"She
did not have any groundbreaking policies that will uplift the condition of the
people. All were rhetoric. She even intends to continue the neo-liberal policy
of Ramos at a time when the concept of globalization is under attack all over
the world," says a militant leader.
By
JOJO GUAN
A
month after helping Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assume the presidency, militant and
progressive groups gave the new president a performance mark below satisfactory.
According
to them, Arroyo failed to meet the people's most basic expectations. The failure
to immediately prosecute the deposed Estrada is a major botch to the new
administration's integrity. Likewise, her neo-liberal policy, which they claim
is a copycat of the Ramos policy, has made the anti-globalization activists
apprehensive.
Political
and economic analyst Antonio Tujan Jr. of Ibon Foundation, an independent policy
research institution, gave Arroyo a rating of 5. "She may have good points
- like being responsive to the people's comments - but most of her decisions and
economic policies cannot be distinguished as pro-people," he explained.
Dr.
Carol Araullo, one of the convenors of Estrada Resign Movement, preferred to
give Arroyo "a below five rating." Araullo explained, "She aims
to be a good and not great president. Her standard is so low - similar to
Estrada's - which means she won't do anything commendable since she failed to
see the historic opportune moment for her to change the government into
something truly for the people."
"She
did not have any groundbreaking policies that will uplift the condition of the
people. All were rhetoric. She even intends to continue the neo-liberal policy
of Ramos at a time when the concept of globalization is under attack all over
the world," Araullo added.
Tujan
cited the recent approval of almost half a million metric tons of rice as an
effort of the Arroyo government to maintain former President Ramos' neo-liberal
policies. Importation of rice has aggravated the condition of and poor peasants,
as experienced in Ramos' six year term (1992-1998).
Arroyo
recently approved the importation of 450,000 metric tons (MT) of rice through
the National Food Authority (NFA). The imported rice will come from Vietnam,
Thailand and China.
The
country will also get 104,000 MT of rice from the United States as part of the
US Public Law No. 480 (PL 480) program. Such US "soft loan" program,
Tujan surmised, is just part of US importation scheme to Third World countries.
"Such
importation of rice further displaces the poor peasants. The underlying factor
of such importation is to fulfill the minimum access volume (MAV) commitment to
WTO," explained Tujan.
Data
obtained by Ibon reflects that the NFA over-imported 41,000 MT despite an
increase harvest of 11.8 million MT in 1999. In the same year NFA also approved
the importation of 800,000 MT of rice. This resulted in oversupply and led to
the decline of farmgate prices of locally produced palay.
Imported
rice covered about 95 percent of the total volume of rice distributed by NFA
nationwide from 1996 to 1998. "In what is considered to be an agricultural
country like the Philippines, such figures are very disturbing, if not
staggering," commented Tujan.
According
to Tujan, Arroyo's desire to lead the country into economic recovery could only
be achieved by laying down clear economic agenda that will benefit peasants,
workers, small and medium enterprises.
"There
should be a clear enterprise development for the small and medium-scale
enterprise. A credit program for rural folk should also be encouraged. And job
generation should be ensured. But these things will never be achieved if the
government continues to promote the policies of privatization and liberalization
indicative of Ramos's Philippines 2000 program," Tujan said. With Ramos's
policy in place, only the big businesses will again prosper, leaving the small
and medium enterprises bankrupt.
The
progressive movements' disappointment with the Arroyo government is aggravated
by its seemingly lack of political will to convict deposed president Estrada.
The recent temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court was an
indication that Estrada's cohorts, even in the judiciary, are still very much in
command.
"We
have learned our lessons from people power 1 and 2. We should remain vigilant to
let the spirit of People Power remain alive. Politics is too important to be
left to traditional and reactionary politicians," commented Araullo.
Bayan
Muna president Satur Ocampo agreed that the people could not rely on the
conventional hands of power. According to Ocampo, a leader should be actively
involved in the people's struggle. "Any policy that a leader makes should
primarily reflect the need of the people. A leader should invoke the people's
will, hence the people must remain vigilant," Ocampo stressed.
"We
want this government to suceed, that is why we the people should be on guard
always," declared Araullo. #
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