The State Aquino III left Duterte

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is coming in at the best and the worst of times. The administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has left the Duterte a well-oiled and full-tanked government machine – but one besieged with sclerosis, incapable of solving the congestion problem, and has grown too big to feel its extremities - a "manhid" government as one would say. 

The contradictions of Aquinomics has produced a government that already surpassed the size of Marcos’ in terms of consumption per capita[i] but is still afflicted with underspending[ii], not to mention a declining growth in tax effort[iii]. Aquinomics ushered the return of big government[iv] – but one that is so dependent on the private sector for service delivery and capital outlay[v] that when big investors played hard ball[vi], infrastructure development and maintenance suffered[vii], leading to congestion[viii] and public misery[ix].

Towards Fiscal Democracy

Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Statement on 2015 Budget Deliberations

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) appeals to the 16th House of Representatives to push for crucial budget reforms in the last two years of the Aquino administration. Doing so will bring us closer to fiscal democracy and add credence to the administration’s maxim of “Tuwid na Daan”. Congress must assert its “power of the purse”, produce regular and transparent budgetary allocations, and work toward ending discretionary measures in the budget.

Two Pre-SONA Talks on the Philippine Economy (@ UP Diliman)

Economics students and would-be policy makers cannot afford to miss these two events - two talks (in the University of the Philippines Diliman) on Philippine development prospects and outlook days before President Benigno Aquino III's second State of the Nation Address (SONA). From two contending ideological camps, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) which espouses a developmentalist state and the UP School of Economics (UPSE) which retains its neoclassical foundations, we stand to learn more about the dynamics of the Philippine economy, the interaction of government, firms, and the consumers.







See details below.

Anti-Cory Propaganda Youtube Video

Someone forwarded me this YouTube video. Judging by the sophistication of this video (graphics, technology used, and all), either it was made by a very political multimedia professional, or someone out to demolish the Noynoy administration hired an expensive multimedia professional to do this. Let us watch the video with a critical mind, and an appreciative eye for cool animation. Enjoy!

This video represents a long-running line of argumentation blaming the EDSA system for the economic and social quagmires we are in, while positioning the Marcosian authoritarian government of the 70s  as the one that put Philippines on the global map of competitiveness. This argumentation has many flaws, as both Marcos and Aquino had their share in pushing the Philippines towards the path of maldevelopment. In any case, one cannot simply dismiss the criticisms of the pro-Marcos camp, especially with Bongbong's assertion that we could have been a Singapore had EDSA I never happened (with Aquino III answering that we could have been a Libya otherwise) having appeal on those who witnessed the economic wrath and misery of the neoliberal era.

People Power and Prosperity

, I recently gave a presentation at the Forum on People Power and Poverty Reduction (Celebrating the Silver Anniversary of EDSA 1) organized last February 23, 2011 at the Institute of Social Order (ISO), Ateneo de Manila University. This was organized by several NGOs in coordination with the Cabinet Cluster on Poverty Reduction (which is composed of secretaries of DSWD, NAPC, among departments). I gave a presentation on economic alternatives (after the one by Freedom from Debt Coalition President Ric Reyes on a critique of the "EDSA Economy" - check it out here).

I began by saying that maybe, all government interventions should go beyond the meager dream of poverty reduction and the proverbial "providing food for the table". Our generation (EDSA Babies - Generation Y) ought to have dreams more ambitious than that. I then proposed that the theme of an economic alternative should be, instead of poverty reduction, prosperity - the creation of spiraling wealth that will increase incomes, employment and productivity. We should go beyond palliative economics and instead address the roots of poverty.

It is with this thought in mind that I delivered my presentation:

Towards a Modern and Prosperous Philippines on Prezi

(If it doesn't appear in your browser, try clicking the Read More link below)

The presentation was also to promote FDC's HANEP 2020 - an alternative national economic development program that focuses on creating an equitable and just Philippine society by promoting asset reform, ecologically-sound industrialization, and technological leapfrogging. The document is in its very early stages, and is currently being refined through FDC's internal processes and consultation with sectors. You can view the draft at the end of this blog entry (a Scribd document).

New Economics for a new administration

by Walden Bello*

THE dominant feature of the Arroyo administration was pervasive corruption, but its most destructive legacy in the long term will probably be its policy failures.  The ascent to power of a new president, backed by a new Congress, provides the opportunity for a fundamental shift in policy in order to end poverty and relaunch the Philippines on the road to development.

The policy paradigm of the administration was one it inherited from previous administrations. This was a promarket, neoliberal approach the key prongs of which were accelerated trade and financial liberalization, deregulation and privatization.  In addition, Arroyo continued her predecessors’ policy of fully servicing the foreign debt, dealt with the ever-widening budget deficit by imposing a 12-percent value-added tax that hit mainly the middle class and the poor, and left it to the market to address poverty and income inequality.

With its promarket orientation, the Arroyo presidency followed the lead of previous administrations in refusing to pursue an industrial policy, reducing budget support for agriculture to a minimum, and radically bringing down tariffs on both agricultural and manufacturing imports. Abandoned to global market forces as the administration embraced the ideology of globalization, the economy was channeled to the massive export of labor, export-oriented, low-value-added manufacturing, particularly of electronic components, and providing personnel for the outsourced operations of transnational corporations like call centers.

Appeared in:

Perspective, Business Mirror : July 30, 2010

Viewpoints/Columns, Inquirer.net (Afterthoughts) : July 29, 2010

Freedom from Debt Coalition

FDC on SONA: Keeping an eye on Aquino’s commitment to change

PRESS STATEMENT
Freedom from Debt Coalition
11 Matimpiin St., Pinyahan, Quezon City 1100, Philippines
Phone: +63.2.921.1985 | Telefax: +63.2.924.6399 | Website: www.fdc.ph

Keeping an eye on Aquino’s commitment to change

The new administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III begins with an extremely high trust rating of 88 percent – higher than any of the post-dictatorship presidents. This is a measure of people’s belief in the commitment of the Aquino administration to reverse the anti-poor policies implemented during the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 




We in the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) submitted to the President an Agenda outlining demands for changes in the debt and public finance policy, the power industry, the water sector, and government’s stance on climate negotiations and responses to climate crisis. This is in the context of a looming fiscal crisis due to the record-breaking deficit and empty public coffers left by the Arroyo administration, electricity prices soaring past major Asian cities save Tokyo, a water crisis that is pushing Filipinos to desperate extremes, and a looming La Niña that might bring us another devastating Ondoy.