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Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

Press statement
13 March 2008
Reference: Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, Chairperson

Contrary to the statement of national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, the worst is yet to come for the embattled Arroyo regime. The worsening economic hardship, intensifying repression, and persistent corruption allegations will continue to feed social unrest and fan political instability.

Gonzales declared Wednesday that the “worst of the political crisis is over” and Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has survived the $329-million broadband corruption scandal.

Gonzales ignored the impact of deteriorating poverty on the hold to power of Arroyo. The latest official poverty incidence report disclosed that between 2003 and 2006, more than one million Filipinos are added every year to the number of poor or three million for three years. This further undermines the ability of Arroyo to govern as an increasing number of people feel that the government is not addressing their economic concerns. This will enhance the isolation of the Arroyo regime from the people.

Trends indicate that the worsening economic hardship will persist in the coming months. Unprecedented oil price increases, almost simultaneous hikes in the prices of basic food items and in water and power rates will continue to erode wages and income. Ordinary families could barely afford even half of the cost of living while more than 10.8 million people are either jobless or underemployed. At the global level, the looming US recession has yet to take its full impact on the local economy. But once it does, expect a serious production slowdown that could mean higher unemployment and poverty.

There are also no signs that Arroyo will depart from her current pro-market and anti-people economic policies. She could not afford, for example, to let go of the regressive value added tax (VAT). While the VAT contributes to high prices of basic goods and services, it is also the most reliable source of revenues for the bankrupt regime.

On the other hand, the repression of the Arroyo regime of legitimate protests for economic and political reforms is becoming more vicious. The brutal dispersal of protesting workers in front of the Labor department on March 6 shows the readiness of the regime to use more violence to preserve itself. But this only fuels the people’s outrage and determination to fight for justice and reforms.

Meanwhile, the public perception that corruption under the Arroyo regime is chronic remains pervasive and will continue to hound Arroyo. A Pulse Asia survey in October 2007 shows that Arroyo is perceived by most Filipinos to be the most corrupt president. This has been confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) that ranked the Philippines as the most corrupt country in Asia.

The combination of worsening poverty, increasing repression, and continuing efforts to cover up corruption provides the condition for the lingering unrest and more protests.

The people will not remain passive amid the current political turmoil. They will take action once they realize that their plight is being aggravated by the wrong economic policies, repression, and corruption of the Arroyo regime. This will further strengthen the growing movement calling for a change in the national leadership and for meaningful political and economic reforms.

Gonzales and the entire Arroyo clique should not take comfort in the coming long holiday break. It could be the proverbial “calm before the storm”.###

Manila's lies and cover up on US military aid, human rights record

PRESS STATEMENT
Nov. 7, 2007

Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

Manila's lies and cover up on US military aid, human rights record

BAYAN USA strongly condemns the Arroyo government's latest lies and
act of cover-up on US military aid.

The Arroyo government is lying to the public by claiming that it will
get $30 million in US military aid, up from $11-million this year.
Malacanang is obviously doing a media blitz based on a US Senate
proposal approved two months ago -- a proposal which is not yet even
final.

In fact, the US House version only allots $23-million in military aid
for the entire East Asia and Pacific region.

With both Congressional bodies yet to reconcile their differing versions
of the budget bills, it thus remains uncertain whether the Arroyo government
will get the $30-million that Philippine officials have bandied about.

BAYAN USA has been linked to broad overseas opposition efforts to
lobby US legislators in order to prevent US public funds from going to death
squads in the Philippines or misused as endorsement of a government
accused of abetting extrajudicial executions.

We likewise deplore the Arroyo government's attempts to airbrushing
its record as a human rights violator. Malacanang is desperately
trying to conceal the adoption by the US Senate of "restrictive
language" or preconditions to the $2-million in additional military
aid to the Philippines.

The "restrictive language" means that the Arroyo government's human
rights record is now under closer scrutiny by the US Senate, an outcome
of strong legislative advocacy coupled with a stronger mass movement
outside of Congressional halls.

We urge US Congress to implement stricter monitoring on the
compliance by the Arroyo government on the three preconditions adopted
by the Senate, which now includes "a policy of promoting military personnel
who demonstrate professionalism and respect for human rights, and
investigating and prosecuting military personnel and others who have been
credibly alleged to have committed extrajudicial executions or other
violations of human rights."

Without the outlining of a strict and tight mechanism for monitoring, the
Philippine government will make many more attempts to twist the facts
and spin new media stories to its favor. After all, even the US government
has a long history of funding overseas dictatorships. The Philippines
remains a strategic location for the Bush administration's plan to expand
the War on Terror into Asia.

Perhaps the ongoing media blitz seeks to cover up the failure of
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita's feeble attempt to dampen the
impact of UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston's damning report and to
conceal the undeniable fact that no one has ever been convicted for
the nearly 900 extrajudicial executions under Arroyo's watch. ###