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Saturday, September 18, 2004
Women's group slams bayanihan donations
MILITANT women's group Gabriela in Negros Oriental scored the administration of President Arroyo for "deceiving the people" and trying to cover it through a call for "bayanihan donations".
Gabriela Negros Oriental chairperson, Engr. Trelly Marigza, said that while the appeal to share one's wealth is a laudable move, the donations will "barely make a dent" in the country's fiscal situation.
She said that what the President is saying today contradicted her "boast" in the last election.
Marigza said the President had claimed in her campaign speeches that the country's economy was recovering and that there were enough funds to run the country.
"The rituals of election with all the election brouhahas passed and people seem to have accepted their fate to be governed by an unjust administration. And now this administration tells us to fasten our belts for a rocky ride, dig into our pockets and contribute to the national coffers for we are now in a financial crisis! What happened to the good economy?" she asked.
The Gabriela leader is worried the call was "only a way out of the crisis" saying that decades of mismanagement and unsound fiscal decisions could not be corrected by mere donations.
Economic recovery requires the transformation of economic policies, she said.
"Let us not be misled by the government's Bayanihan Fund and continue to demand for our government to abandon its pro-globalization policies," Marigza said.
She feared the Bayanihan fund could end up paying the government's ballooning debts instead of going to the delivery of basic services for the poor.
Worse, Marigza said, the funds could be siphoned to pay the government's anomalous contracts and other forms of corruption.
"Our fiscal situation demands a radical shift in economic policies. It demands total accountability and total transparency" she concluded.
(September 16, 2004 issue)
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