ILIGAN City former Councilor Leo M. Zaragoza, in a statement yesterday, July 22 to reporters, slammed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s announcement regarding a reduction of tariffs on the country’s exports from 20% to 19%.
Marcos had presented this as “good news” and among the benefits received after his visit to the United States and talks with top American officials, including then-President Donald Trump, which also included pledges of billions of dollars in economic and military aid.
“Is that it,” Zaragoza said, criticizing the U.S. for imposing no tariffs on its exports to the Philippines.
He added that the existence of 19 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites where the U.S. could stock weapons to facilitate its defense against any “aggressor.”
He also argued that despite the Philippines being rich in natural resources, particularly gold deposits, these are mostly mined by foreign countries like the U.S., resulting in little benefit for the Filipino people, thus being “taken advantage of.”
Zaragoza then cited Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa, which under its 37-year-old President, Ibrahim Traore, succeeded in asserting control over its gold mining and other industries from foreign countries, leading to national improvement.
Zaragoza urged the Philippines to make such decisions instead of becoming “forever puppets” of “neocolonialists.”
Zaragoza is the national president of Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya (Ludabi), an organization advocating the use of Cebuano or Bisaya as the medium of instruction in schools and public gatherings.
He argues that the insistence on English as the primary medium of instruction is a reason why Filipino learners lag in world rankings. Asterio ‘Terry’ Mecarsos is the president of the Ludabi Iligan-Lanao del Norte Chapter.
