Consumers Domain
By Ian M. Seruelo

Impeachment death & dishonorable debt

“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.” —unknown

So who now can say that those people in Congress have conscience? Remember that about a month ago, Speaker Joe de Venecia assured the public that Congress Representatives, especially those in the majority, would use their conscience in the impeachment proceedings versus their corrupt leader Gloria Arroyo.

We have seen how Gloria utilized all forms of tactics, including the use of government resources, to ensure that this bogus president remain glued on her seat. Release of pork barrel funds, juicy government positions for relatives, outright cash, you name it, those were utilized to lure these tong-gressmen to send the impeachment complaint to the gas chamber.

Indeed our conscientious tong-gressmen lived up to the image of Congress – some call it the home of crocodiles, others call it a pigsty. I just don't know where the conscience of these crocs and pigs in barong-tagalog are. (Apologies to crocs and pigs.) Who wouldn't shiver in disgust at how these lapdogs of Gloria ignored the plea for the truth as they twisted technicalities and legal tidbits to suit their ends.

The apparent railroading of the process started with the ditching of the amended complaint by the opposition and the one filed by lawyer Jose Rizalino Lopez. Then it declares the Lozano complaint, the first one filed but is suspiciously the weakest, as sufficient in form. Then in a whirlwind proceeding deems the same as not sufficient in substance, in effect dismissing the complaint.

Well, not all is lost yet and the hope remains that the number of those who endorse the solid amended complaint can reach 79 before the plenary on Monday (September 5). The chances are slim though. At any rate, this column firmly believes that the Filipinos are watchful and will not take this sitting down. The death of the people's quest for truth in the halls of Congress will be the birth of bigger crowds in the streets.

Let us put the topic of a death aside now and let's proceed to a story on the debt. This column now features a joint press statement from Lumaban Ka! alliance and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) on the proposed 2006 government budget. Yes, you got it right, as usual the main feature would be the appropriations for debt payments. I've nothing more to say -- the statement below says it all.

BETTER NOT TO PAY TAXES IF THESE WILL JUST GO TO HONORING DISHONORABLE DEBTS

The total debt service, as presented in the proposed 2006 National Government Budget, would eat up over 80% of the projected tax revenues for the whole year, even with the Expanded Value-Added Tax already implemented.  This means that for every peso paid by a taxpayer, 80 centavos go to the creditors; only 20 centavos remain for the government to finance its operations and for the people to receive much-needed services.  In the face of such dire circumstances, it is incomprehensible why the government refuses even to entertain the possibility of reducing the debt and debt servicing.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition and Lumaban Ka! denounce the government's declaration to religiously pay the national debt as the “honorable thing t o do.” Notwithstanding the invocation of honor, this declaration reeks of callous audacity, gross insensitivity, and delusional pretense.

The government invokes honor in refusing to confront the debt as the source of the country's woes.  But one should ask: Is it honorable to impose suffering on the people only to satisfy the wishes of its creditors?  Is it honorable to deny the people their rights to food, health, shelter, and education only to ensure that debts are paid on time? Is it honorable to prioritize debt payments even if it is of general knowledge that most are questionable in nature?

If the government persists in its stubborn policies of putting the interest of its creditors over and above the welfare of its people, then it is in the people's hands to assert their rights. If the government continues to extract onerous taxes from the people only to assure prompt payments to its creditors, then it is within the people's right to decline to give those taxes.

The government's nonchalant attitude towards the debt problem is the height of insensitivity to the people's welfare.  It is the debt that has caused the fiscal crisis and it is the debt that has continually drained the country's funds away from the people's needs.  In the proposed 2006 budget P340 billion, almost a third of the budget, is allocated to interest payments alone.  Together with the P381.7 Billion principal payments, the total debt service comprises over 50% of the government's projected total expenditures.

The government's stubborn stance regarding the debt is made more inexcusable by the fact that much of the country's debt has been incurred through fraudulent means, spent with taints of corruption, attached with onerous provisions, and financed projects that have not redounded to the people's benefit and in fact served to their detriment.  The government, for instance, continues to pay for the debts incurred in constructing the anomalous Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Yet the government pretends not to see the facts and deludes itself with notions of honor if only to avoid the daunting task of standing up to the creditors.  The government is fooling itself if it thinks that the fiscal crisis can be solved by ignoring the root cause of the problem.

The government should muster the heart and the will – and, yes, the honor – to uphold the people's interest above all else. But the government's performance so far has been utterly shameful and criminal. Hence, THE ARROYO REGIME MUST END NOW!

(For comments and reactions send SMS to 0919-348-6337 or email to ianseruelo@yahoo.com.)