When people tall, about. "commercial activity in the
East, the conversation eventually focuses on Arabs, Indians and the
Chinese, the "shopkeepers of Asia." There is, however, another group in
this exotic community that is often overlooked -- the Filipinos. Commerce
has always been a part of Philippine history and today reflects Filipino
culture in action.
Filipinos first appear on the stage of history, not as scholars or
warriors or priests but as traders. Chinese chronicles of the Sung
Dynasty (960 - 1276) document the Filipino presence in Canton as early as
982 when traders. from Ma-i, a country north of Borneo, now known as
the Philippines.
Much earlier, the invention of the outrigger around 4000 B.C., permitted
the Malayo-Polynesian speaking people of Southeast Asia, among which
were the Filipino, to venture farther out to sea. That this movement of
people must have also involved the movement of goods finds support
in pottery excavated in Southeast Asia dating back to around 2000 B.C.
Commerce was one of the main occupations of the earliest Filipino
settlements, the barangays. By the time of the first Spanish
landfall in the Philippines in 1521, there was brisk inter island trade
all over the archipelago. Of the historical data, the Sung document
is the most interesting because it suggests some characteristics of
ancient Filipino traders which still hold true today. Then as now,
Filipinos were not content to wait passively at home for economic
opportunity. They took the initiative in socking markets overseas.
Their commercial reach extended beyond their own archipelago to the South
China coast and the crescent of islands curving around Borneo,
through the islands of Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula.
To speak of a Philippine foreign trade at this time, however, would be an
anachronism. In the absence of an integrating political structure,
the next village on the same island could be as foreign as the community
in, say, Malacca. But the early Filipinos were prepared to travel
long distances; they were adventurous as well as ingenious entrepreneurs.
The Chinese self-image as the Middle Kingdom and the center of all
civilization did not permit them to engage in commerce with barbarians.
But noblesse obliged the grant of imperial favors on those who brought
gifts in acknowledgment of their subordination to the Chinese Emperor. To
do business in Canton, early Filipinos must have been willing to accept
the political fiction that they brought, nor trade, but tribute. Their
interest was business, not politics.
Their willingness to abide by regulations was confirmed by later accounts
relating to the regular commercial calls Chinese ships began making
to the Philippines by the 13th century. Chat Ju-Kua, who compiled the
reports of the Chine traders, praised the honesty of pre-colonial
Filipino businessmen.
A relationship of mutual trust resulted in a thriving seafaring economy.
But the prudent prescription 9,-as still "Trader Beware" Through much of
the pre-colonial and into the colonial periods of Southeast Asia, the seas
served as the arena of intrepid voyagers who, traded when the seas
served as the arena of intrepid voyagers who traded when they had to and
pirated when they could . Pedding was not profitables plundering.
The robust and freewheeling indigenous trading economy ended with the
beginning of colonial rule in Southeast Asia. The new colonial
governments altered the. rules of trade by simply drawing lines on the map
to democratic territorial boundaries over which they now claimed
supreme power.
Spain also altered the direction of Philippine trade, concentrating on the
shipment of Chinese goods along the galleon trade routes from Manila
to Mexico and Spain, Later, America too would reinforce this westward,
trans-Pacific orientation of Philippine trade. In addition to changing the
old trading patterns, Spain also imposed rules and regulations that
further constrained overseas commerce. Participation in the galleon trade
required, not only financial resources, but also government permits. St
while it was possible to speak of foreign trade, it had become unduly
restrictive. What the Filipinos used to do freely before had become
subject to licenses, taxes and various kinds of fees, both official
and unofficial. Without a permit, anyone transacting business, whether in
foreign or domestic products, was not a trader but a smuggler. What was
once entrepreneurial was now criminal.
Those never completely subjugated by Spain, like the Muslim Filipinos,
blithely ignored, if they were even aware of, the colonial government's
laws. Territorial lines which were clear on the maps meant nothing in the
opens seas, and smuggling was a totally alien concept. Even those "brought
under the bells" and effectively under the control of Church and State
complied when compelled to, but always looked for loopholes.
The. preferred way of circumventing colonial structures was avoidance:
reliance on kin, on the bonds of birthplace, language and school
connections rather than on bureaucratic institutions.
Another strategy was connivance. Bureaucracies were not impervious to
influence. It was possible to cultivate personal relations with people of
power to obtain favored treatment in the enforcement of laws. These seeds
of early "economic" rebellion have unfortunate namely remained until
today. Maintaining faith in the ability of bureaucracies to enforce laws
equitably and effectively is a continuing task for the independent
republic, particularly as it redefines the role of government in trade and
the economy.
Once Again the Southeast Asian economy is undergoing are orientation.
Colonial rule directed the economies of the region to the west. The
resurgence of China and the growth of the ASEAN economies generate a pull
to the south and cast. These developments, along with the establishment of
the ASEAN Free Trade Area, will revive the pre-colonial trade routes, and
Filipino entrepreneurs will see in Southeast Asia, as their
ancestors did, an economic partner.
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