MONTE DE PIEDAD, A CATHOLIC BANK

proposed in March 1880 by Span-ish governor-general Domingo Moriones Murillo to help the needy through a model that ex-tends a modest interest and gives out loans using the loanee’s tangible properties as collateral. As a result, he issued a decree creating the Monte de Piedad with P33,959, Mexican currency, from the Obras Pias of the Casa de Misericordia as an initial deposit of the new institution.

On July 20, 1882, the bank was opened in Intramuros, Manila, based on the Monte de Piedad de Madrid rules, and started operations on August 2, 1882.

When the Americans came, the charitable institution had outstanding loans of about P900,000 that were extended to the poor at 6% a year, “secured by the pledge of jewelry, house- hold articles and apparel delivered into the possession of the institution, or, to a small extent, by real estate mortgages.” It operated like today’s pawnshops and was at the time managed by the Catholic church or whoever was the head of the Manila See.

A man named Manuel Luis M. Quezon, who later became the Commonwealth president, had worked in the bank in 1900 with a monthly take-home pay of P25.

Against the odds, the bank, with the archbishop of Manila as its president, survived the global war and later financial crises; it even expanded its portfolio by counting loans to the poorest of the poor, including tricycle drivers and teachers. But the program was eventually abused, which affected the liquidity of the lending bank.

In October 1994, the pro- gram was stopped, and the bank temporarily ceased operations in April 1997. Through the brokering of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, it was sold to Keppel Group of Singapore. At the time, it only had assets of US$90 million and 30 branches. The new owner invested US$40 million to cover unfunded manager’s cheques issued before the bank closed.

On October 5, 2005, General Electric Co. of Connecticut, USA, acquired Monte de Piedad, renamed as Keppel Bank, for $25.8 million. In March 2007, GE Money Bank, the reincarna-tion of Monte de Piedad, reported asset growth of over 10% with assets reaching P8.9 billion.

Two years later, BDO Unibank took over the erstwhile Catholic banking outfit and agreed to a share-whap deal with GE to acquire a minority stake in BDO Unibank, the equal of 1.5% stake, with an option to increase its holdings to up to 10%. The takeover involved the inclu-sion of GE Money Bank’s 31 branches, 30,000 customers, and 38 ATMs nationwide.

Following the completion of the deal, BDO Unibank refurbished the Davao branch of the defunct charitable institution and gave it a new name. But as soon as the new owner had opened a more spacious building on a prime lot situated just over 100 meters away, the old, one-story Monte de Piedad was relinquished and leased to a high-end housing company.

A reminder that the lending institution has contributed to the city’s progress is the Monte de Piedad Housing at Maa.

Rcep And Philippine Agriculture

On June 2, 2023, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement entered into force.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno was very ecstatic when he stated on Feb. 23 “the ratification of the RCEP is key to a more open, transparent, and predictable trade and investment environment. Deeper economic integration among RCEP member states will expand the country’s market access for goods and services, attract more investments, and create more and better jobs.”

The RCEP was ratified by the Senate on Feb. 22 by 20 senators with only Senator Riza Hontiveros voting against it, while Sen. Imee Marcos abstained.

It is the largest free trade agreement in the world composed of 10 ASEAN member countries, including free trade agreement (FTA) partners such as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Overall, RCEP members account for one-third of the world’s population and economy. Specifically, the RCEP re- gion accounts for 50 percent of global manufacturing output, 50 percent of global automotive output, 70 percent of electronics, and the main global value chain hubs of Japan, China and Korea.

The RCEP is the ninth FTA that the Philippines has ratified since the early 1990s. The Philippines has existing FTAs with several RCEP members, such as China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. With RCEP, it is expected that customs duties imposed by each member state on imported goods will be reduced by approximately 92 percent for 20 years.

While RCEP was lauded by some members of the business sector and government officials, the agriculture sector opposed the agreement, stating that unbridled import liberalization is causing the gradual demise of Philippine agriculture. There is indeed a reason for the agricultural producers to oppose the agreement since tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbages, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, and many other agricultural prod- ucts are included in the Schedule of Tariff Commitments of the Philippines.

A lot of these vegetables are produced abundantly, particularly in the provinces of Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Mindoro and elsewhere. There were unfortunate times when farmers could not sell their produce, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, due to very low prices. During a Senate hearing on the prices of onions, farmers said that they can produce all the onions the country needs sans hoarding or the price manipulations of traders. It is already a fact that cheap imported agricultural products compete with those locally produced.

Import liberalization of all sorts of products has weakened Philippine industries, increased reliance on imported products, and threatened the nation’s food security. Reducing import tariffs to near zero will undoubtedly impact Philippine agriculture and the lives of millions of farmers who depend on the land as their source of livelihood. The result of the October 2022 Labor Force Survey showed that the agriculture and forestry industries lost 511,000 workers.

Beginning in the 1960s, succeeding governments chose to adhere to the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until the Philippines committed to opening its economy, meaning, open to foreign capital and foreign loans with economic impositions, to gradually liberalize the economy. The more the Philippines opened its economy to the influx of imported goods, reducing tariffs on agricultural products, the more the economy deteriorated, and local industries declined. The neoliberal era of the 1990s, marked by the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has led to more poverty among the people, threatened self-sufficiency, and increased food insecurity among nations.

It cannot be denied that the influx of agricultural products from other countries is making life difficult for agricultural producers. The decline in Philippine agriculture is more expressed by Walden Bello when he stated in an article that “In the years prior to our joining the WTO (World Trade Organization), our annual agricultural trade was most often in surplus. The last time our agricultural trade was in surplus was in 1993. Since we joined the WTO in 1995, our agricultural trade went into deficit, growing from USD149 million in 1995 to USD960 million in 2005 to a whopping USD7.9 billion in 2019.”

The RCEP opens the floodgates for more imported products, especially in agriculture. While economic protectionism remains a viable option but may not be feasible in the era of globalization, I think what is more doable is to awaken the patriotic sentiments of Filipinos to patronize locally produced commodities.

There is now an emerging and developing movement to buy Filipino-made products, buy locally-produced vegetables, and help local farmers sell their produce in the cities, among other initiatives. There is hope, after all, since the patriotic and bayanihan spirits of the Filipinos persist.

Every

In Davao City, a good call for unique dishes is at Habi at Kape. Thanks to the incredible passion of long-time culinary and culture connoisseur Mary Ann Montemayor for combining ingredients and creating dishes inspired by Mindanao culture.

I was able to try out some of these dishes during Habi at Kape-Rogen Inn’s first anniversary wherein guests were treated to a buffet of well-loved Davao food and some favorite Filipino signature dishes on June 7 and 8, 2023.

Some of the highlights include “sinuglaw” for appetizer which has a twist of Habi at Kape’s spiced “gata” (coconut milk) as a dressing; and “pako” (fern) salad with pomelo and Davao mango dressing.

For the main course, we had the “Dabaw binalot”, which is Habi’s fusion of Kapampangan’s bringhe and the Maguindanaoan’s pastil. The “binalot” incorporates all-time favorite chicken humba and is topped with salted egg and ginger-scallion palapa, which is a Maranao condiment.

Of course, a celebration will not be complete without the signature Davao pansit (noodle) called “hinaoob na oodong awon manok hasta butong,” “bungos na Bangus” or bangus belly stuffed with fruit bits and veggies; and “lumpiang hubad.”

Desserts are crowd favorites that have been featured in many food festivals and catering by Habi at Kape’s sister company, Villa Margarita. This is includes the award-winning kamote-durian roll, turon baduya, Habi maja blanca, and buko-pandan verrine.