el pidio querino was sworn in as
president after the death of rojas in
april 1948.
he ran for election and won in november
1949 against joseph laurel
under his watch
the economy shifted from being a
colonial and highly protected one to a
controlled economy
in his inaugural address he stated
in the next four years there will be
efficient delivery of public services
more stable public finances and a
broadening base of economic security for
all
i repeat our own program of economic
development is essentially a program of
self-help
we encourage our neighbors to do the
same we invite them to cooperate with us
in an effort to coordinate the measures
for our common full development
we must pull ourselves out of the
treacherous morass of misery and want
and assume a new dignity in our
international relations
takirino administration introduced
economic policy reforms including import
controls which were implemented for
almost two decades
this import controls resulted in the
growth of the philippine entrepreneurial
class
that in turn helped the growth of the
economy
kirino like the previous administration
however failed to effectively address
the issue of communist rebellion
and hence resulted in the strengthening
of the hoax to critical levels
widespread corruption also became
evident under kirino's regime being one
of the reasons why the rebellion grew in
strength
kirino's administration promoted
institutional reform and economic
consolidation by enacting important
pieces of legislation that were vital to
the foundations of an independent
philippine economy
the economy started protecting itself
from foreign exploitation and many took
advantage of the opportunities offered
by the economy
his administration was marked with
considerable reconstruction of
infrastructure and general economic
gains
a constellation of economic policies
were institutionalized during kirino's
administration
kirino introduced controls to the
philippine economy in order to restore a
tolerable equilibrium in external
payments this is after the unprecedented
postwar import surplus
stimulated by changes in filipino
consumption patterns and peso over
valuation
the quantitative controls over imports
were established by republic act number
330 of july 15
1948
which authorized the president of the
philippines to establish a system of
import control by regulating imports of
non-essential and luxury articles
creating an import control board
authorizing the issuance of rules and
regulations to carry into effect such
control and penalizing violations of
this act
effective import controls were initiated
by executive order number 295
of november 29 1949 and number 297
of december 24 1949.
furthermore in 1950 president truman of
the u.s agreed to send an economic
mission to advise the philippines on the
establishment of a sound and
well-balanced economy
this mission outlined a
series of institutional reforms and
policy changes which occupy the
attention of the philippine government
in the ensuing four years
these policies include increase in tax
revenues including tax reforms in order
to make it more progressive
expansion and improvement of
agricultural production
land reform and assistance to small
farmers and diversification and
expansion of industry and improvement of
transportation facilities
unfortunately the government despite
strong intervention in the market was
perceived as politically weak
this weakness is based on the
government's incapacity to deliver
services to the countryside
the rural areas experienced very little
improvement during kirino's period and
people from the countryside saw the
state as protectors of elite interests
the oligarchs continued to strengthen
their hold on the state weakening its
ability to enact and implement
progressive measures such as land reform
and other forms of agricultural and
rural assistance
land owning families successfully
influenced government policy and made
sure that their narrow interests were
amply protected
the protectionist measures that kirino
implemented had no trickle down effect
and the rural folks
felt deprived of the economic benefits
that protectionism was supposed to
produce
moreover war reparations from japan and
the u.s rehabilitation funds did not
translate into the reconstruction of
destroyed infrastructure facilities
neither did it expand the government
capacity to provide and deliver
necessary services such as health care
across the country the conventional
wisdom was that these funds
went straight into the bank accounts of
politicians and their business partners
the state was seemingly captive of the
oligarchy this situation fueled the
growth of the rebel movement to a point
that
it has become a formidable force that
threatened to topple the government's
seat of power
in manila
as the hope rebellion reached a critical
point
more and more rural folks joined their
cause and fight against the government
the political turmoil however caused by
the hook rebellion remained unsolved
by the early 1950s the hoke army had
grown to an estimated 50 000 strong
the rebel group had taken control of
many areas in the countryside
confiscating lands from hachenderos
hence
many private land owners organized their
own armies in order to protect their
lands from the rebels
accordingly the country's side was often
a scene of clashes between the hoax and
private armies
a full-blown civil war was said to be on
its way and the united states became
increasingly uncomfortable with the
continued failure of the philippine
government to put an end to the
communist rebellion
moreover with assistance from the
soviets and the maoists the hoax were
well armed and able to match the
firepower of the philippine army
the united states alarmed at the
possible worldwide domination of the
communists
increased military assistance to the
country by 200 million dollars
more importantly the united states
groomed a successor for kirino to ensure
that the next president would be able to
successfully destroy
the hoke rebellion
the hardy report on land reform dated
september 1952
intimated that the united states might
have to intervene unless something
drastic was done about land
redistribution
the report asserted that the pernicious
problem of lanternure threatened the
existence of the republic and the stand
of the united states against communism
in the pacific
in the meanwhile
president kirino became very critical of
the u.s he did not like her japan policy
trade monopoly and interference in
philippine internal affairs and pension
for preaching the government
on democracy
against the background of the
intensification of the cold war american
attitude metamorphosed
the invasion by north korea and its
southern neighbor awakened in the u.s
the deadly perils which it faced
it therefore undertook to review its
relations with the philippines accepting
friendship where she would find it and
addressing herself to the tween
challenge of expanding the basis of that
friendship and doing away with the
causes that would mar and destroy it