Senator Quirino’s plan: need of migration policy

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Senator Quirino’s plan: need of migration policy
Language: English
Year: 1934
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Abstract: Subsidized colonization practical—a fact proved repeatedly in Britain's experience. Ilokanos must migrate.
Fulltext: October, 1934 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 5 Senator Quirino’s Plan: Need of Migration Policy Subsidized colonization practical—a fact proved repeatedly in Britain's experience. Ilokanos must migrate Emigration overseas from Cebu and the Ilokos region, overcrowded provinces, is greatly reduced by abolition of emigration to mainland United States under the TydingsMcDuffie act and by Hawaii’s lesser need now than in the past for Philippine labor. Therefore, an acute interisland migration problem is presented, that the government should solve. Senator Elpidio Quirino, secretary of finance, is an Ilokano who knows his venturesome people and their land needs well. The public is coming to trust his judgment, and he has a plan for settling farmers in Mindanao—a plan in volving a revolving aid fund of Pl,000,000. In detail his plan has not been examined, but a prac tical interisland migration policy for such provinces as those of Ilokos and Cebu needs working out. In 1933 < migration to mainland United • States from the Philippines ' was 637 men, 132 women. J That year 1,079 men and ’ 130 women returned to the islands from the United States, J 442 men more than went away ’ that year to the United i States. In the same year j 3,994 men returned to the j islands from Hawaii, only : 231 went to Hawaii, a net “ decrease of emigration by ' 3,763. Of wpmen, 130 re- J turned from Hawaii, 231 went J there, a net increase of emigra - < tion by 101 women. Since j women in larger numbers are ; going to Hawaii either to i join their husbands there or < to marry and found families, ; Hawaii begins having a larger i supply of labor of her own, requires fewer recruits from • the Philippines even during ! good times. ■ The practice has been, in Hawaii, to take two Ilokanos i for every one Cebuano. But now the tide sets toward the i Philippines. It affects the Ilokos region seriously, since ; average savings sent back ; there from workmen emi grated to Hawaii have been P6,000,000 a year for at least 20 years. Estimate more back to Cebu. These remittances must now be much lower. During the first half of this year 1,268 men returned from Hawaii, only 38 went there, a net decrease of emigration to Hawaii by 1,230 men. In the same period 312 women re turned from Hawaii, only 51 went there, a net decrease in emigration to Hawaii by 261 women. In the same time, January to June this year, 639 Filipino men went to main land United Statues from the islands, 301 returned to the is lands, a net increase of that emigration by 338 men; and 55 women went there from the islands, 33 returned, a net in crease of that emigration by 22 women. Province and eubprovince. In sum, the tide of migration has definitely set ba^k toward the Philippines: Hawaii sends more men home than she draws away, while Filipinos going to mainland United States are sojourners, not workmen. This situation contrasts with the fact that forced emigra tion from the Ilokos region counts at least 20,000 persons a year. The accompanying table shows the population per square mile; a^id the region is by no means the islands’ richest; much of the land is mountainous and sterile, much more has been impoverished by farming. Inheritance has divided and subdivided thousands of the farms, where children now inherit fields too small to be advantageously worked; by family arrangements, some heirs keep the farm together, others are elected to migrate. Mindanao, as the census population table reveals, needs such immigrants. But Min danao can’t be prepared for settlers in a day. Neither may a homestead be made productive there in a season. Senator-Secretary Quirino plans founding communities of homesteading immigrants on large tracts of the public domain there. He would have the government pay their way there, provide them farm animals, surely a work cara bao, and money until they should harvest crops enough to keep them going independ ently—and return their loans from the government with 4% interest in installments. Thus replenished, the million peso fund would serve to establish more such immi grant communities in Min danao. The plan is laudable, the need urgent, but the ob stacles many. The primary obstacle is that Torrens sur veys have not been com pleted, the statute land laws sharply conflict with the cus tomary land laws, and the boundaries of the areas claim ed to be public domain are unknown. Before illustrating the paragraph just written, let a word be said for planned migration generally. Where titles to the lands involved have rested securely in the governments con cerned, t,he policy has been successful in fixing on the land superior communities of farmers. Under Britain, Canada is an outstanding example; in the United States, Utah. If it be asked who abandons the unaided community first, the more desirable pioneer or the less desirable, the answer is, the more desirable: his situation in the old community was less desperate, his ability and connections better; he is more sensitive to the plight of his family in the new community, (Please tur/i to page 16f Population. Total area in square Population to the Bquarc mile 1918 Philippine Islands...................... li Ktanila (city)........................................... Ilocos Sur................................................ Siquijor (subprovince)........................... La Union................................................. Cebu.......................................................... Pampanga........................................ , Pangasinan............................................... Laguna.................................................... Batangas................................................... Albay......................................................... Rizal...................................................... Bulacan..................................................... Uoilo........................................................ Sorsogon.................................................... Bohol.......................................................... Leyte......................................................... Misamia.................................................... Ilocos Norte............................................ Marinduquc (subprovince).................. Sulu............................................................ Antique..................................................... Tarlac........................................................ Romblon................................................... Occidental Negros.................................. Bataan...................................................... Oriental Negros...................................... Catanduancs (subprovince)................. Batancs..................................................... Nueva Ecija............................................ Ambos Camannes.................................. Uugao (subprovince)............................. I.epanto-Amburayan (subprovince)... Cagayan................................................... Zambales................................................... Tayabas.................................................... Bontoc (subprovince)............................ Masbate (subprovince)......................... Benguct (subprovince).......................... Isabela....................................................... Zamboanga............................................... Kalinga (subprovince)........................... Mindoro.................................................... Cotabato................................................... Davao....................................................... Bukidnon.................................................. Palawan.................................................... Agusan...................................................... Nueva Vizcaya....................................... Apayao (subprovince)........................... Basilan............................................................. Tawi-Tawi....................................................... Paragua............................................................ Dapitan........................................................... Paragua Sur . ... ............ ......... ... . . • than P 1,000,000 a year sent 90 1903 G7 32 276 58 37 12 12 2 16 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL October, 1934 Senator Quirino.’s Plan . . . (Continued from page 5) his wife’s sacrifices, his children’s limited school ing and opportunities; ceasing to give too much sugar for a cent, he abandons the fight with the wilderness, the new community is weakened by his defection. Homesteaders’ aid is therefore, as a general proposition, fully justified. Now, however, it will be shown that aiding Mindanao immigrants is most difficult even with the best of intentions because of the pecu liar land tenure prevailing there and the clash between statute and custom. (Past recreancy to trust of local officials in Mindanao might also be shown, how in a single limited region of Zamboanga no less than 200 bona fide home steaders had been hoodwinked out of their claims by officials and their satraps, who first got from them their carabaos and cash advances, then, when they were thus stripped, the land itself. All this was due directly to doubts about the government’s titles, the sharpers were able to set out prima facie claims of their own—holding water just long enough to get the genuine claimants eased off the land. Tardiness of the Zamboanga land office to the tune of nearly 800 claims, leases and homesteads per haps, might also be cited; and a general survey of the titles and homestead situation in Zam boanga and Sulu, tallying precisely with what has just been said. But as this refers to the past, let it go). By custom in Mindanao, all land is communal. Datus hold Mohammedan lands, are given tribute from the crops, but may not alienate their holdings; and their subjects hold unmo lested possession of land while they put it to use, but when they abandon use of it their possessory rights lapse and another may use it under the same terms of tribute to the datu. To this law, private title to property is abhorrent. The laws of the pagan peoples are similar to the Mohammedan. The general domain is the fiefhold, as it were, of chief or datu; whatever happens, it remains to his right. Plots in this general domain are subject to possessory rights only. Exact boundaries between domains may not be distinctly marked. But in general, practically the whole extent of Mindanao, approximately 39,000 square miles, is definitely claimed; and only a small portion, in the few plantations, town property, farms, pasture leases, homesteads, etc., under statute law and private title. Introduction of this statute law’ has wrought confusion, provoked endless border disputes and much formal litigation. In the tribes, as among the Bogobos of Davao, it has wrought social hardship; as w'hen a Bogobo has been induced by the land officers to accept private title to his domain, ostracism has made him a tribal outcast—from rulership he has fallen to renegade. Other Bogobos have killed, mad dened by encroachments on their domain by plantations and claims under private title. Pagan and Mohammedan alike reckon these private titles morally w’rong. Many datus, as in Sulu, will have nothing to do with them; there are many such datus who now, nominally, have no domains—under Torrens titles they have been adjudicated to others. But custom as cribes them their old domains without regard to these strange titles from the insular courts: their people hold possession under their fiefship and pay tribute as of old. Basically, the new titles must be defended with force. Gradually supplementary influences, as of the schools, will moderate customary law. In time, it may be expected, the statutory law will prevail; unrecognized by the general gov ernment, customary law will be obliterated. But that day is distant. Meantime such utter confusion prevails respecting land in Mindanao that Senator-Secretary Quirino’s plans must go the way of similar plans before them, they must fail or but moderately succeed. They are subject to insular administration, a good pre caution. But in place of the predatory local official will still stand the crafty general store keeper, his eye on the treasury’s cash advances to the settlers and on their widening fields. When at last they have their titles, his will be the cultivated fields, theirs the wild acres still to be subdued; practically they will be just where they began. Therefore, no lump sum ought ever be granted a settler. What he is provided by w’ay of livestock and tools should be charged him at low- interest, and in addition he should draw a small sum each month, say f 5 for actual needs, and in the end have a debt to the gov ernment of no more than 1*400. This has been recommended. If then the government will stand between the settler and dispossession, in limping fashion the colonization of Mindanao may proceed. All said and done, a beginning is very important. Tighe Pleased with Manila On October 2, Harry Tighe, British novelist and playwright, armed with an introduction from the American artist Carl Werntz, spent a brief day in Manila of w’hich he writes: “Thank you very sincerely for mv happy and entirely satisfactory day in lovely Manila. It was a pleasure to meet the men you so kindly introduced to me, foremost among them being the Governor, whom I hojie to meet again. I also much look forward to further talk with you. I will be in closer touch with the feeling of Manila on my next visit, November 4 or 5, and shall be asking all sorts of questions. The town of Manila interests me more than almost any place I have visited. It has the fascinating colour of the East and added to it the charm of an old civilization like Spain’s—this being spiced by modern America. Truly a wonderful combination.” Mr. Tighe is typically a Londoner, though born in Australia; and visiting the homeland for a while, he is making the round trip to Japan via Manila on the s. s. Nellore. His Manila impressions go out in the form of illustrated travel stories for publication in England and Australia. He is a capital companion on a day around Manila. Insular Treasury . . . (Continued from page 7) in this matter by going to the extent of requiring the Insular Treasurer to physically segregate such funds in his vaults and keep them separate and detached from all other funds in the vaults. In case of deposits in our depositories abroad, the law provides that “no portion of the fund shall be deposited in a bank doing business in the Philippine Islands or in any branch or agency outside of said Islands of a bank doing business in said Islands or in any bank doing business outside said Islands which may be controlled by a bank doing business in said Islands thru the ownership of stock therein or otherwise.” (b) That the rate of premium to be charged should be always the actual cost of shipping gold as represented by the prevailing rate of interest, freight, insurance, cartage and other miscellaneous expenses in connection with such shipment. If these principles are ignored, the likelihood is that the system would fail. The system is designed to be as automatic in its regulation of the money supply as the strict gold standard. The present condition of the Gold Standard Fund as reflected in the books of the Insular Treasury on June 30, 1934 is as follows! Excess ever legal maximum... riS.OMi.OOO l0L° aTePSil°u”d,C”L£^ Ti I wish to draw your attention to the fact that of our circulation, on that date, 1*18,400,000 are in Philippme coins and 1’91,900,000-jjre in Treasury certificates. Of these Treas cersecured with silver coins. This fund is called the Treasury Certificate Fund which consists of silver coins deposited in exchange for Treasury certificates issued. It is maintained as 100% reserve of all Treasury certificates in circulation and available for circulation thus backing up the certificates peso per peso. Under this ar rangement, the Treasury certificates are of the nature of warehouse receipts in that they are issued for each silver peso delivered to the In sular Treasury. However, inasmuch as the supply of silver coins may at times be insufficient to meet the demands of trade, the law provides that gold coins of the United States may be substituted temporarily for silver pesos in the fund or, in part, by gold deposits with the de positories of the Philippine government in the United States, pending the purchase of silver bullion for the coinage of silver coins. ''1 his fund should also be physically segregated from other funds in the vaults of the Treasury and should not likewise be permitted to go into circulation unless to meet withdrawals of Treas ury certificates in equivalent amounts pre sented for redemption. The condition of this fund on the same date specified above, in round figures, is as follows: In silver coins................................ 1’17,600,000 On deposit with United States depositories................................. 74,300,000 Total......................................... 1’91,900,000 certificates ;. 1’91,900,000 -------- j ......... —— — these Treas tificates, 1’17,6(X),000 are backed up I coins and P74.300.000 are backed up by gold deposits with our United State.tories. If we add these gold deposits p. to the Treasury Certificate Fund to deposits and gold currency pertainini Gold Standard Fund, we get a total of Pl 12,500,000 which, if compared with our total cir culation and available for circulation of 1*110,900,000 would show that our Government circulation is over 100% backed up by gold. You will agree with me that this is a condition which really bespeaks of the soundness and stability of our currency system at present. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS BUREAU OF POSTS