|
RESPECTED economists, civil-society leaders and
political analysts have launched the people’s petition
for the creation of an Independent Citizens’ Debt Audit
Commission that will conduct a critical, comprehensive,
participatory and transparent examination of the
Philippine public debt and contingent liabilities.
Lidy Nacpil, vice president of the
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), said that it has been
more than five years since various groups warned against
a full-blown fiscal and debt crisis and still the
government failed to do what is right for the country.
Nacpil said that among the indicators of
the debt and fiscal crisis include the government’s huge
deficit since 1999, skyrocketing interest payments on
the National Government debt and government borrowings
reaching unprecedented levels.
She said that the FDC has been
campaigning for an official Congressional Audit of
Public Debt and Contingent Liabilities and has been
working with legislators in the House of
Representatives, particularly Lakas Rep. Edcel Lagman of
Albay, chairman of the House appropriations committee,
who refiled a legislative resolution calling for an
official audit of all public debts and contingent
liabilities.
“We believe that an Independent Citizens
Debt Audit is also crucial. Hence, together with the
People Against Illegitimate Debt Movement (PAID), we are
starting the process with the start of the new year,”
said Nacpil, who is also the international coordinator
of Jubilee South.
“The citizen’s initiative will raise
questions beyond the limits of the parliamentary
initiatives, and put forward bolder recommendations
based on people’s perspective on the problem,” Nacpil
added.
On Saturday, campaigners from more than
a hundred local and national organizations will gather
at the Saint Joseph College’s Mater Dei Auditorium on E.
Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City, for the public launch
of the people’s petition calling for the creation of an
Independent Citizens’ Debt Audit Commission.
In a news briefing, leaders of PAID
movement said the event marks the first general assembly
of its member and affiliate organizations and
individuals. The event will also feature speakers from
the debt campaigns of other countries who will share
their experiences and recent major developments in the
international debt movement.
They said that the citizen’s debt audit
aims to conduct a critical, comprehensive, participatory
and transparent examination of the Philippine public
debt and contingent liabilities based on data and
existing studies by resource persons and organizations;
studies prepared by working groups and technical teams;
and, testimonies and inputs from affected communities,
sectors and people’s organizations.
The audit also aims to formulate policy
proposals and advocacy platforms.
“Last year, we witnessed, through the
media, a lot of controversial loan agreements entered
into by the current administration as well as its
predecessors. The ZTE-national broadband network (NBN)
project, the World Bank textbook scam, the Cyber
Education Project and the Austrian Medical Waste Loan
are just some examples of these illegitimate debts,”
said Nacpil.
The FDC described these as the “great
white elephant stampede,” referring to loan agreements
and “development projects” that are on the pipeline or
have overwhelming potentials of becoming white elephant,
or useless yet expensive projects.
“This gives further credence to our
assertion that a big chunk of debts claimed from the
Philippines were spent on unnecessary and overpriced
infrastructure programs and projects. These are hidden
in our National Government budget and expenditure
books,” Nacpil said.
During the 13th Congress, the anti-debt
watchdog was successful in getting the joint resolution
on debt audit passed unanimously by the House of
Representatives. It was stalled, however, in the Senate
owing to the inaction of some legislators. |
