UNITY STATEMENT
July 27, 2009
Gloria Arroyo’s nine years in Malacañang gave the worse in every aspect of the Filipino people’s existence. With a sham, fascist, and corrupt president in control of the country’s economic and political affairs, the worse has nailed every Filipino family to extreme sufferings. Gloria Arroyo’s mantra “BEAT THE ODD” literally speaks for how she should be treated. She is the ODDEST that ever happened to our country and she must be BEATEN at all cost… Now or Never!
Gloria Arroyo’s 9th SONA is expected to pronounce the accomplishments of her “BEAT THE ODD” program which she said has focused on fighting poverty through: Balanced Budget, Education for All, Automated Elections, Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Terminate Hostilities, Healing the Wounds of EDSA 1, 2, and 3, Electricity and Water for All Barangays, Opportunities to Create 6 to 10 Million Jobs, Decongesting Metro Manila, and Develop Subic and Clark.
A well-formulated acronym indeed, Gloria Arroyo’s “BEAT THE ODD” program was a perfect gimmickry – a skill she has harnessed over the years. However, reality will speak for what is obvious. Gloria Arroyo’s nine years of sham presidency can be summed-up to one hard truth, a Filipino nation reeling in deep and permanent CRISIS.
How possible was it for Gloria Arroyo and her morally bankrupt administration to claim any accomplishment amid facts of massive corruption, apparent deceits, gross human rights violations, dereliction of the people’s right to decent and stable jobs, and rejection of the people’s access to basic social services?
Gloria Arroyo’s record-breaking performance reveals today’s 27.6 million number of Filipinos that are officially considered poor from 23.8 million in 2003. There are 15.6 million of Filipino workers officially considered as jobless & underemployed as of the latest count, while those that are employed are receiving a meager minimum wage of P265 in Mindanao alone.
Effective rate of Meralco per kilowatt-hour is now P8..81 from P5.13 in 2001. Retail price of LPG per 11-kg tank which was P192 in 2001 is now P605. Pump price of diesel is currently at P33.29 per liter from as low as P12.62 per liter in 2001. Retail price of regular-milled rice which was P17.51 per kilo in 2001 is now P30 per kilo. Water in Manila as a basis is now P23.05 per cubic meter from P17.51 in 2001. Tuition fee in Davao City alone is now P302.50 per unit at the minimum from P170 per unit in 2001.
To top it all, Gloria Arroyo’s declared net worth of P66.75 million in 2001 has soared to P144.54 million as of 2008. This is to exclude the money and properties she has amassed out of corruption. To note, an estimated P17 billion was corrupted by Gloria Arroyo and her family from the ZTE-NBN project, fertilizer funds, and others more.
The infrastructure projects which Gloria Arroyo claims to have been completed under her term were either tainted with anomalous transactions or have actually been the number one source corruption. More so that the construction of farm to market roads are irrelevant for majority of the Filipino farmers who, to begin with, are incapable of sustaining their productions due to the high cost of farm inputs and stiff competition in the market brought by the influx of imported agricultural goods. Realistically, these infrastructure projects are meant to back multinational and transnational investments in the country.
Urban communities have become more congested over the years due to lack of livelihood opportunities in the countryside. Majority of the people are forced to seek for greener pasture in the cities making life more difficult for each to survive. While this problem exists, the Arroyo administration has instead intensified the demolitions of urban communities and continues to ignore the people’s need for employment and affordable housing services.
Hostilities remain uncontained and are intensifying with the rebellion waged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines. Not even Gloria Arroyo’s pronouncement of beating rebellion by 2010 has resulted to anything realistic. Worst, incidents of political killings and other human rights violations have intensified, victimizing thousands of innocent civilians as results of the Arroyo regimes implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya. To date, there are 1,015 victims of political killings nationwide since 2001 where 105 are from the Southern Mindanao Region. Moreover, militarization in the countryside continues to sow terror and displace the farmers and Indigenous Peoples.
Gloria Arroyo was never sincere in mending the wounds that continue to divide the Filipino people. HHHer latest manipulation of charter change is pushing more oppositions and divisions. Unity is impossible with Gloria Arroyo becoming more persistent to perpetuate herself in power at the expense of the nation’s sovereignty and genuine democracy.
Thus, we say:
ENOUGH OF GLORIA ARROYO!
NO TO CHARTER CHANGE!
NO TO NOGRALES’ HR 737!
NO TO US PLUNDER OF OUR NATIONAL PATRIMONY AND SOVEREIGNTY!
OUST GLORIA!
JOHN BIRONDO
Spokesperson- Bayan-SMR
BP. CONSTANTE CLARO
ConvenorPEOPLE’S MARCH
Davao City
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