Opposite directions
This country is deeply divided, Filipinos moving in opposite directions to survive.
In Congress, there is a rush for more power, for more control. Top positions have gone through power grabbing and disregard for laws. There is the hurried preoccupation to rush TRAIN 2 and Federalism at the soonest time possible. Why?
TRAIN 2 will result in taxes, defined by those in power in the government as important for the good of this country, for the welfare of the Filipinos. With the dismal performance of government in handling taxes and public funds, what good will higher tax collection brings to the rest of the Filipino people?
The Commission on Audit has been doing a remarkable job and service of exposing the anomalies and excesses in the use of public funds in various offices of this present DU30 government. However, will this government listen, return the unauthorized public funds used, and punish those who abused public funds? What is more likely to happen instead is the greater possibility for the diligent, honest public servants in COA to be fired!
Why the rush for FEDERALISM? Again, the answer is glaringly obvious. With federalism, those in power now can stay longer in power, with more fiscal aside from political control!
TRAIN 2 and Federalism will obviously benefit those who now have power and privilege. Never mind, if in the opposite direction, the rest of the Filipinos, especially the poor, become poorer. Never mind if among those who are and will be hurt most are our children. Thanks to DU30’s TRAIN and other policies that benefit the few but hurt the millions of Filipinos, more and more Filipinos are experiencing more poverty now.
According to the research group IBON, since the start of 2018, continuing inflation has caused income losses for the poorest 60 million Filipinos, from P993 to as high as P2,715. The inflation rate in June (5.2 percent) was four times higher than the 1.3 percent inflation rate in June 2016, at the start of the DU30 administration or, using 2006 as base year, this inflation rate is “already the highest monthly rate in nearly 10 years or since March 2009,” according to IBON.
Of the various sources of inflation that include the peso’s depreciation and the rising global oil prices, DU30 can easily control the adverse impact of TRAIN 1. However, IBON reported that “TRAIN’s mitigating measures are so far failing to support the incomes of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable, that six months into high inflation, only 3.8 million out of the target 10 million families have received their supposed unconditional cash transfers, leaving some 6.2 million families struggling with higher TRAIN-driven prices for their basic goods and services.”
And our children, especially among our poor, are most affected. A 2018 report — Save the Children End of Childhood — showed the Philippines drop from its 96th to 104th position (of 175 countries ranked from best to worst places for children to grow up in). With malnutrition score of 33.4, Filipino children are among the most poorly nourished in Southeast Asia. One of three Filipino children, aged 5-10, is stunted or underweight, according to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).
Do those in power under DU30 even find time to think of the plight of the poor and the malnourished, stunted, and underweight among our children? How many of our children will benefit with zero budget for the vulgar and the PCOO? Do DU30 and his minions even care if they are moving away, in opposite direction, from the rest of the millions of Filipinos?
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