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Farmers lose Php85 billion during first year: Peasant livelihoods destroyed, food insecurity worsened by rice liberalization

by IBON Media

Research group IBON said that rice liberalization has undermined the livelihoods of millions of farmers and most likely even pushed many into bankruptcy. It will only worsen the country’s food insecurity, the group said, as already seen with record high rice imports.

Enacted one year ago, the Rice Liberalization Law or Republic Act (RA) 11203 removed quantitative restrictions on rice importation and replaced this with 35% tariff on rice imports from the region and higher from elsewhere. The law was justified as the solution to high rice prices in 2018. Tariffs from the rice imports were also supposed to fund programs to make Filipino rice farmers competitive, eventually increasing their incomes.

IBON said however that the influx of record rice imports has devastated farmers’ livelihoods. The Philippines imported a record 3.2 million metric tons (MMT) of rice in 2019, surpassing the previous record of 2.4 MMT of rice imports in 2008 by 40 percent. That was the first time that the Philippines gained the dubious distinction of being the world’s biggest rice importer.

Huge rice imports caused palay farmgate prices to plummet, said IBON. The price of palay fell by 22.4% from Php20.14 per kilogram (/kg) in end-December 2018 to Php15.63/kg in the same period in 2019, said the group. Some major rice producing provinces such as Nueva Ecija, Isabela, and Laguna even reported palay prices as low as Php7/kg and Php10/kg.

IBON estimates that rice farmers in aggregate suffered a total income loss of Php84.8 billion in 2019 due to the catastrophic drop in palay farmgate prices. This is equivalent to an average income loss of some Php35,328 per rice farmer.

Farmers groups have reported that as many as 200,000 farmers were forced to stop planting rice due to income losses. Also, at least 3,000 of the country’s some 10,000 rice mills reportedly closed down due to the increase in rice imports.

IBON said that the widespread disruption of rice producers is intentional and the result of free market forces being unleashed on the country’s backward agriculture. The group assailed the economic managers for using high rice prices to justify pushing marginal and so-called unproductive farmers and millers into bankruptcy.

IBON said that the country’s food insecurity is getting worse under the Duterte administration especially because of the low government priority given to domestic agriculture including the rice industry. The country’s rice importation grew from the equivalent of around 5% of total rice production in 2016 at the start of the Duterte administration to 26% of total rice production in 2019. Unprecedented rice imports are exposing the country’s inability to produce sufficient quantities of its staple food, said the group.

IBON said that the rice liberalization policy is another indication of government’s long-time neglect and disregard of local rice production and agriculture in general. The group said that the government should not pit rice farmers and rice consumers against each other. Farmers and consumers have a common interest in the protection and strengthening of the domestic rice industry towards rice self-sufficiency. #

Bayan: Problems are Duterte’s real legacy

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) contradicted attempts by the Palace communications team to picture Rodrigo Duterte to be a succesful president, painting his administration to be very problematic for the Filipino people instead.

Reacting to the ongoing #DuterteLegacy campaign launched by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said 12 major problems may already be listed as the president’s real legacy halfway through Duterte’s government.

Reyes wrote, “We are past the halfway mark of the Duterte regime and Palace propagandists are now trumpeting the president’s so called ‘legacy’. This early on, we can safely say what the legacy of this regime is.”

Duterte’s real legacy, according to Reyes, are the following:

  1. Mass murder. Thousands have been killed in the so-called war on drugs, yet the drug problem persists, the police exposed as corrupt, thus rendering the drug war an abject failure;
  2. Destruction of agriculture. Philippine agriculture has been ruined because of the liberalization of rice importation. The Philippines, an agricultural country, is now the world’s biggest importer or rice;
  3. Surrender of sovereignty. Our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea continue to be violated by China with the failure of the regime to uphold the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the West Philippine Sea to counter China’s illegal activities;
  4. Normalization of Martial Law. For more than two years, Martial Law was imposed in the entire Mindanao, resulting in widespread human rights violations especially in rural communities. Despite Martial Law, Marawi remains in ruins since no real rehabilitation has taken place;
  5. Militarized bureaucracy. The civilian bureaucracy has been militarized and geared towards counter-insurgency, again resulting in massive human rights violations. Duterte’s Executive Order 70 (ordering heightened counter-insurgency operations nationwide) has given way to de facto Martial Law;
  6. Weaponization of the law. The law has been weaponized to target critics of the administration. Trumped-up charges against activists, media, church leaders, the Opposition, lawyers, and other critics have become so rampant. Mass arrests have recently taken place.
  7. ENDO pa rin. Contractualization remains rampant despite the promise of the President to end it. He also vetoed a watered-down version of a security of tenure law. Labor export remains the principal safety valve of the economy;
  8. More taxes. The TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law and its regime of new taxes that burden the poor is part of Duterte’s anti-people legacy;
  9. Economic slowdown. The slowest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate in eight years was registered under the Duterte regime. The much-touted “Build Build Build” program proved to be a dud. The slowdown of domestic agriculture proved to be the disastrous result of neoliberal policies;
  10. Worsening corruption. Bureaucratic corruption remains and even State security forces have been exposed as being the most corrupt. Transparency International gave the Philippines its lowest rating since 2012, ranking the Philippines as 113th out of 180 countries. Duterte cronies like Dennis Uy have been favored to get strategic industries and utilities;
  11. Marcos restoration. A hero’s burial for the dictator Marcos and a clear pathway for their return to Malacañang; and
  12. Tyranny. Undermining checks and balance in government. Like a true dictator, Duterte controlled Congress, removed a sitting Chief Justice, and concentrated power with the Executive. Things can take a turn for the worse if Charter change pushes through.

Aside from an agressive social media campaign, PCOO spokespersons have appeared in television and radio programs popularizing the #DuterteLegacy campaign.

It hit a snag however when PCOO undersecretary Lorraine Badoy was reprimanded by hosts of the TV5 program “The Chiefs” for taking the occassion to Red-bait an economic analyst instead, unleashing a flood of criticisms online. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

The PCOO’s disinformation must be stopped

by IBON Media

The Duterte administration’s persistent red-baiting of IBON and other groups instead of addressing the issues raised is an affront to the public. The public deserves the truth and to be informed about the issues that matter to them the most. Instead, the government is red-baiting critical voices to silence opposition and to hide the real situation of the country.

IBON Research Head Rosario Guzman and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy were recently guests on One News’ ‘The Chiefs’ to discuss the administration’s Duterte Legacy campaign. IBON presented data questioning the accomplishments claimed by the PCOO. Instead of addressing the PCOO’s apparent disinformation, Usec. Badoy responded by linking IBON to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP). She pressed the point and only relented when the hosts reminded her to stay on topic.

Usec. Badoy’s behavior is symptomatic of the administration’s wholesale attacks on independent groups. It is being done to hide the worsening economic situation, prevent the radical reforms needed to develop the country, and promote its self-serving agenda. Under the pretext of ending the armed Communist rebellion, the Duterte administration cast its net wide and is attacking every group that is critical of its anti-people economic policies and authoritarianism.

The Duterte administration has been most systematic and vicious in attacking those it sees as the greatest threats to its oppressive rule. The government vilifies, harasses, fabricates charges against, and illegally arrests critics and opposition. Human rights defenders have already been violently attacked and even killed under this administration. Usec. Badoy mentioned on the show that she is part of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Since its creation in 2018, the NTF-ELCAC and its security apparatus has been implicated in the surge in human rights violations in the country.

President Duterte with PCOO secretary Martin Andanar and Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo. (Malacañan photo)

The PCOO is at the forefront of the government’s disinformation campaign to deceive and manipulate the public. For this, its budget has been increased substantially to Php1.7 billion in 2020 from an average of Php1.1 billion under the previous Aquino administration. The 55% larger budget of the PCOO is only going to promote falsehoods on an even wider scale.

IBON has been explaining economic issues to the public for 41 years. The Duterte administration is attacking IBON because we advocate an economy that upholds the people’s interests most of all. As with activists and other groups, we are undeterred and will continue to support the efforts of the people’s movement to reclaim the economy from the elites that have taken it over.

We will also be taking measures to show that we do not condone the people’s money being used for a self-serving political agenda. The PCOO, including USec. Badoy, is just among many who need to be put in their place. #

(Kodao publishes IBON articles as part of a content-sharing agreement.)

Real Duterte Legacy: Three years of slow growth sign of failing gov’t econ policies

by IBON Media

Research group IBON said that the economy is on its third year of slowing growth under the Duterte administration, and the slowest in eight years. This shows that government’s market-oriented policies are failing and its claimed economic gains are myths, said the group.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported 5.9% annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2019, missing government’s revised target of 6-7% growth for the year. Government attributed this to the delayed 2019 budget and election ban on infrastructure in the first half of 2019 and slowing agriculture due to weather-related factors like El Niño.

IBON countered government’s claim that the budget delay and ban on infrastructure pulled back growth last year, noting that the economy was already slowing prior to this. From 6.9% in 2016, the country’s growth in GDP slowed to 6.7% in 2017 and 6.2% in 2018. The 5.9% in 2019 marks the third year of economic slowdown under the Duterte administration. This is also the slowest growth in eight years or since the 3.7% in 2011, the group said.

IBON said that the economic slowdown is really due to the lack of strong foundation in agriculture and Filipino industry – made worse by government’s faulty market-oriented policies.

Growth in the agriculture sector dropped from 4% in 2017 to 0.9% in 2018, then slightly increased to 1.5% in 2019, the group said. Yet government continues its neglect and low prioritization of agriculture as reflected in the national budget. Agriculture’s share in the 2020 budget is just 3.5% – the lowest since 2004 at 3.3 percent.

Meanwhile, growth in manufacturing drastically declined from 8.4% in 2017 to 4.9% in 2018 and just 3.8% in 2019. The group said this is because domestic consumption and exports have weakened amid a protracted crisis and increasing protectionism in the global economy. Manufacturing is low value-added and overly dependent on foreign capital and technology, and produces for the world market.

IBON said that instead, government has relied on temporary external factors to drive growth, but these are weakening. For instance, overseas remittances are growing at a slower rate, decreasing from 5% in 2016 to 4.3% in 2017 and 3.1% in 2018. This rose to 4.6% in the first ten months of 2019 but is not likely to surpass the 2016 growth rate. Growth in exports are also falling from 19.7% to 13.4% in 2018 and just 3.2% in 2019.

The consumer spending and real estate booms that for a time fueled growth are also losing steam. Household consumption registered 7.1% growth in 2016 but dropped to 5.9% in 2017, 5.6% in 2018 and slightly grew to 5.8% in 2019. Real, estate, renting and business activities decreased from 8.9% growth in 2016 to 7.4% in 2017, 4.8% in 2018, and further fell to 3.7% in 2019.

IBON said that government has been attempting to boost a lackluster economy through more government spending and its infrastructure program. But this was not enough to stimulate growth. For instance, construction drastically fell from 14.9% growth in 2018 to just 7.7% in 2019.

IBON said that the country’s economic situation will worsen as long as government pushes policies that favor big business interests. It should admit its failure and take on real reforms needed to strengthen and develop agriculture and domestic industries and turn around the country’s flagging economy, the group said. #

(Kodao re-posts IBON reports as part of a content-sharing agreement.)

Real Duterte Legacy: Agri crisis belies admin claims of econ success

by IBON Media

Research group IBON said that the crisis in Philippine agriculture due to government negligence contradicts claimed economic achievements under the Duterte Legacy Campaign. The group said that the administration’s neglect and prioritization of local and foreign big business interests is worsening an already weak and struggling sector.

IBON said signs of this agriculture crisis include slowing sectoral growth; shrinking share in gross domestic product; rising import dependence; increasing trade deficit; significant job losses; and widespread rural poverty.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported a minimal 0.4% growth in agriculture in the fourth quarter of 2019. Under the administration, year-on-year growth trend in agriculture has been declining. From a contraction of 1.2% in 2016, agriculture bounced back with a 4% growth in 2017. But this was short-lived when growth fell to 0.9% in 2018 with a slight increase to 1.5% in 2019, noted the group.

IBON said that agriculture’s share in gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining from 8.8% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2017, 8.1% in 2018, and 7.8% in 2019. This is a far cry from its over 40% share in the economy in the 1960s.

While the country has been increasingly dependent on food and agricultural imports in the past couple of decades, this has further heightened under the Duterte administration, the group said. For instance, the country’s consumption of garlic imports was only 1.1% in 1990, but this surged to 91% in 2018.  Rice import dependency ratio (IDR) meanwhile decreased from 9% in 1990 to 5% in 2016. But this grew to 13.8% in 2018 and could worsen with the increase in rice imports due to the Rice Liberalization Law.

IBON noted that as much as 1.4 million jobs were lost in agriculture, with employment falling from 11.1 million in 2016 to 9.7 million in 2019. This translates to an average annual job loss of 455,000 in this period.

Another indicator of agriculture in crisis is widespread rural poverty, said IBON. Poverty incidence among farmers (34.3%) and fisherfolk (34%) is higher than the national average (21.6%), according to latest available figures. However, IBON estimates that at least 90% of farmers and fisherfolk are impoverished, if based on more reasonable standards of poverty measurement.

IBON said that despite its worsening state, the agriculture sector remains low priority for the administration. The 3.5% share of agriculture in the 2020 budget is the lowest since 2004 at 3.3 percent. The group also noted that annual average share of agriculture in the national budget from 2017 to 2020 was just 3.6% – the lowest since the Ramos administration (3.5%).

IBON said that agriculture, hand in hand with domestic manufacturing, is an important productive sector that, if supported and strengthened towards public interest, could help boost and sustain genuine development and job creation. The administration’s continued neglect of the sector and advancement of harmful pro-big business policies that are destroying local production and farmers’ livelihoods only shows how fake the Duterte Legacy really is, the group said. #

Govt methodology underestimates number of poor Filipinos—IBON

Research group IBON said that the government methodology to count the poor grossly underestimates Philippine poverty. The recently released 2018 poverty statistics can be taken to mean those in extreme poverty but IBON says that many other poor Filipinos are left out.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) explained that Republic Act 8425 of 1997, or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, defines “poor” as “individuals and families whose income fall below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing, and other essential amenities of life.”

The number of poor are counted as the number of Filipinos whose incomes fall below the poverty threshold or the minimum amount needed to meet basic food and non-food needs. Using official data on provincial food bundles and prices, the methodology first computes the subsistence threshold or the minimum amount a family needs to meet basic food needs. The subsistence threshold is then assumed to be 70% of the poverty threshold where the balance of 30% is assumed enough to meet basic non-food needs.

The number of poor are estimated using family income data from 180,000 sample households from the provinces and highly urbanized cities. Filipinos whose incomes are below the poverty threshold are those officially counted as poor.

However, poverty estimates according to this methodology are unbelievably low and unrealistic. The monthly poverty threshold is just Php10,727 for a family of five. This is just around Php71 per person per day at Php50 for food needs and Php21 for non-food needs.

These low standards explain the reported fall in the number of poor Filipinos. Poverty incidence, or the percentage of poor families to total families reportedly fell from 23.3% in 2015 to only 16.6% in 2018, and the number of subsistence or food poor Filipino families from 6.4 million in 2015 to only 3.4 million in 2018. NEDA hailed government’s poverty reduction measures for successfully getting poverty alleviation on track.

IBON however said that the methodology uses unrealistically low standards and is detached from daily poverty realities.

The food or subsistence threshold, for instance, the group said, conservatively assumes a “least cost” food bundle. It is unrealistic to expect that all families have ready access to this lowest-priced or cheapest food, the group argued. Moreover, the food bundle is based on so-called “revealed preference” which is presumably based on actual spending. Yet IBON said that this is not necessarily a desirable food bundle and may just reflect the food that Filipino families are forced to buy or make do with given their poverty or limited budget, such as the notorious pagpag or recycled garbage food.

These mean that the subsistence threshold estimated is over-optimistically low and not necessarily of the needed quality for decent eating.

Estimating non-food expenses, meanwhile, does not take into account the actual cost of basic non-food items, IBON said. The cost of non-food needs is merely assumed to be a certain ratio to food needs. However, the cost of many non-food needs has been rising rapidly for instance due to the privatization of utilities and social services. Non-food needs include clothing and footwear; fuel, light, and water; housing maintenance and other minor repairs; rental of occupied dwelling units; medical care; education; transportation and communication; non-durable furnishing; household operations; and personal care and effects. Thus, this also too conservatively assumes that non-food needs are available at illusory low prices.

IBON stressed that poverty has many dimensions and while income is a convenient indicator this is only one of them. The current low Php71 poverty threshold should be adjusted to be more realistic and reflective of the true potentials of the economy, said the group. As it is, PSA data indicate that around 12.4 million families or about half of the population is trying to survive on Php132 per person per day. On the other hand, chief executive officers of the country’s biggest corporations can earn the equivalent of as much as Php60,000 or more per day.

IBON said that a more realistic and higher poverty threshold will send a strong signal of the government having ambitious anti-poverty targets and genuinely seeking to eradicate this. On the other hand, persistently low poverty thresholds and illusory reductions in poverty will only result in persistent neglect of the needs of the many.#

2020 national budget, hiniling na i-sentro sa serbisyo at kabuhayan

Hiniling ng iba’t-ibang grupo na ilaan sa serbisyong panlipunan at pang-matagalang kabuhayan ang nakasalang na pambansang badyet ng pamahalaan sa susunod na taong 2020.

Sa isang press conference noong Martes, 26 Nobyembre, isiniwalat nila na ang maling paggamit ng pondo ng bayan tulad ng kontrobersyal na hosting ng Southeast Asian Games at maging ang “Build Build Build” program ng administrasyong Rodrigo Duterte na anila’y para lamang sa madalian at di permanenteng ganansiya.

Sa halip, ayon sa mga grupo, ay dapat dagdagan ang badyet para sa edukasyon, kalusugan, agrikultura, at iba pa. (Bidyo ni Jek Alcaraz/Kodao)

PH economy headed towards 3rd year of slow growth — IBON

by IBON Media

Research group IBON said that the Philippine economy is on its way to a third straight year of slowing economic growth under the Duterte administration.

The group said that while the economy registered higher growth in the third quarter of 2019, the factors behind this are too weak and unsustainable.

The government recently reported 6.2% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter of 2019.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) secretary Ernesto Pernia said that this means the Philippine economy is “surging” and was confident that the government could meet its 6% full-year growth target for 2019.

IBON said however that annual economic growth has been slowing since the start of the Duterte administration, falling from 6.9% in 2016, to 6.7% in 2017 and to 6.2% in 2018.

The group said that GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2019 would need to be at least 7.4% just to match growth in 2018.

In the last four decades, the economy was only able to achieve 7.4% growth in the fourth quarter just once (in 1989), said the group.

IBON also noted that the 6.2% third quarter growth spurt is higher than the 5.5% of the previous quarter and 6% in third quarter 2018.

However, it is much lower than its peak 7.2% first quarter 2017 growth.

The third quarter growth was mainly due to increases in household spending, construction and government spending.

Household consumption rose by 5.9%, construction by 17.3%, and government spending by 9.6 percent.

IBON said that while household spending was faster than the 5.3% in the third quarter of 2018, this was still lower than the 5.7% average of the past decade.

The group also said that higher household consumption was most likely just driven by higher overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances this year.

But remittances have been slowing for years and the uptick is likely only momentary.

Construction accelerated from the 13.3% growth in the third quarter of last year.

IBON said however that this short-term stimulus is only while construction is ongoing.

Another question is how big and sustained infrastructure spending can be with government’s Build Build Build program faltering.

The group noted that infrastructure spending contracted to -4.3% in January-September 2019 from 45.9% in the same period last year.

 Accumulating debt could also be a problem if this reaches unpayable levels.

IBON noted that the most important sources of domestic demand and growth are showing signs of weakening.

Agriculture momentarily recovered with an increase of 3.1%, but it remains in long-term decline.

The manufacturing sector’s 2.4% growth is the slowest in 32 quarters or since the 2% clip in the third quarter of 2011.

Manufacturing has been stalling since the start of the year, said the group.

This is because it has become overly foreign-dominated and export-dependent and is adversely affected by the slowing global economy and the US-China trade war.

To reverse the economic slowdown, IBON said that the government can boost growth in a way that is both beneficial to the people and more sustainable.

There are redistributive measures that can be done right away and will be felt by the people.

These include immediate and meaningful wage hikes to spur greater consumption especially among lower income communities.

The wider informal economy will be stimulated.

Lowering consumption taxes will also increase their spending power. Growth can be boosted by higher taxes on the wealthy and large corporations if the revenues are spent on expanding social and economic services for the poor.

But the most sustainable source of growth in the long-run is developing domestic agriculture and building Filipino industry to create more jobs and raise incomes in the country, said the group. #

(Kodao publishes IBON.org’s reports and analyses as part of a content-sharing agreement.)

Inflation slowing due to a sluggish economy — IBON

by IBON Media

Research group IBON said that despite reported slower inflation, daily expenses are still rising and too expensive for the majority of Filipinos who suffer low and stagnant incomes.

The group also said that slowing inflation mainly reflects a slackening economy.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported lower nationwide inflation at 0.8% in October 2019 from 0.9% the previous month and 6.7% in October last year.

Meanwhile, National Capital Region (NCR) inflation increased to 1.3% in October 2019 from 0.9% in September 2019 but was lower than the 6.1% inflation in October 2018.

The uptick in NCR inflation was due to higher annual inflation in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and clothing and footwear.

IBON executive director Sonny Africa said that lower inflation is generally better for poor and low-income consumers as slower price increases will weigh less on low wages and incomes.

He noted however that lower reported inflation is from a high base last year when prices dramatically rose. Yet some food items are still more expensive now than last year.

In Metro Manila, for example, the cost of pork, chicken, fish, eggs and many vegetables in the last week of October 2019 was much higher than in the same period last year.

The price of pork increased by Php50; chicken by Php30; tilapia by Php20; string beans by Php20; and potato and native pechay by Php15. Rice is a notable exception in being slightly cheaper.

Africa said however that the majority of Filipinos’ incomes are still far below what is needed to live decently and still eroding further despite reportedly lower inflation.

In NCR for instance, the real value of the minimum wage or taking inflation into account is actually lower today compared to November last year.

Measured at 2012 prices, the real value of the Php537 NCR minimum wage has fallen to Php453 today from Php459 in November 2018.

It is also likely that inflation is slowing because the economy is slowing from faltering investments, stalling infrastructure spending, and the global economic slowdown, said Africa.

So far under the Duterte administration, gross domestic product (GDP) growth has declined from 6.9% in 2016 to 6.7% in 2017 and 6.2% in 2018. The 5.5% growth in the second quarter of 2019 is the lowest in 17 quarters.

Foreign direct investments shrank by 39.8% from US$6.8 billion in January-July 2018 to US$4.1 billion in the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, infrastructure spending growth contracted from 45.9% in January-September 2018 to -4.3% in the same period this year.

Africa said that lower inflation alone is meaningless if Filipinos especially the poor continue to be burdened with high prices and little to no incomes. The government should not ignore this nor the signs of a slowing economy.

Immediate steps for government should include supporting and developing domestic agriculture, as well as substantially increasing wages and salaries to give relief to Filipino households, Africa said. #

(Kodao publishes IBON.org’s reports and analyses as part of a content-sharing agreement.)

IBON launches alternative to failed govt econ agenda

by IBON Media

Research group IBON launched its campaign on People Economics to promote much-needed policy reforms that would really benefit the majority of Filipinos and engender genuine national development.

IBON held the forum “People Economics: May Magagawa!” at the College of Science Admin Auditorium, UP Diliman last October 10 to discuss why there is a need for and what the principles and policy outlines are of People Economics.

After four decades of neoliberal globalization and its market-driven policies, the group said that the country remains underdeveloped.

Many Filipinos are struggling with worsening poverty and jobs crisis, while only a wealthy few are benefiting. The global economic slowdown is not letting up, and in response several countries, especially the big capitalist powers, are becoming increasingly protectionist, the group said.

IBON said that People Economics is an alternative to government’s failed neoliberalism.

This draws from the policies and demands of the people’s movement, as well as IBON’s more than 41 years of experience in advocating for social and economic reforms.

The group said that it envisions a Philippines that can be transformed into a modern industrialized nation that is more equal, humane, and ecologically sustainable. It lays the foundation for a future where the Filipino people continuously change society for the better.

People economics is comprised of six pillars: Develop the countryside; Build Filipino industries; Protect the environment; Uphold people’s rights and welfare; Finance development; and Strive for sovereignty and independence.

IBON said that People Economics can be further articulated and enriched as an alternative to neoliberalism. The contributions of the progressive movement and other advocates for genuine change is needed to come up with the most concrete and comprehensive solutions to the country’s social and economic problems, the group said. #

(Kodao publishes IBON.org’s reports and analyses as part of a content-sharing agreement.)