News Release
July 18, 2012
As President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address approaches, cause-oriented groups are disputing the claims of inclusive growth of the current administration. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan believes that many more people have fallen on harder times given price increases, and that the main proponents of Aquino’s public-private partnerships are becoming richer.
Malacanang has announced that the public will not be disappointed with Aquino’s third SONA, which is now on its 5th draft and is over 30 pages long.
“As Aquino continued to implement the discredited and anti-poor economic policies of past administrations such as deregulation and privatization, the people suffer from the steady and unreasonable increases in prices of basic goods and services. The people are constantly being marginalized. There is no inclusive growth here,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
Over the weeks, the prices and rates of oil, electricity and water services have almost simultaneously gone up. After a series of rollbacks, oil prices have increased for two straight weeks, raising the pump price of gasoline by a huge ₱2.55 per liter and diesel by ₱2.40. Power rates charged by Meralco, meanwhile, will go up by ₱0.32 per kilowatt-hour this month. Water rates in Metro Manila and nearby areas will also rise by ₱0.39 per cubic meter to ₱0.89 starting in the third quarter.
Bayan asserts that these price increases were the result of the policies of privatization and deregulation of energy and water, which the current regime has continued to implement.
Due to the accumulated impact of privatization, deregulation and other anti-poor policies and their continued implementation by the Aquino administration, hunger has averaged 20% of families (an estimated 4 million families) during Aquino’s two years; while poverty has averaged more than 50% (an estimated 10 million families), based on data from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) regular surveys says Bayan.
“We expect the president to make a big deal out of the so-called first quarter economic growth, the latest credit upgrade from Standard and Poor, the $1 billion loan the Philippines extended to the IMF, as well as the increases in the stock market index. These however are far from the stomachs of the people and are not real indicators of the health of the economy. Aquino may score pogi-points with the foreign banks and investors, but that dooesn’t mean the people are well off under his leadership,” Reyes said.
In contrast with the plight of the poor, Bayan said that the already super-rich families are accumulating even more wealth. Based on data compiled by the US-based magazine Forbes, the 40 richest Filipinos had their combined wealth more than doubled in the past three years – from $23 billion to a staggering $47 billion.
“The opposite side of such massive accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few is the deteriorating poverty and misery of the great majority of the people who are being excluded from so-called economic growth and have to endure ever increasing rates and cost of living amid chronic joblessness. Not even the much vaunted Conditional Cash Transfer scheme as made a real dent in poverty, despite the billions already spent,” Reyes said.
Bayan called attention to the PPP programs of the Aquino government which it said would primarily benefit big business interests and would further marginalize the people.
The group said that the Forbes list of richest Filipinos are the same families that are bagging PPP contracts under the current regime. The Ayalas and its Spanish partner, for instance, cornered the ₱1.9-billion Daang Hari – SLEx link road project. Meanwhile, the Ayala family is also competing with the Ang/Cojuangco group, Pangilinan and Consunji and their respective foreign partners for the ₱60-billion LRT Line 1 extension project.
“PPP projects oppress the poor not only through higher user fees but also via the displacement of communities,” the Bayan leader added.
“Unless there is a real program for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, our economy will perpetually be held hostage by the profit interests of big business, both local and foreign. We will continue to be an export-oriented, foreign investment-driven and remittance-dependent economy,” Reyes said. ###
