Every day we are bombarded with news of the ``free'' market achievements of the newly industrialised countries (NICs) -- the ``miracle'' economies of South-East Asia.
In the less industrialised countries, politicians who kowtow to the dictates of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund promise visions of NIC ``nichehood'' to the masses.
Philippines President Fidel Ramos calls himself ``the country's salesman'' as he travels the world flogging off state-owned assets. In the quest for ``nichehood'', the railways, telecommunications and now even water are being privatised in the biggest sale of publicly owned assets in decades. The country's growth rates have exceeded 5% in the last two years, and its politicians bask in the praises of the World Bank.
But the increasingly lavish living conditions of a tiny minority, protected by high walls and armed security squads, are being pressed from the other side by the shanties of the growing number of urban poor. Mobile phones and swimming pools on one side, no electricity or clean running water on the other.
Last year, hundreds of people were hospitalised and many died in an outbreak of cholera and dengue fever.
Children are the main victims of the Philippines' march towards "nichehood". Thousands of homeless urchins roam the streets trying to survive. Children are also the victims of the "world's best practice" labour conditions in that country. UNICEF reports a huge increase in child labour.
But the Philippines is also home to one of the most militant and heroic labour movements in Asia, a movement that campaigns for genuine growth and development to alleviate the poverty of the majority.
Green Left Weekly has carried many reports on developments in the workers' movement, and we currently send complimentary subscriptions to several workers' centres in the Philippines.
We now want to expand this to include the southern island of Mindanao. One of the biggest corporations operating in Mindanao is the Australian-owned multinational Western Mining Company. Its operations have caused the displacement of indigenous communities in the area.
It costs around $300 a year to send a small bundle of Green Left Weekly to the Philippines. It will cost an additional $150 a year to send an extra bundle to Mindanao.
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