TEACHERS’ SALARIES UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH HIGH COST OF LIVING

 

The crisis of the country’s educational system is reflected in the dire plight of its public school teachers, whose salaries are not even enough to keep up with the high cost of living, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

 

 

Comparing the basic salary of the lowest paid public school teacher (P9,939 a month) with the monthly cost of living in the National Capital Region of P20,454.61 means there is a monthly gap of P10,515.61.

 

 

The last time public school teachers received a salary increase was in 2001.

 

 

Moreover, teachers actually receive only less than half their salaries in their pay checks due to deductions of 30 to 50 items, including contributions to the Government Services Insurance System and withholding tax. In addition, having to service loans at usurious rates further depletes many teachers’ pay checks.

 

 

Teachers also have to work longer hours because of the lack of classrooms and teachers. During school year 2005-2006, pupil-teacher ratio for the elementary level reached 1:35 while the secondary level had a ratio of 1:39 .

 

The plight of the country’s public school teachers reflects how severe the crisis besetting the country’s public educational system has become under the Arroyo administration.

QUESTIONABLE LAND DISTRIBUTION DATA MARK 19th ANNIVERSARY OF CARP

As the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) marks its 19th anniversary, its positive achievement figures seem to indicate that land reform in the Philippines is well underway. Indeed, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is calling for a ten-year extension of CARP to 2018 in order to complete its land distribution program. But DAR’s so-called land distribution figures actually serve to obscure the true state of landlessness and rural exploitation in the countryside, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

As of end-2005, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) reported that total land distribution under CARP has reached 6.44 million hectares or almost 80% of the target scope of 8.06 million hectares. 

 

But such figure should not be taken at face value due to various forms of bogus land distribution, which give a false picture of increasing land ownership among farmer-beneficiaries. For example, there are lands with registered certificates of award but which still have not yet been turned over to farmers who are still paying for their amortization. In the most brazen cases, there are certificate holders who cannot occupy their land because of outright landlord resistance.

 

Apart from reporting dubious accomplishments, DAR reports also do not reflect the distressing amount of reversals occurring for a variety of reasons. Landlords are able to exploit a legal defect in the law that limits the security of CARP beneficiaries’ claims to the lands covered. They also maneuver decisions favorable to them through technicalities such as supposed errors in data entries, in the change of documents and in the identification of legitimate farmer beneficiaries.

 

The many ways for landlords to evade CARP, even as government reports increasing land distribution, shows how this so-called agrarian reform program is less about genuinely breaking the domination of landlords and rural elites over land than undercutting peasant resistance to land monopoly in the countryside through the implementation of spurious land reform.

Thus, the DAR’s call to extend CARP for another ten years is not the answer to the farmers’ call for land of their own to till as it will only intensify the prevailing poverty and ruthless exploitation in the countryside.

GOVT’S PRIVATIZATION THRUST BETRAYS

VULNERABILITY OF ECONOMY TO FINANCIAL CRISIS

 

Independent think-tank IBON said that government’s 2007 target of P105 billion in big-ticket privatization show the continuing vulnerability of the fiscal sector to another crisis similar to the one the country experienced in 1997.

 

With the passage of the expanded value-added tax into law in 2005, Pres. Arroyo had confidently claimed that the fiscal crisis she declared was finally over. In fact, the administration even moved up its target of achieving a balanced budget by two years, saying that it can be achieved next year rather than in 2010. 

 

But IBON research head Sonny Africa pointed out that in the first quarter of the year, government had recorded a deficit of P52 billion, more than P6 billion above the targeted P45.8 billion, and was using privatization revenues to make up for the shortfall and to keep within its programmed P63 billion deficit ceiling. 

 

He warned that the Arroyo government is on a path similar to that taken by former president Fidel Ramos in the years before the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

 

The Ramos administration’s P52.7 billion in privatization earnings in 1994 and 1995 was the main reason it recorded an unprecedented fiscal surplus in 1994. But such surpluses quickly declined in subsequent years as government started running out of assets to sell. Deficits started to return in the years after the Asian crisis, hitting a record-high of 5.4% of gross domesti c p roduct (GDP) in 2004. 

 

When the Asian financial crisis exploded in July 1997, ten years ago, the Philippine economy was thrown into disarray from which it has not yet really recovered. The real economy, especially the manufacturing sector, continues to slow and actual joblessness minus statistical redefinitions remains at record highs, Africa said.

He likened the Arroyo government’s actions to those of the millions of poor and desperate families forced to sell of their most precious possessions just to make ends meet. Government’s stakes in San Miguel Corp., the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Philippine National Oil Co., which it is planning to dispose this year, are among its most profitable and valuable assets. Their disposal would allow the Arroyo government to be able to maintain its illusion of fiscal health, at the expense of revenues in subsequent years, Africa said.

GOVT’S EUPHORIA OVER FOREIGN INVESTMENTS RAISES FALSE HOPES FOR JOBS

President Arroyo is likely to trumpet in the upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) her administration’s ability to attract more foreign investments into the country by creating a more investor-friendly climate. But independent think-tank IBON Foundation says that the Arroyo government’s foreign investment-resource extractive- and cheap labor-led approach raises false hopes for job creation.

 

 

 

The Arroyo government is promoting three major areas to attract foreign direct investment and, hopefully, more jobs: business process outsourcing (i.e. call centers), mining and export processing zones.

 

 

 

But these three industries can only generate a fraction of the jobs needed to address the country’s worsening jobs deficit, said IBON research head Sonny Africa.

 

 

 

In a study presented at the IBON Midyear Birdtalk, Africa pointed out that call centers, the biggest employer in the BPO sector, currently employ 180,000, but even if the Philippines were able to corner all of the call center jobs in Asia, it would only account for some 1.5 million jobs.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, mining could employ 130,000 at the most while electronics manufacturing could employ less than 400,000 workers.

 

 

 

Further, these investment areas are very weakly integrated into the local economy– apart from being heavily extractive in the case of mining– thus perennially giving jobs to only a fraction of the labor force and otherwise operating as disconnected enclaves, Africa said. As of April 2007, there were 2.7 million unemployed Filipinos not yet counting perhaps up to 2 million more that the government simply stopped counting when it changed its definition of “unemployed”.

 

 

 

In exchange for such false hopes, the country’s mineral resources and agricultural raw materials are being offered for foreign exploitation. Cheap Filipino labor is offered for sale either locally through BPO and so-called manufacturing for export, or exported abroad as overseas contract workers.

 

 

Said Africa , “Part of the legacy that the Arroyo government can claim is how it was able to single-mindedly open the country to provide the most profitable opportunities for foreign capital while sacrificing national interest and economic development.”www.ibon.org

DEBT PAYMENTS AT ALL-TIME HIGH:

SOCIAL SERVICES SPENDING STILL A CASUALTY OF GOVT’S INCREASING DEBT SERVICE

The Arroyo administration’s goal of achieving a balanced budget as soon as possible to reassure its creditors will, aside from new taxes, also result in further cuts in government spending for vital social services.

 

 

 

Social spending per Filipino under the Arroyo administration has in fact consistently fallen while debt servicing has consistently increased to record highs. In 2007, government allocated only P1,827 per Filipino, or P5 a day, for education, culture and manpower development. This is a 7% decrease from 2001 taking inflation and population growth into account. For health, each Filipino received only P163 in 2007, or just P0.45 a day, is a 25% decrease from 2001.

 

 

 

In contrast, total debt servicing per capita is at P7,133 in 2007 which is almost four times combined education and health spending.

 

 

 

Total debt payments of P854 billion in 2006 ate up over 87% of revenues and was equivalent to more than 14% of the gross domestic product– which gives the Arroyo government the distinction of making the highest public debt payments in Philippine history. This belies government claims that the reformed value-added tax (RVAT) would boost social service spending.

 

 

The country’s fiscal position is one of the highlights of the study presented at the IBON Midyear Birdtalk, a semi-annual forum on the national economic and political situation and trends.

The Arroyo administration’s goal of achieving a balanced budget as soon as possible to reassure its creditors will, aside from new taxes, also result in further cuts in government spending for vital social services.

 

 

 

Social spending per Filipino under the Arroyo administration has in fact consistently fallen while debt servicing has consistently increased to record highs. In 2007, government allocated only P1,827 per Filipino, or P5 a day, for education, culture and manpower development. This is a 7% decrease from 2001 taking inflation and population growth into account. For health, each Filipino received only P163 in 2007, or just P0.45 a day, is a 25% decrease from 2001.

 

 

 

In contrast, total debt servicing per capita is at P7,133 in 2007 which is almost four times combined education and health spending.

 

 

 

Total debt payments of P854 billion in 2006 ate up over 87% of revenues and was equivalent to more than 14% of the gross domestic product– which gives the Arroyo government the distinction of making the highest public debt payments in Philippine history. This belies government claims that the reformed value-added tax (RVAT) would boost social service spending.

 

 

The country’s fiscal position is one of the highlights of the study presented at the IBON Midyear Birdtalk, a semi-annual forum on the national economic and political situation and trends.www.ibon.org

ARROYO LIKELY TO IMPOSE NEW TAXES TO AVERT FISCAL CRISIS

 

 

As the country’s fiscal position remains susceptible to another crisis, the Arroyo government will likely try to impose new taxes at the latest by 2008, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

 

 

 

IBON research head Sonny Africa said that the administration might even do this earlier if its “desperate privatization efforts do not succeed in boosting enough revenues this year”.

 

 

 

“This is the inevitable result of its refusal to address revenue losses from trade and investment liberalization, revenue losses from corruption and big-time tax evaders, and grossly bloated expenditures from unconditional debt servicing,” said Africa . These are matters that the Arroyo administration cannot be expected to genuinely tackle, which is why it resorts to the only things left: new taxes and privatization of the public’s remaining assets, he added.

 

 

 

“The pressure for new taxes has even increased because of an apparently significant revenue failure in the first half of 2007,” said Africa .

 

 

 

The fiscal situation has apparently taken a drastic turn for the worse in the half of 2007. Government officially reported a deficit in January-May 2007 of P41.8 billion which is less than the P44.1 billion in the same period last year. But Africa pointed out that this does not accurately reflect the state of government finances because it is bloated by P26 billion in one-off privatization revenues, mainly from the government’s sale of its stake in PLDT. Without these one-off privatization gains the 5-month budget deficit would have actually increased to P67.8 billion or a very large 53% increase from the same period last year, he said. This would also even already be P4.8 billion higher than the official deficit target of P63 billion for the whole of 2007.

 

 

 

The proceeds from privatization in the first five months of 2007 covered up a severe revenue failure where revenues, without privatization, only increased by 4.4% from the same period in the year before. The P26 billion from selling-off government assets was needed to bring the increase in revenues up to the more accustomed 11.0% average of recent years. The issue now is how the government will deal with its problematic finances once the targeted P105 billion in earnings from its remaining big-ticket privatization is past, said Africa .

 

 

 

The government’s seeming success in reducing the national government deficit from a histori c p eak of 5.4% of gross domesti c p roduct (GDP) in 2002 to just 1.1% in 2006 was due largely to the regressive reformed value-added tax (RVAT) together with severe spending cuts on social and economic services. The RVAT which began to be implemented in late 2005 abruptly increased 2006 revenues by P76.9 billion. The combined share in the national budget of education, health and housing in turn continuously declined and, at 15.6% of the total budget in 2007, is 4.1 percentage points less than in 2001. This is barely half of the nearly 30% that goes to making interest payments on debt.

 

 

 

On the other hand, Africa pointed out that there have not been any improvements in revenue collection outside of the new RVAT and the recent big-ticket privatization. “If we take out the effects of RVAT and privatization, revenues increased annually by more or less 11% each year in the period 2003-2006,” he said. The imposition of RVAT abruptly increased revenues by some 20% in 2006 but this magnitude of increase will only register in 2006 and subsequent rates of revenue growth will still largely depend on the established revenue pattern of around 11% or so. This is a problem in itself because such revenues will not be enough to close the budget gap, he said.

 

 

 

However, the government persists in pursuing trade and investment liberalization that will only further reduce revenues. For instance the full implementation of the JPEPA which is up for ratification by the Senate in the 14th Congress could result in as much as P10.7 billion in foregone tariff revenues annually. The tariff losses from the other free trade agreements the Arroyo government is pursuing thus deserve much closer attention.

 

 

 

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and various international credit rating agencies have already expressed their desire for new taxes,” said Africa . “These are the early signs of a renewed bout of fiscal turmoil marked by drastic spending cuts and, eventually, higher taxes.”

 

 

 

The fiscal situation was one of the highlights of the study presented by Africa at the IBON Midyear Birdtalk, a semi-annual forum on the national economic and political situation and trends.www.ibon.org

Fogging discouraged as dengue cases rise in Bohol

By Kit Bagaipo
Visayas Bureau
Last updated 07:01pm (Mla time) 07/19/2007

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — Health officials continued to discourage indiscriminate fogging to combat the spread of dengue, saying it was not effective in the fight against the deadly mosquito-borne disease.

 

Dr. Joseph Tagle, regional coordinator of the Department of Health (DoH), pointed to the “Four S” as the best strategy: search and destroy mosquito breeding sites, self protection measures like using mosquito nets, seeking early treatment, and saying no to indiscriminate fogging.

 

Fogging, he said, should be done only in case of a confirmed outbreak of the disease.

 

Regional health teams, led by Tagle and Dr. Expedito Medalla, were in Bohol to help disseminate information on how to fight dengue. The number of dengue cases in the province continues to rise.

 

Health officials, however, said there was no need to declare an outbreak in island province of Bohol.

 

Tagle said DoH studies showed that fogging was not effective against dengue.

 

In some instances, Tagle said, fogging even led to an increase in the number of dengue cases.

 

He said after the capital city of Tagbilaran, the regional DoH team would proceed to the towns of Dauis and Jagna where the number of dengue cases was also high.

 

Tagbilaran has a total of 180 cases; Jagna reported 40 cases while Dauis has 37 cases since January.

 

Since July 1, the provincial health office confirmed 65 cases province-wide.

 

Tagle said while there was no outbreak, a high level of alert was raised in Bohol and it was now being watched as a dengue “hot spot.”

 

The number of people struck by dengue, however, could be higher as provincial health authorities relied only on hospital records for their data.

 

On Medalla’s urging, village captains and health authorities in the city agreed in an emergency meeting Wednesday to create dengue brigades and to activate the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams.

 

They are tasked to launch a massive information drive and act as search and destroy teams in eliminating breeding grounds of the dengue-carrying aedes aegypti mosquito.

Cotabato City execs duped in P3M radio equipment deal

By Charlie Sease
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 07:25pm (Mla time) 07/19/2007

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Officials of this city acknowledged that the local government has been duped by still unidentified individuals apparently using the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) as a vehicle in a ghost transaction involving some P3 million in undelivered communication equipment.

 

Mayor Muslimin Sema said they have tapped the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to unmask and to file charges against the culprits, who forged his signature to make it appear his office received P1.5 million worth of VHF radio sets in 2004 and more “communication equipment” this year, worth another P1.5 million.

 

The documents showed that the funds for the equipment were ostensibly taken from the congressional fund of Representative Carlos Padilla of Nueva Ecija.

 

“The problem is that, we have not received them; not a single radio communication equipment had been delivered to us,” Sema said.

 

City hall officials said they discovered the anomaly when several DoTC “memorandum receipts” that bore Sema’s forged signature were sent to them.

 

The documents indicated that the city government received the equipment and that it was not time for officials to thank Padilla.

 

“Supposedly, we have to thank the donor [congressman], but in this case, we cannot because we don’t have the items with us, except for these receipts. We cannot enter this transaction into our book of accounts because we never received it,” Eduardo dela Fuente Jr., Sema’s secretary, said.

 

Sema said the NBI has started investigating the anomaly.

 

“This anomalous transaction has to be stopped. Somebody is using us here in the city government by making money out of the coffers of the national government,” he said.

 

Aside from the NBI, Sema said they also asked the help of the Commission on Audit to investigate the paper trail.

Lotilla: I’d like to end my vow of poverty

By Abigail L. Ho
Inquirer
Last updated 06:17am (Mla time) 07/19/2007

MANILA, Philippines — After 22 years as a public servant, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla is bidding goodbye to government service, wanting to pursue more “intellectual” endeavors.

 

In one of his most candid interviews yet, Lotilla said that in his more than two decades in government — particularly during his two years as energy czar — he had not been able to perform much mental calisthenics.

 

The pressure of having to jump from one issue to another, he said, deprived him of whatever “intellectual depth” government service could afford.

 

“I want to have more time for that kind of thinking. In government, you don’t have the luxury of time to think that deeply,” he said. “I would like to end my vow of poverty and all the ancillary vows that come with it.”

 

Bachelor

 

A bachelor, Lotilla’s frugal nature has been a source of both awe and amusement to energy industry players — and reporters.

 

He is said to have no TV set at home, making him one of Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco’s) lifeline customers, or those using less than 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month.

 

No surprise

 

Wednesday’s announcement of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s acceptance of his resignation actually did not come as a surprise to Lotilla.

 

“I don’t recall when exactly I found out, but I’ve known for some days now,” he said.

 

Speaking before more than 200 people at the League of Corporate Foundation’s CSR Expo 2007, he somehow preempted the Malacañang announcement by hinting at leaving the Department of Energy.

 

“I’m sure my successor will do a good job in ensuring that all the reforms that have been put in place will be sustained,” he said during his speech.

 

Shortly after answering some questions from the floor, the organizers announced the arrival of Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes — Lotilla’s replacement.

 

Neither of the men acknowledged each other’s presence, even if they were within less than a meter of each other.

 

Not even a glance was exchanged.

 

Vacation and exercise

 

Talking to reporters later, Lotilla was still in a jovial mood, saying he was ready to take a much needed break.

 

“The first item on my agenda is to go to Palawan. I haven’t gone to Palawan for the last two years, since I became energy secretary,” he said. “And I also haven’t been able to exercise regularly. I’ve actually put on some weight. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

 

He was silent on what his plans for his professional life, saying only that he was still willing to help the government as best as he could — and if asked.

 

“It does not mean that I will not assist the government where I can. It’s just full-time government service that I’m taking a break from,” he said.

 

Long overdue

 

June 18, the day when heads of government-owned or -controlled corporations were asked to submit courtesy resignations, was not the first time Lotilla attempted to exit from the government.

 

“I’ve been resigning for years. It was only now that it was approved,” he revealed. “I’ve always wanted to take a vacation, as I only intended to stay with the national government for two years. But after President Ramos’ term, I was requested to at least help out the new government.”

 

More changes

 

Talk that National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Cyril del Callar would also be replaced surfaced again, following Lotilla’s resignation.

 

According to the industry grapevine, either former Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao or former Joint Congressional Power Commission chair and Lanao del Norte Rep. Alipio Cirilo Badelles would take Del Callar’s place.

Arroyo: ‘Have NAIA3 ready by yearend or else’

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:42pm (Mla time) 07/19/2007

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave a stern warning to the contractor of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) to finish remedial work on the facility terminal and have it ready for use by yearend or face the consequences.

 

The government wants to tout the terminal as a showcase of the country’s improving infrastructure to further attract investors.

 

“I’m sure everybody wants to know about NAIA Terminal 3. You remember the ceiling that fell? The ceiling was not the only one in danger of falling. Intrusive inspection revealed that the airport cannot withstand [an] Intensity 6 earthquake,” Arroyo said in a speech at the Luzon urban beltway infrastructure conference at the Subic Bay International Airport in Zambales.

 

“The contractor took so long to start remedial work that government sent a termination notice,” she said. “Now it’s back, taking responsibility for the structural defects. We have pinned them down to complete the work by this year’s end or else.”

 

Arroyo also announced a priority administration measure, the creation of a Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines that will oversee the structural soundness of airports, several of which are being built around the country.

 

TCGI Engineers and the Ove Arup & Partners HK, the consultants hired by the Manila International Airport Authority to check the facility’s structural integrity following the collapse of a portion of the terminal’s ceiling last year, had recommended that more repairs be done to the facility because is findings showed it would not be able to withstand an Intensity 6 earthquake.

 

NAIA 3 was constructed by Japan’s Takenaka Corporation, which was contracted by the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO).

 

The opening of the terminal has been postponed several times due to the structural defects and pending legal cases.