State of the Nation Address

CBCP, Erap: SONA not real or ‘Arroyonomics’

Posted July 29, 2009 02:37:00(Mla Time)

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Dona Pazzibugan Fe Zamora

MANILA, Philippines—“Arroyonomics” came under fire Tuesday from former President Joseph Estrada and the Catholic Church hierarchy purportedly for being out of touch with reality and ignoring the plight of millions of poor Filipinos.

Estrada said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s claims of economic gains in her Monday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) were “fiction,” charging that she “either lied or was gravely mistaken.”

“Arroyonomics is a kind of economics that is out of touch with reality and real facts,” Estrada said in a statement.

“The state of the nation should also be looked at from the experiences and eyes of the remaining millions who are still suffering from hunger, illiteracy, unemployment, homelessness and sickness,” said Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“This would balance the picture,” Lagdameo said. “They were outside the SONA site.”

The Jaro archbishop said that Ms Arroyo spoke of macro-level “statistics which most do not understand.”

Macro not micro

“But the macro is not always reflective of the micro. Therefore, the state of the nation must also consider the millions who make up the micro-level and are missed in the statistics,” Lagdameo said.

He said the nationwide protests and the tight security imposed on the event only “sent a message of fear and insecurity.”

Lagdameo expressed doubt that Ms Arroyo would step down at the end of her term in June 2010.

Ms Arroyo in her speech did not address speculation that she would run for Congress and aspire to become prime minister should her allies succeed in amending the Constitution and adopting the parliamentary system.

“This hopefully is the last SONA of the present administration,” Lagdameo said, adding that the country is “looking forward to the 2010 election of people with new minds, new hearts, new spirit for a better Philippines.”

On the eve of the SONA, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales had exhorted the President simply to “tell the truth.”

But Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello Tuesday said Filipinos should continue to closely watch Ms Arroyo’s actions.

Bello, who disputed the rosy economic picture that the President painted and was disappointed at the lack of humility in her address, said he had been hoping for a clear statement from her about her 2010 plans.

“Definitely I think we really have to watch very closely,” he said in an interview.

Bello said Ms Arroyo made a brief reference to Charter change (Cha-cha) in the SONA to avoid any controversy before her meeting with US President Barack Obama at the weekend.

“I think if she had not been invited to Washington, the element of pushing Charter change would’ve been stronger in this speech,” he said.

Speech addressed to Washington

“This was a SONA that was partly meant for Washington, she’ll try to disarm Obama. One of the first things Obama will probably ask her is Ms President, I understand this is your last term in office,” Bello said.

He said that the United States was more interested in stability in this country at this point, and did not want another crisis since it was already dealing with Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington is also “very, very sensitive” to extra-constitutional changes, especially with the situation in Honduras, he added.

“I don’t think they can afford to say something about Cha-cha, which would have meant an extension of her term of office, before meeting Mr. Obama,” he said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares noted that Ms Arroyo had failed to deny allegations of corruption against her.

“For instance, she rebutted charges of corruption by merely pointing to some of her opponents who may be guilty as well. In a court of procedure, she would have been legally deemed to have admitted the charges by merely justifying her corruption on the ground that others have also committed it,” Colmenares said.

No right to say thanks

Estrada said Ms Arroyo had no right to close her SONA with thanks to the people for letting her serve as President. “She is not the duly elected President,” he said.

Ousted for corruption in 2001, Estrada was replaced by Ms Arroyo, his Vice President then. The former movie actor was tried and convicted for plunder and was subsequently pardoned by Ms Arroyo.

The ousted President disputed Ms Arroyo’s claims that the economy had grown during her term. He said that the economy declined 3.8 percent in 2008 and could record zero growth this year.

Estrada said that foreign debt amounted to P2.44 trillion from 2001 to 2005 compared with accumulated debts totaling P1.46 trillion during his administration and those of presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino.

He denied Ms Arroyo’s statement that he handed her a bankrupt treasury, saying that over P120 billion in cash and fixed deposits were handed to her administration by then National Treasurer Leonor Briones.

“There was definitely no bankruptcy,” Estrada said in a statement released by his spokesperson Margaux Salcedo and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, now a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

Estrada also said under the Arroyo administration, hunger and unemployment and peace and order in Mindanao worsened.

In a privilege speech Tuesday, the ousted President’s son, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, warned Filipinos to remain vigilant and guard against what he described as Ms Arroyo’s “hidden agenda” after she failed to outline her political plans.

Inaction on workers’ concern

Workers groups Tuesday also scored Ms Arroyo for not generating enough jobs during her eight years in office.

“When 3,600 Filipinos are forced to leave the country daily for their families’ survival, then this government is definitely doing something wrong,” said Dolores Balladares, chair of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong.

“What she did not want uncovered was that many of the numbers she spewed out, including the credit upgrade and increased reserves, will not stand without the now US$16B—and still increasing—remittance from OFWs,” Balladares said.

She blasted the administration’s failure to support the inclusion of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong in statutory minimum wage, and its alleged inaction in the planned levy on migrant workers in Macau and harsh policies against undocumented migrants in Italy.

OFWs turning in their graves

Migrante International criticized the President’s claims that her frequent trips were undertaken to address the problems of overseas Filipinos.

“Jenifer Beduya, Miguel Fernandez, Wilfredo Bautista, Antonio Alvesa, Sergio Aldana and Rey Cortez, the six OFWs beheaded under President Arroyo’s term, must have turned in their unmarked graves in Saudi Arabia when she said that the billions of pesos spent in her lavish trips were done in their name,” said Migrante chair Garry Martinez.

OWWA funds to Arroyo?

Martinez said three of her province mates were awaiting execution in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for murder, despite their claim that they were tortured to admit to the crime.

He added that OFWs would not forget allegations that P530 million from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration was transferred to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and used in Ms Arroyo’s 2004 presidential campaign. With reports from Jerome Aning and Christine O. Avendaño