from The Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20100309nat1.html
United Opposition (UNO) vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay yesterday said there was nothing new in the admission of Presidential Economic Adviser Joey Salceda that government failed to address mass poverty in the last nine years. But then again, he said it is better late than never.
“Governor Salceda only confirmed what the Filipino people have known all along. Their lives are worse off now than they were nine years ago. But still, it is a consolation that somebody from Mrs. Arroyo’s inner circle has spoken up and admitted what we have been saying and what the people have been going through under the Arroyo administration,” Binay said.
He said Malacañang’s economic policies, particularly the value added tax, may have provided revenue for the administration, but it has been a burden to ordinary Filipinos who ended up paying more for basic needs.
Based on the figures of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the number of five-member households living on P1,200 monthly rose to 27.6 million in 2006 compared to 25.47 million in 2001. The incidence of hunger also nearly doubled from 11.4 percent in 2000 to 20.3 percent in 2009.
Binay said while the administration boasts of increases in the country’s gross domestic product by 4.4 percent, reportedly the highest among all presidents since 1966, the administration failed to make taxes work for the ordinary Filipino.
“Wages remain stagnant while the prices of goods continue to rise, and the VAT has made even the most basic goods beyond the reach of many hard-working Filipinos,” he added.
“What’s more, the administration’s incompetence led to crisis after crisis that fell heavily on the shoulders of the working class,” Binay noted.
“How many crises have we weathered through because of the government’s lack of foresight and contingency measures? The oil crisis, the rice crisis, sugar crisis, flour crisis, energy crisis, and
most recently a water crisis,” he said.
“These are all necessities that are basic in nature. The people could have been spared from price hikes but because of the shortages that the government failed to prepare for, Filipinos had to carry the burden of the higher cost of goods on their meager income,” he added.
Binay said throughout her nine-year rule, Arroyo failed to address the problem of unemployment and low income, with efforts to raise wages crumbling at the first sign of resistance from the business sector.
He also slammed the government for failing to plug revenue leaks that result in billions worth of losses, which could have fed thousands of hungry Filipinos, bought fertilizers and funded irrigation projects, built schools, and health facilities, and bought more medicine to save lives.
Binay lamented that while Filipinos who earn modest amounts are hounded to pay enormous taxes, tax cheats from big industries manage to evade the law and grafters continue to hold on to positions of power and influence.
“It comes as no surprise the rich continue to grow richer because of Mrs. Arroyo’s bias towards the elite who have brought her to power in 2001 during the EDSA 2 coup. All of her decisions favor the oligarchies and the big companies, and her cronies,” he said. “While she fails to address the issue of wage increase to help Filipinos cope with the ballooning prices of goods, her political allies raid government coffers with various illegal transactions to enrich themselves at the expense of those already saddled by poverty,” he said.
United Opposition (UNO) vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay yesterday said there was nothing new in the admission of Presidential Economic Adviser Joey Salceda that government failed to address mass poverty in the last nine years. But then again, he said it is better late than never.
“Governor Salceda only confirmed what the Filipino people have known all along. Their lives are worse off now than they were nine years ago. But still, it is a consolation that somebody from Mrs. Arroyo’s inner circle has spoken up and admitted what we have been saying and what the people have been going through under the Arroyo administration,” Binay said.
He said Malacañang’s economic policies, particularly the value added tax, may have provided revenue for the administration, but it has been a burden to ordinary Filipinos who ended up paying more for basic needs.
Based on the figures of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the number of five-member households living on P1,200 monthly rose to 27.6 million in 2006 compared to 25.47 million in 2001. The incidence of hunger also nearly doubled from 11.4 percent in 2000 to 20.3 percent in 2009.
Binay said while the administration boasts of increases in the country’s gross domestic product by 4.4 percent, reportedly the highest among all presidents since 1966, the administration failed to make taxes work for the ordinary Filipino.
“Wages remain stagnant while the prices of goods continue to rise, and the VAT has made even the most basic goods beyond the reach of many hard-working Filipinos,” he added.
“What’s more, the administration’s incompetence led to crisis after crisis that fell heavily on the shoulders of the working class,” Binay noted.
“How many crises have we weathered through because of the government’s lack of foresight and contingency measures? The oil crisis, the rice crisis, sugar crisis, flour crisis, energy crisis, and
most recently a water crisis,” he said.
“These are all necessities that are basic in nature. The people could have been spared from price hikes but because of the shortages that the government failed to prepare for, Filipinos had to carry the burden of the higher cost of goods on their meager income,” he added.
Binay said throughout her nine-year rule, Arroyo failed to address the problem of unemployment and low income, with efforts to raise wages crumbling at the first sign of resistance from the business sector.
He also slammed the government for failing to plug revenue leaks that result in billions worth of losses, which could have fed thousands of hungry Filipinos, bought fertilizers and funded irrigation projects, built schools, and health facilities, and bought more medicine to save lives.
Binay lamented that while Filipinos who earn modest amounts are hounded to pay enormous taxes, tax cheats from big industries manage to evade the law and grafters continue to hold on to positions of power and influence.
“It comes as no surprise the rich continue to grow richer because of Mrs. Arroyo’s bias towards the elite who have brought her to power in 2001 during the EDSA 2 coup. All of her decisions favor the oligarchies and the big companies, and her cronies,” he said. “While she fails to address the issue of wage increase to help Filipinos cope with the ballooning prices of goods, her political allies raid government coffers with various illegal transactions to enrich themselves at the expense of those already saddled by poverty,” he said.
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