The Rotary Balita no. 649 (June 29, 1950).

Today's guest speaker, Mr. Gerald Wilkinson, President of Theo. H. Davis & Co., who spoke as Vice-President of the newly-born Philippine Association and "as an individual businessman who has grown to love this country and to feel a deep sense of gratitude towards it," may be remembered in later years as the "alien" man of good will who in time of "fears," courageously "cross the boundary line that separates the things. we talk about in public from the things we grouse about in private," to challenge us to "starve fear, feed confidence" and set our vision at par with our capacities. Highlights of his speech are as follows: "The major purposes of the Philippine Association are two-fold: (1) Creation and maintenance in the Philippines of a climate attractive to capital investment in the Philippines, with reasonable protection therefor. (2) Effective public relations on a high plane in the United States and elsewhere in order to preserve enlightened interest in the Philippines, its welfare and its future. "An element of fear and misunderstanding is drifting like a strange mist....; fear of the unknown intentions of each of us towards the other; fear in the minds of some legislators and some domestic interest that foreign capital may deprive, rather than enrich, the Filipino people; fear by our foreign businessmen that there is a rising in-tent to legislate them out of business..... This fear of foreign capital.... is not well-grounded although at first glance, perhaps it is. "England, a small island with an excessive population, has for centuries profited from the entry of skilled foreigners and from the equality of opportunity afforded to all residents, foreign and domestic, who trade within her shores. Now, the natural resources of the Philippine Republic are far richer and more varied than the United Kingdom and the Philippine population is smaller. Can these resources really betstolen..... if foreign capital enters on a substantial scale? Let us look at some figures. A small factory in one of several potential local industries that would require P1,000,000 of imported capital to develop a business of 2-3 million pesos of sales per annum, might earn, if exceptional success was achieved, a net annual profit of 25% per annum on the capital. In other words, a profit of P250,000. "What happens if they are permitted to repatriate their full annual profit? The Philippines loses P250,000 of foreign exchange against a first gain of P1,000,000 of foreign investment. But there is also the 2-3 million pesos of annual production. This, which is 8 to 12 times the repatriated profit, is pumped into local circulation, enriching labor, raw material production, subcontractors, and last but by no means least, the coffers of the Philippine Government itself. What is there to be afraid of in all this? I do know that Mr. Daniel Aguinaldo spoke words of wisdom last week when he drew attention to the experience of the United States. For America has historically welcomed the entry of foreign capital. And the supreme beneficíaries have been the people of the United States and the local capitalists. "Money is essentially permeating, and the history of one country after another shows that no one is ultimately more enriched by the entry of foreign capital than the local capitalists in the country of entry. America is no obsolete example. It is in- sufficiently remembered that in 1914 she was a debtor nation and doing very well out of it. And Canada, a conspicuously successful member of the British Commonwealth, is still debtor nation. Then why do the Philippines shrink and fear the example of these successful peoples? "The current lack of confidence in the Philippines today is surely overplayed. To read the excerpts from the press that have been published in the United States, one would think that this country was finished; that its commerce was non-existent, and that it was peopled mostly by outlaws. Gentlemen: You and I know that this is not true. Anyone who reports disorder in certain parts of Luzon should, in fairness to the Filipino people, add that peace and production prevail in the major regions of the Archipelago...... "The economic problems of the Philippines, as all of us must know, are infinitely easier of solution than most other countries'. For however strenuously the Central Bank may husband the dollar reserves of the Philippine Republic, this country's greatest dollar reserves lie in its soil-in its forests, in its mineral reserves, silently awaiting development by the skillful combination of additional capital, craftsmen and labour, and throughout the agricultural regions whose yields can be so greatly improved. Is it not time that we thought of these things with more confidence and less fear? And if the Philippine Association, whose basic purpose is public relations, can clarify the fears that now confine us, then the Association is, to my mind, immeasureably worth supporting. For one cannot conduct public relations without an understanding of truth. And I cannot believe that most of today's fears can survive truth. For fear and misunderstanding must shrink before truth if truth is clad with good will, just as the mists of night. are dissolved by the genial sun." Two baby Rotarians were inducted at this meeting Juan J. Carlos, "Jonby", president of the United Construction Co. and Ex-Dagupan Rotarian, L. Z. Villanueva, "Villa", proprietor of the firm bearing his name. Vice-President elect Bob Trent came out with flying colors, we think, in his debut as presiding officer at this meeting.