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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 13. June 15 1981

[Introduction]

The degree to which transnational corporations dominate the Phillipines' economy is remarkable. The Filipino bureaucrats (such as Marcos and his gang of 26 families who run the Philippines) collaborate with foreign companies in their mutual interest of exploiting the land and the people.

The US bought the Philippines from the Spanish for $20 million in 1898 (the Treaty of Paris) and since then the lopsided economic relationship has intensified with the Philippines remaining an exporter of raw materials and an importer of finished products. Industries there constitute little more than assembly plants for US corporations.

In 1977 the US ambassador summed up the get-rich-quick scheme of foreign companies when he spoke about "multinationals who come to the Philippines with nothing but a company name and a logo."

Central Bank data shows that the greatest portion of foreign capital invested in the Philippines is directly owned by US monopolies (80%), followed by the Japanese.

The US hold over strategic sectors of the economy is powerful. It owns 33% of equity capital of the 900 largest firms in the Philippines. Two US corporations control over 80% of the heavy equipment manufacturing. The prospects are certainly attractive for foreign investors. Between 1964-1972 multinationals took out $5.60 for every dollar they invested.