Arroyo's Gangster Regime (just so we won't forget) - Feb. '08

Greed is defined as an excessive or uncontrolled desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions especially when this denies the same goods to others. It is reprehensible acquisitiveness, an insatiable longing for power, and supremacy in order to advance individual interests at the cost of other’s well being.

Arroyo’s Greed has a Name: ILLEGITIMATE DEBT

February 2008

But greed is not just about Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the First Gentleman and other greedy officials.

If the Filipino public ought to be learning something from the recent revelation of whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. over the aborted $329-million ZTE National Broadband Network (NBN) project, it is that our flawed political and economic system perpetuates this greed and makes wealth accumulation and concentration at the expense of the people not only possible but a persistent and dominant feature of the political landscape.

Fiscal Dictatorship

The Scarcity of Fiscal Democracy in Post-EDSA Philippines

By James Matthew Miraflor

Researcher, Debt and Public Finance Campaign

Freedom from Debt Coalition

End Arroyo's Fiscal Dictatorship - FDC

The Post-EDSA regimes are usually contrasted with the undemocratic rule of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. An important testament to this claim of post-EDSA democracy is the so-called “power of the purse” – the power to allocate national resources – granted to the legitimate proxies of the people, the elected members of House of Representatives. This is supposed to be a marked divergence from the Marcosian authoritarian power over the budget, a power that was eventually wielded for crony-patronage and dreams of grandeur.

10 Reasons Why Electricity Bills Are High

By the Freedom from Debt Coalition
Sunday, 11 May 2008 12:05

A position paper submitted to the:
Joint Congressional Power Committee (JCPC)


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May 12, 2008

After MERALCO, the country’s largest electricity distributor and supplier, announced last April an increase in its generation charges by 51.88 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh), rumors of a brewing government takeover began spreading like wildfire. Signals are there, experts say, as shares of both the government and the Lopezes each jumped to more than 30%, with the Lopezes having a slight fractional advantage.

ZTEwwww!

A Primer on the Anomalous National Broadband Network Project and other Disgusting Illegitimate Deals and Debts of the Philippines

by the Freedom from Debt Coalition

What is the ZTE NBN deal?


It is a $ 329 million loan from the China Export and Import Bank to finance the infrastructure project between the Philippine Government and the China-based Zhong XingTelecommunication Equipment Company Limited (ZTE). The said project aims to develop a telecommunications infrastructure that will deliver voice, data, and internet services to all government offices and municipalities nationwide.