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People’s Agenda: As SONAs Possible
UP Coalition for Urgent Reforms and Empowerment (UP CURE)

July 23, 2001

We live in auspicious times --- a reality described as magic-realist, replete with numerous twists, ironies and contradictions.

Calls for peace and unity are drowned by the sound of gunfire in Mindanao. Justice is relegated to the backseat as jailed ex-President Joseph Estrada receives the best accommodation in the guise of “reconciliation.”

The promise of a better life for the poor gets negated by low wages, rising cost of living, intensifying commercialization of education and unabated increases in oil prices, not to mention impending hikes in power and water rates. One also cannot see government’s claim of economic recovery in a situation of continued peso devaluation and the huge budget deficit.

It is in this context that Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23. While she gives her speech in the august halls of Congress, thousands of people gather outside the gates of Congress to air their plight brought about by forgotten promises and age-old neglect by the powers-that-be.

While it is not expected that age-old problems will be solved in just six months, UP CURE strongly believes that the Arroyo administration has not shown the political will to create conditions necessary for uplifting the plight of the poor.

As it moved with lightning speed to pass Republic Act No. 9136 (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001) which restructured the power industry and privatized the assets of NAPOCOR, deliberations on the proposed P125 wage increase for workers proceed at a snail’s pace and the prospects of an across-the-board, nationwide increase of P3,000 in the monthly wage of government employees get dimmer as the day passes.

The Arroyo administration is unmindful of the fact that monthly cost of living in Metro Manila has already reached P15,269 (based on data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission), an amount received only by those belonging to Salary Grade (SG) 19-1 and above under the Salary Standardization Law. Majority of UP employees belong to lower SGs.

President Arroyo’s promise during her numerous consultations with cause-oriented groups to review the government’s commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) remains unfulfilled. Instead of seriously reviewing the impact of onerous policies and programs of previous administrations, the Arroyo administration has opted to continue the thrust of globalization despite the negative repercussions it brings.

On the issue of education, UP CURE condemns the government’s lack of priority given to it, to the point where state colleges and universities like the University of the Philippines (UP) are forced to look for other means to generate revenues (i.e., increasing tuition and other fees, commercialization of assets, corporate sponsorships).

Consistent with the principles that united the UP community for the ouster of Estrada that catapulted President Arroyo to power, UP CURE challenges this administration to do the following:

· Ensure the speedy trial and full media coverage of all cases filed against jailed ex-President Joseph Estrada and his cronies;
· Stop tuition and other increases in private and public schools and provide more subsidy to education;
· Grant the workers’ demand for an across-the-board and nationwide P125-increase in the daily wage (private sector) and P3,000-increase in the monthly wage (government workers).
· Impose currency controls to prevent the further devaluation of the peso;
· Institute price controls in basic goods and services, particularly sensitive industries like oil, power and water;
· Investigate the accusations of human rights violations as a result of military operations in Basilan and other contiguous areas;
· Protect human rights by initiating confidence-building measures like stopping military operations in the countryside and freeing all political prisoners;
· Ensure the protection of marginalized sectors of society by providing more allocation to basic social services like education, housing and health, even to the point of declaring a debt moratorium or selective debt repudiation;
· Stop all demolitions and initiate a comprehensive relocation and livelihood program for the urban poor;
· Stop land conversion in the countryside and ensure that no farmers are displaced from the land they till;
· Recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral domain;
· Review all fees collected from migrant workers and remove those found to be unjustified;
· Stop the privatization of the NAPOCOR, NFA, SSS and other vital agencies like public hospitals;
· Review the government’s commitment to the WTO;
· Conduct an independent review of the impact of globalization thrusts on the people’s welfare and livelihood and make the necessary policy reforms based on the findings;

These are URGENT REFORMS that are necessary given the state of our nation. While EMPOWERMENT still remains a pipe dream in a situation of social inequity, it would do well for President Arroyo to do what is just in order to give meaning to her claim of “New Politics” and “New Governance” under her administration.

UP Coalition for Urgent Reforms and Empowerment

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