FDC In The News: FDC on JFC’s blackmail politics

The press release we issued last 03 June 2008, entitled ” FDC hits foreign chambers’ ‘business as usual’ framework of capitalism without risk,” in response to the letter of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) urging Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo not to amend the EPIRA and renegotiate onerous contracts with independent power producers, came out in two separate stories in GMANews.TV

GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/98929/Foreign-business-groups-criticized-for-shameless-use-of-blackmail-politics#

Foreign business groups criticized for “shameless use of blackmail politics”
Article posted June 03, 2008 – 05:27 PM

MANILA, Philippines – A multi-sectoral group denounced the Philippines’ foreign business chambers’ opposition to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and renegotiate onerous contracts with independent power producers (IPPs) to bring down electricity rates.

In a strongly worded statement, the Freedom from Debt Coalition criticized the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) business framework of “capitalism without risk” and its “shameless use of blackmail politics” to protect their corporate interests in the country.

“Since foreign chambers of commerce are here to promote and protect their respective national/global interests, it is expected of them to defend their IPPs and their windfall of profits. The problem is: who’s going to protect ours?” the group asked in a statement.

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GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/98891/Miriam-invites-foreign-traders-to-Senate-energy-hearing#

Miriam invites foreign traders to Senate energy hearing
Article posted June 03, 2008 – 03:55 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign traders opposed to the amendments in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) have been invited Tuesday to the energy committee hearing in the Senate scheduled this Friday.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, the committee chairman, said she wants to know from the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) what amendments it does not want since Congress is changing only certain provisions.

“The only problem with the independent power producers is that they have a take-or-pay provision which is very onerous to the Filipino taxpayer. The foreigners can source their electricity from IPPs with take-or-pay provisions but it should not be a standard clause in our contracts of the government and the IPPs,” she said in a statement.

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In The News: Six Will Fix! Campaign

Last 2 June 2008, the Youth Against Debt (YAD) together with the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) organized a press conference which formally launched its Six will Fix! Campaign calling on the government to peg education spending six percent (6%) of the Gross National Product (GNP). The said call is based on a widely accepted international standard on education expenditure as recommended by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First century of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In their joint analysis, YAD and FDC revealed that the country’s education spending as proportion of the GNP never reached 4%. The groups also explained that from 1996 to 2007, total interest payments amounted to P 2.2 trillion compared to the total gap or losses our education suffered through the years which totaled to P 1.66 trillion.

The youth group also castigated President Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s moratorium on tuition hikes and demanded instead an immediate moratorium on debt payments pending investigation, renegotiation and condonation.

The said press conference was covered by ABS-CBN, Net 25, Pinas Newspaper, ABC 5, RPN 9, Philippine Inquirer, Peoples Journal, GMANews.TV, Remate, DWIZ, DZAR, Sunshine TV.

YAD and FDC’s statement also landed on gmanews.tv highlighting its call for debt moratorium and for the government to comply with the 6% GNP benchmark on education spending.

In other news, YAD was quoted by a June 3 Business Mirror Newspaper Editorial on Education wherein the youth group lambasted the government’s simplistic solutions to education problems and asserted that the government should focus on strengthening existing state colleges and universities deemed as centers of excellence instead of building more public schools just to satisfy patronage politics.

GMANews.TV
03 June 2008
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/98619/Group-wants-debt-moratorium-6-GNP-education-spending#

Group wants debt moratorium, 6% GNP education spending
Article posted June 02, 2008 – 10:56 AM

MANILA, Philippines – With one week to go before classes start, militant anti-debt youths demanded that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo follow the United Nations’ benchmark to spend six percent of gross national product on education.

The Youth Against Debt (YAD) also reiterated the call for a moratorium on paying “illegitimate” debts, instead of having President Arroyo calling for a freeze in tuition hikes.

“We want Mrs. Arroyo to put money where her mouth is. Her moratorium on tuition hikes is too little and too late. Instead, we demand a moratorium in the payments of all illegitimate debts,” the group said in a statement posted on the website of the Freedom from Debt Coalition.

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