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A portion in Presidential Decree 910 grants the President the power to allocate the Malampaya funds to any project he wants. "This absolute discretion leads to irregularities or discriminatory allocation of funds to presidential friends and pet projects." - Bayan Muna
"Aquino remains obstinate on his own lump sum appropriations, which are far greater than the legislative pork barrel. "
"They wanted the capitalists to come in to solve poverty, but experiences in other mining areas showed that Lumads were displaced instead when the capitalists took over."
Read 2nd part: Surviving Pablo, the Manobos’ story
Read 3rd and last part: Beyond military abuses: wresting control from Agusanon Manobos
“They keep saying that it is just there. And that it could be returned to the Development Bank of the Philippines. Why would they return it there and not to the Land Bank of the Philippines? And even if they return it, they still have accountabilities that they need to face.” – National Museum employee
“When we say pork barrel system, we're not just calling for the abolition of the PDAF, but the whole system of discretionary spending. This includes funds under the un-programmed funds, the special purposes fund, the presidential social fund, and other lump sum accounts that are under the Executive's direct discretion.” – Kabataan Party Rep. Terry Ridon
Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the ‘increased rotational presence’ being ironed out by the Philippine and US governments would only make Filipinos “cannon fodder and no different from how the US treated Filipino war veterans during World War II.”
“The terms are so broad that we can assume that US forces will have unlimited access and indefinite stay in the Philippines, alongside the opportunity of being granted effective control of certain PH facilities for the storage of equipment and weapons and billeting of troops. All that is basing even if they don’t admit to it.” – Renato Reyes, Bayan
See also: ‘Treachery, lies,’ slammed in Malacañang’s justifications for increased US troop presence
"Unjust and immoral pass-on charges manifest the failure of the Concession Agreement between Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water to provide affordable water rates to the consuming public." – Bayan Muna House Resolution No.39
"I told them: 'Don’t put your drones there because that thing blows up, and Davao will also blow up if they are in there.” -- City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte
"In the Philippines, the limited budgetary allocation for Science and Technology points to a "fragmented strategy at bringing about development."-AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, not the partylist in Congress)
Gabriela slammed the inclusion of huge amounts allotted to pork barrel funds and the Presidential Support Fund, as well as un-programmed funds, which, it said, could be used to perpetuate political patronage and corruption.
An international peasant workshop billed “Global Landgrabbing, Genuine Land Reform and Human Rights” concluded that lands in underdeveloped countries are being grabbed, at an alarming rate, by multinational corporations to maximize profits, thereby displacing thousands of communities and denying peasants their right to the land they till.
“Aquino’s grandiose claims of economic growth based on cherry-picked economic indicators fail to hide the economic indicators that matter to ordinary Filipinos. Landlessness is growing; unemployment is rising; wages are being depressed; prices are soaring; and social services are decaying as they become more scarce,” Elmer Labog, chairman of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
“This simply reeks of fascism to gag legitimate dissent that must be respected by any government that honestly wants to be called even remotely democratic, much less humane or even civilized.” – Edre Olalia, National Union of Peoples' Lawyers
The Aquino administration’s policies are no different from those that have been increasingly implemented over the last three decades and that have resulted in today's grossly distorted and unequal economy
“Unlike the traditional fiesta, where hospitality, generosity, and goodwill are encouraged among the whole community, Aquino’s banquet is depicted [in the effigy] as a lavishly sumptuous feast for a small circle of guests as the people wait for crumbs falling from the table.”
“The landlessness of peasants, the lack of decent wages and job opportunities, decent housing and basic social services are weighing down on the lives of the Filipino people and violate their socio-economic rights. Those who resist and work for change are met with political repression by the State. We want the peace negotiations resumed to help resolve such issues.” – International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines
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