Nation Is in Crisis – Civil Libertarians

Speakers at the “Gathering of Civil Libertarians and Democrats” held July 23 at the Quezon City Sports Club were agreed that the trend toward state violence against mass actions reflects the government’s fear of public outrage which the worsening political and economic crisis may create.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

On the fourth year of her president – and first as an “elected president – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be presiding over a nation in a state of crisis. And she should be blamed for it.

Thus declared civil libertarians, academic figures and human rights advocates in a gathering last July 23 in Quezon City.

The “Gathering of Civil Libertarians and Democrats” held at the Quezon City Sports Club happened just three days before the President delivers her first State of the Nation Address (SONA). Macapagal-Arroyo was came to power on the heels of a popular uprising against the government of Joseph Estrada in January 2001, and served the remainder of the ousted president’s term.

The gathering was hurriedly organized with the intention of tackling concerns regarding what appears to be an emerging trend toward the increasing use of state violence to quell legal and legitimate dissent.

Speakers at the gathering, who included Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, vice chairperson of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance), were agreed that the trend toward state violence against mass actions reflects the government’s fear of public outrage which the worsening political and economic crisis may create.

“The people are now at the end of the rope,” said Araullo.

“As in the days immediately before (the 1972) declaration of martial law, the country is in a crisis,” she added. “And the present situation is not even comparable to the situation before martial law.”

On the delivery of her fourth SONA, Arroyo – who took the presidential oath last June 30 amid allegations of poll fraud and violence backed up by apparently compelling evidence – faces the spectacle of a nation described in another occasion by Bayan spokesperson Renato Reyes as “now in the toilet.”

Taxes, wages, and employment

This early, her government is starting to push for the imposition of new taxes to pump up public funds. Recently, the newspaper Today revealed that the government is now experiencing a deficit of P12.7 billion ($226.8 million based on a $1:P56 exchange rate).

Today also quoted government sources as saying that their offices experienced massive cash outlays weeks before the May election.

Macapagal-Arroyo has been accused of using government funds to finance her electoral bid. According to former solicitor-general Frank Chavez, the government money used to finance Arroyo’s presidential campaign could amount to as much as P15 billion ($267.9 million).

Compounding the people’s concerns about the drain on government funds, which would mean a further deprivation of essential social services, is the widening gap between the cost of living and the level of income.

Based on an analysis by Bulatlat’s Danilo Araña Arao late June, using data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the daily cost of living for a family of six (which is the size of the average Filipino family) now amounts to P594 ($10.61). The total minimum wage is now pegged at P300 ($5.36) daily.

According to Arao, even two minimum-wage earners are now no longer enough for an average Filipino family to meet the daily cost of living.

The people’s ability to meet the daily cost of living is worsened by their growing inability to find gainful employment. Based on the Labor Force Survey for the second quarter of 2004, the country’s unemployment rate is now at 13.7 percent, which translates to some 10.9 million out of 80 million Filipinos.

Data from the independent socio-economic think tank IBON Foundation show that small- and medium-scale enterprises have been closing down by the thousands each year due to unfair competition from multinational corporations, given freer and freer rein to exploit the country’s economic resources under policies imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Philippines joined the WTO in 1995. Arroyo, then a senator, was the main proponent of the country’s entry into the WTO.

Petroleum and power

Further aggravating the people’s burden are the rising prices of petroleum and power.

Petroleum prices have increased seven times this year and 61 times since the downstream oil industry was deregulated in 1996. The P1 ($0.018) increase per liter in pump prices of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene is the biggest oil price hike since October 2001.

According to IBON, petroleum products were overpriced by P0.16 from January to May this year. This brought in extra profits amounting to P216 million ($3.86 million) to the oil companies, of which P194 million ($3.46 million) went to the “Big Three” giants Petron, Shell, and Caltex.

Based on the rule of thumb for the downstream oil industry, a $1 movement in Dubai crude prices affects local oil prices by P0.26 ($0.0046), while a P1 movement in foreign exchange affects these by P0.13 ($0.0023).

Meanwhile, power consumers have already had to put up with an increase of more than P20 ($0.36) in their monthly electric bills with the P0.1327 ($0.0023) in Meralco’s generation charge this month.

If the petition of the National Power Corporation (NPC) for an increase in its generation charge is approved, power consumers will be putting up with a total increase of more than P100 ($1.79) in their electric bills – easily more than a third of the daily minimum wage.

NPC president Rogelio Murga is justifying the petition with the argument that it is needed to pay the power company’s debts. The NPC got deep in debt mainly through onerous deals entered into by the Marcos, Aquino, and Ramos governments in its behalf – about which the Estrada and Arroyo administrations both did nothing to sufficiently address. Bulatlat

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