuwait died tragically at his employer's home. When she was found, her body still had the obvious bruises and purple whip marks on it, and even more heinously, a cucumber was cruelly stuffed into her body.
As soon as this incident came out, public opinion in the Philippines was in an uproar - this is a naked violation of the national sovereignty and dignity of the Philippines! To this end, the Philippines expelled the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines, recalled the ambassador to Kuwait, and even considered passing legislation to completely ban the export of services to Kuwait.
What's more, the tragedy of "one's own people beating one's own people" also occurs from time to time in "Filipino maids". In 2020, the Philippine ambassador to Brazil, Marechau Mauro, was captured on surveillance video, often beating and abusing filipino maids, including slapping and pulling their ears.
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the "Filipino maids" who nominally bear the false name of "national hero" but in fact have left their hometowns and lived a miserable life have become the "scars of the conscience" of the Philippine state.
Breaking the curse of national failure, vigorously developing the economy to provide employment, and allowing the wandering "Filipino maids" to return home have become historical tasks and issues of the times that the Philippine rulers must face.
Third, "good-neighborliness and friendship" - The hope of Marcos jr. to let the "Filipino maid" go home lies in cooperation with China
In the 1980s, a social revolution broke out in the Philippines, and many Filipinos thought that if they got rid of the shackles of the authoritarian system, the country would be able to embark on the road of democracy and prosperity.
However, contrary to expectations, the "transitional justice" in the Philippines has not brought prosperity and tranquility to the people, but has led to economic stagnation, corruption in the administration of officials, deterioration of public order, the division between the rich and the poor, sharp class contradictions, and intensification of separatism in the south.
Economic backwardness and political decay have led to the government's inability to provide basic livelihood and well-being for the people, and the Philippines has gradually become a typical "failed country" in the international community.
First of all, the economic structure is deformed and the development momentum is poor. Similar to other Third World countries that have suffered from Western colonial rule, the economy of the Philippines is highly dependent on the cultivation of a variety of tropical agricultural products. This determines that the Philippines lacks sufficient risk resilience in the face of price fluctuations in the international market.
The Philippines has also tried economic reforms to introduce foreign capital technology. But poor infrastructure and a poor business environment have been constraining the development of industrialization in the Philippines – a poor business environment means that investment risks are too high, and backward facilities mean high costs.
Second, the gap between the rich and the poor in China is constantly widening, and social contradictions are intensifying. Poverty is often a breeding ground for crime, and the Philippines is no exception. With the extension of the drug trafficking network in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has become a well-deserved "drug paradise". Moreover, the drug trade in the Philippines is mostly controlled by local gangs.
The direct result of the proliferation of criminal syndicates and evil forces is the frequent occurrence of vicious criminal cases. Even in the capital region, the security situation is very bad. The root cause behind the high crime rate is the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Moreover, as noted above, the backward level of industrial development creates extremely limited jobs. This has directly led to a large number of young and middle-aged people unable to find jobs to support their families, and unemployment remains high.
Therefore, for some people living at the lowest level, it seems that it has become an "inevitable choice" to either cross the ocean to make a living in a foreign country or join a gang to do the business of "licking the blood from the knife's edge".
In the face of the decadence and erosion of the domestic situation, if the newly elected Marcos government wants to break through the predicament, in addition to its own efforts, it must also strengthen international cooperation and seek "foreign aid".
As a "former colony" of the United States, the relationship between the Philippines and the United States should be closer. But Lao Mei has always been a sharp word. Some of the military industrial giants in the United States once hoped to build the Philippines into an arms dumping base for the United States to seek huge profits.
But the backward and poor economic conditions determine that the shabby Philippine government can only afford some old and cheap second-hand equipment. Over time, the big capitalists also lost interest in the Philippines, and the economic ties between the two countries gradually became distant.
In contrast, China, with its prosperous economy and good-neighborliness, friendship and harmony, is the best partner for the Philippines to get rid of its internal and external difficulties.
When Marcos Jr. visited China, the mainland was in a special historical stage, our per capita income was only $178, while the per capita GDP of the Philippines at that time was $360, almost twice that of China.
Half a century later, China became the world's second-largest economy, with a per capita GDP of more than $10,000, almost three times that of the Philippines. Time flies, and the green teenager of that year has become a weeping old man.
Marcos Jr. witnessed the vicissitudes of China and the Philippines, witnessed the opportunity of China's rapid economic prosperity, and witnessed the painful trajectory of the failure of the Philippine country's transformation. In view of this, he will inevitably think bitterly and use China as a mirror to explore a suitable path for the development of the Philippine country.
At the economic level, China is the largest trading partner of the Philippines at present, providing a broad consumer market for the Philippines' high-quality agricultural products. At the infrastructure level, the "Belt and Road" initiative launched by China, which focuses on infrastructure construction, and the Philippines' infrastructure "large-scale construction and special construction" plan have achieved cooperation and docking.
In terms of industrial development, the precondition for letting the "Filipino maid" go home is the development of the domestic economy and the release of high-quality jobs. Otherwise, a large number of returning "Filipino maids" will not be able to find jobs, and may even become a factor of instability in Philippine society, which is counterproductive.
In recent years, China is actively promoting the upgrading of its industrial structure. This "cage for birds" means that a large number of resources and labor-intensive industries need to be transformed outward, and the Philippines, which has a large number of high-quality labor resources, is undoubtedly an important direction for transfer. In this regard, China-Philippines cooperation has great potential.
IV. Concluding Remarks
In fact, the emotional attitudes of Filipino society and people towards the Marcos family are contradictory and complex. On the one hand, the elder Marcos forcefully established a centralized and efficient government, and brought together four forces to start the process of modernization of the country, which is quite similar to the Park Chung-hee government in South Korea.
Moreover, Marcos and his wife, Imelda, both had extraordinary personal charm, which was called "a million charms" in that era.
But on the other hand, unlimited power inevitably leads to excessive corruption, and the corruption of the Marcos family is also very alarming, in order to maintain its dictatorial and authoritarian status, the Marcos government has also persecuted and slaughtered a large number of people for no reason, and the families of many victims are still there, and they are deeply impressed by this terrible history.
Marcos Jr.'s victory was once dubbed "The Prince's Revenge". But can this "prince" lead the country out of its predicament and into prosperity? Or do you continue to work for the benefit of your family and enrich yourself?
It will take time to answer this question. But what is certain is that millions of Filipinos voted for the prince, their fervent hope that he would lead the Philippines out of "hereditary poverty" and get rid of the fate of being enslaved by the powerful and "gunmen" of the United States.
As the national hero of the Philippines, the "Filipino maids" all over the world have contributed their wealth to the country with hard work, and have also witnessed the withering and ruin of the Philippine economy.
Especially under the new crown epidemic, the wanderer is homesick, tired of the bird looking forward to returning, as the commander-in-chief of the "Filipino maid" to go home, break the curse of national failure, let the "Filipino maid" go home, the Little Marcos government has the unshirkable responsibility, and China is undoubtedly the best partner.
V. References
[1] "Belt and Road" Research Group, China Center for International Economic Exchanges: "International Geopolitical Relations from the Perspective of "Belt and Road" Cooperation and Mutual Learning "Belt and Road"", Beijing: China Economic Publishing House, 2019 edition.
[2] Yunnan Information Newspaper, ed., Chinese Journalists Discover ASEAN Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei (Chinese Journalists Discover ASEAN Series), Kunming: Yunnan People's Publishing House, 2010.
[3] Yang Jinglin, "The Influence of Mao Zedong Thought on the Communist Movement in the Philippines during the Cold War Period", in Issues of Socialism in the Contemporary World, No. 1, 2021.
[4] Huiyin Hu, "Marcos Jr. Wins Election with High Votes's Successors of duterte Line' Calls for Unity and Recovery," in 21st Century Business Herald Local Level, May 12, 2022.
[5] Hu Wenli, "Philippine President-elect Marcos Jr. is not necessarily 'pro-China' and not necessarily 'anti-American'," china youth daily central level, May 12, 2022.