Launch a "Truly Pro-Masses" Relief Program
by Edberto Malvar Villegas
Former Head, Development Studies Program,
University of the Philippines at Manila
If the government were just pro-masses than pro-elite, it would have directed the Philippine army or even the PNP to use more trucks so they could pick up the animals, horses, pigs, chicken, etc., suddenly left by the evacuees in Batangas in their yards in order to escape the eruption of Taal volcano last Jan. 13. Whether they wanted to stay behind in their houses or take their animals with them, the evacuees found themselves in a very difficult position because they were ordered to evacuate and they do own trucks to carry their animals with them. Army trucks, which have transported the population affected by the eruption, should also fetch the animals of the evacuees to save the livelihoods of the latter. More trucks should have been provided by the Philippine army or the PNP as many of these are just standing idly by in military camps. It is to be noted that the army has acquired 219 new trucks from South Korea in 2017 to augment their other hundreds of trucks.(com/watch?v=AEPEDYE) Surely, not all of these are being used to fight the rebels or are they?
If the government were just right-minded, it should bring the rescued animals and even fruits to public lands to sell or auction them to interested parties to help the devastated families of the volcanic eruption. The owners of these animals have no more space to care for them as their abodes have become uninhabitable and they are willing to sell their animals to the public to obtain capital to start anew in life.This is the least that a responsible government can do for the thousands of Batangunenos and others displaced by the eruption as the masses are the foremost capital of society which make it rich with their labor power to run our agricultural and industrial sectors, but with workers always at a losing end because of low wages given to them by the owners of the means of production..Many Batangueno hog and chicken farmers are even paying good taxes to the government which augment the latter's coffers. The government has allocated P30 billion as emergency supplemental budget for calamity fund to the approved regular budget of P20 billion of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Mgt, making the total calamity fund at P50 billion in the P4.1 trillion budget of 2020. (2020 National Budget) But as of the present not even P1 billion has been released from even the regular calamity fund and adding salt to the wound, the Duterte regime is appealing to the public for donations for the around 200,000 victims of the disaster. It must be pointed out that the calamity fund has been decreased by P11 billion in the 2020 national budget. Compare this to the increase of the budget for the President Office by 21% from P6.8 billion in 2019 to P8.24 billion in 2020. P4.5 billion of the budget of the President Office is meant for his so-called confidential and intelligence fund, including monetary rewards to PNP officers who can neutralize drug personalities!
Why is the calamity fund, which has even been slashed, lying idle? Is the Duterte regime intending to transfer it to the payments of foreign debts, particularly to the Chinese from whom it has acquired huge loans for the so called Build-build-build program, mostly expected to be funded by Chinese banks? As of now, the allocated payment alone for interests for our foreign debts has been increased by 13% from $399 billion in 2019 billion to $441 billion in 2020, all to be passed on to the Filipino people.(2020 National Budget) The BBB program of Duterte is mere bluster as befits him because of the 75 projects planned, only 9 have been started and it is the last lap of his term. Many of these projects will just enrich Chinese banks and firms like, for example, the Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon, costing $3.7 billion, 85% of which will come from Chinese loans and which will displace hundreds of Dumagats from their ancestral lands.Why is Duterte so partial to Chinese loans when its interest rate is so high, at 2 to 3% per annum compared to Japanese loans which is 0.25% to 0.75% ("Beware of Chinese loans, inquirer.net, Aug. 4, 2018) The loans from China are also all tied loans which means you will have to purchase its technology and machines and hire Chinese personnel and workers to undertake a project.
Instead of just having a development program only meant to show off or to grandstand but which is becoming chaotic for lack of careful planning as the BBB which Duterte has dubbed the "golden age of infrastructure", the government should prioritize the welfare of the general masses. In the case of all evacuees, including those from Batangas. Huge Industrial Fund for SMEs(small and medium scale enterprises) and Agricultural Fund for farmers should be put up to extend low-interest or no interest loans,depending upon the status of a family, These loans can be sourced from government savings and the calamity fund lying stagnant in banks, which perhaps as we pointed out above have already been juggled for interest payment to foreign loans by the Duterte regime. Such industrial and agricultural loans shall include bigger loans for capital investments by Filipino enterpreneurs like pig and chicken raisers, and shops and store owners whose livelihoods were destroyed by a calamity. Evacuees are desperately in need of financial help to start life anew and it is the task of a government to live up to its role as caretaker of the common good , instead of surreptitiously juggling its revenues, the great portion of which come from the masses, especially from Train 1 and 2 or the tax increases of basic goods which have hit the ordinary consumers so hard
It is about time that preferential allocation be made for Filipino enterprenuers and small farming business ventures since small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), owned by Filipinos, employ 60% of the national labor force and not the big companies, including the MNCs.(PSA) Wages in all Philippine enterprises should also be closely monitored by the DOLE. Daily wages should be increased to P1500 which will give at least a decent living to a family of five due to the decline of the real value of the peso caused by successive inflation triggered by the constant rise of consumer prices. The basic wages and salaries of all government workers should likewise be hiked to the decent level of living as with private workers. The rationale for the increases in budget to favor the Filipino masses is that it will tap their full productive capacity which will benefit the whole of our society.
As for the budget for the construction of new houses in designated public lands for those evacuees whose homes were destroyed, the responsibility will fall on the lap of the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development which has been allocated a budget of P842 million in 2020, no increase from 2019.( 2020 Nat. Budget) Compare this again to the P8 billion allocated to the President Office and you will know how greedy this president is for money which is not his.
If the government remains as irresponsible as it is now without even having any semblance of a pro-masses national development program for industry and agriculture, which will involve the active participation of the Filipino masses in their organizations, the Philippines will be in the same rut as it is at present with its increase of wealth (GDP), mostly derived from credits or fictitious capital(hot money) in the finance market, particularly in the stock market, only benefiting 1% of the population. How could we expect for this Duterte government to launch a truly pro-masses relief program for all Filipino evacuees from calamities when it has even bungled up its so-called flagship program for a drug-free Philippines called Tokhang, which has become a total mess and failure due again to a lack of careful planning and strategy? Or is Tokhang just a big cover-up for something very sinister? The masses, led by their organizations, must act now instead of relying on this neo-colonial, tyrannical and corrupt regime, masquerading as the true government of the Filipino people.
***
Edberto Malvar Villegas is a former professor, head of Development Studies Program at the University of the Philippines, Manila. A grandson of General Miguel Malvar, Ed is known for his patriotic stance in regards to the economic and social issues.
If the government were just right-minded, it should bring the rescued animals and even fruits to public lands to sell or auction them to interested parties to help the devastated families of the volcanic eruption. The owners of these animals have no more space to care for them as their abodes have become uninhabitable and they are willing to sell their animals to the public to obtain capital to start anew in life.This is the least that a responsible government can do for the thousands of Batangunenos and others displaced by the eruption as the masses are the foremost capital of society which make it rich with their labor power to run our agricultural and industrial sectors, but with workers always at a losing end because of low wages given to them by the owners of the means of production..Many Batangueno hog and chicken farmers are even paying good taxes to the government which augment the latter's coffers. The government has allocated P30 billion as emergency supplemental budget for calamity fund to the approved regular budget of P20 billion of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Mgt, making the total calamity fund at P50 billion in the P4.1 trillion budget of 2020. (2020 National Budget) But as of the present not even P1 billion has been released from even the regular calamity fund and adding salt to the wound, the Duterte regime is appealing to the public for donations for the around 200,000 victims of the disaster. It must be pointed out that the calamity fund has been decreased by P11 billion in the 2020 national budget. Compare this to the increase of the budget for the President Office by 21% from P6.8 billion in 2019 to P8.24 billion in 2020. P4.5 billion of the budget of the President Office is meant for his so-called confidential and intelligence fund, including monetary rewards to PNP officers who can neutralize drug personalities!
Why is the calamity fund, which has even been slashed, lying idle? Is the Duterte regime intending to transfer it to the payments of foreign debts, particularly to the Chinese from whom it has acquired huge loans for the so called Build-build-build program, mostly expected to be funded by Chinese banks? As of now, the allocated payment alone for interests for our foreign debts has been increased by 13% from $399 billion in 2019 billion to $441 billion in 2020, all to be passed on to the Filipino people.(2020 National Budget) The BBB program of Duterte is mere bluster as befits him because of the 75 projects planned, only 9 have been started and it is the last lap of his term. Many of these projects will just enrich Chinese banks and firms like, for example, the Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon, costing $3.7 billion, 85% of which will come from Chinese loans and which will displace hundreds of Dumagats from their ancestral lands.Why is Duterte so partial to Chinese loans when its interest rate is so high, at 2 to 3% per annum compared to Japanese loans which is 0.25% to 0.75% ("Beware of Chinese loans, inquirer.net, Aug. 4, 2018) The loans from China are also all tied loans which means you will have to purchase its technology and machines and hire Chinese personnel and workers to undertake a project.
Instead of just having a development program only meant to show off or to grandstand but which is becoming chaotic for lack of careful planning as the BBB which Duterte has dubbed the "golden age of infrastructure", the government should prioritize the welfare of the general masses. In the case of all evacuees, including those from Batangas. Huge Industrial Fund for SMEs(small and medium scale enterprises) and Agricultural Fund for farmers should be put up to extend low-interest or no interest loans,depending upon the status of a family, These loans can be sourced from government savings and the calamity fund lying stagnant in banks, which perhaps as we pointed out above have already been juggled for interest payment to foreign loans by the Duterte regime. Such industrial and agricultural loans shall include bigger loans for capital investments by Filipino enterpreneurs like pig and chicken raisers, and shops and store owners whose livelihoods were destroyed by a calamity. Evacuees are desperately in need of financial help to start life anew and it is the task of a government to live up to its role as caretaker of the common good , instead of surreptitiously juggling its revenues, the great portion of which come from the masses, especially from Train 1 and 2 or the tax increases of basic goods which have hit the ordinary consumers so hard
It is about time that preferential allocation be made for Filipino enterprenuers and small farming business ventures since small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), owned by Filipinos, employ 60% of the national labor force and not the big companies, including the MNCs.(PSA) Wages in all Philippine enterprises should also be closely monitored by the DOLE. Daily wages should be increased to P1500 which will give at least a decent living to a family of five due to the decline of the real value of the peso caused by successive inflation triggered by the constant rise of consumer prices. The basic wages and salaries of all government workers should likewise be hiked to the decent level of living as with private workers. The rationale for the increases in budget to favor the Filipino masses is that it will tap their full productive capacity which will benefit the whole of our society.
As for the budget for the construction of new houses in designated public lands for those evacuees whose homes were destroyed, the responsibility will fall on the lap of the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development which has been allocated a budget of P842 million in 2020, no increase from 2019.( 2020 Nat. Budget) Compare this again to the P8 billion allocated to the President Office and you will know how greedy this president is for money which is not his.
If the government remains as irresponsible as it is now without even having any semblance of a pro-masses national development program for industry and agriculture, which will involve the active participation of the Filipino masses in their organizations, the Philippines will be in the same rut as it is at present with its increase of wealth (GDP), mostly derived from credits or fictitious capital(hot money) in the finance market, particularly in the stock market, only benefiting 1% of the population. How could we expect for this Duterte government to launch a truly pro-masses relief program for all Filipino evacuees from calamities when it has even bungled up its so-called flagship program for a drug-free Philippines called Tokhang, which has become a total mess and failure due again to a lack of careful planning and strategy? Or is Tokhang just a big cover-up for something very sinister? The masses, led by their organizations, must act now instead of relying on this neo-colonial, tyrannical and corrupt regime, masquerading as the true government of the Filipino people.
***
Edberto Malvar Villegas is a former professor, head of Development Studies Program at the University of the Philippines, Manila. A grandson of General Miguel Malvar, Ed is known for his patriotic stance in regards to the economic and social issues.