As SONA nears: Aquino performance notably poor in prices, jobs, wages, land

July 19, 2011

Even this manufactured post-Arroyo sense of hope is diminishing with growing disenchantment among the public and even among erstwhile allies of the administration The likely hype and promises in the president’s upcoming state of the nation address (SONA) should be seen in the context of economic realities,according to research group IBON. Pres. Aquino’s performance has […]

Fiscal priorities

July 18, 2011

Hacienda workers poorer under SDO: SC decision denies chance of improved condition

July 4, 2011

The SC missed the opportunity of making a landmark verdict on the Hacienda Luisita issue, which would have broken the feudal monopoly of the Aquino-Cojuangco clan over the 6,453-landholding and brought immediate and long-term economic benefits to the farm The Supreme Court (SC) decision fails to give justice to thousands of Hacienda Luisita farmers, as […]

US credit troubles: problems for the Philippine economy

July 1, 2011

COMMENTARY | By Sonny Africa | A worsening of the US economic situation will quickly impact on the Philippines in terms of weaker remittances, lower exports, and more problematic investments IBON Features — The recent United States (US) credit rating downgrade is just the latest sign that the global crisis which erupted in 2008 has […]

IBON: Psalm rate hike bid anti-consumer, EPIRA to blame

June 30, 2011

The financial bleeding of Napocor continued under EPIRA because the law legitimized the onerous contracts signed by Napocor with the IPPs The petition for another 39-centavo per kilowatt-hour (kWh) hike in power rates through the universal charge is anti-consumer, according to research group IBON. The petition filed this week by the Power Sector Assets and […]

The Philippine economy: After the first year of the Aquino administration

June 29, 2011

The administration… is most of all about aggressively pushing corporate interests, especially by big foreign investors, over the economy’s or the people’s development needs. “From a President who tolerates corruption to a President who is the nation’s first and most determined fighter of corruption; From a government that merely conjures economic growth statistics that our […]

Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016: A Social Contract With Whom?

June 22, 2011

The essential economic thrust is straightforward: stick to the globalization policies implemented over the last decades, deepen and broaden privatization… [wpdm_package id=4209 template=”link-template-default.php”] The Aquino administration adopted the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 in March this year which the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) formally released to the public on May 30, 2011. The […]

Foreign land deals: global land grabbing?

June 16, 2011

These land deals are unconstitutional and have long-term severe implications to the host country’s food security, land ownership and national sovereignty. IBON Features– There is a rising trend in the number of what are called foreign land deals in many countries across the globe, covering up to million hectares of land. The scale and rate […]

Ten years of EPIRA: a decade of increasing private power monopoly

June 10, 2011

Ten years after, all the EPIRA has done is usher in the monopolization into private hands of the power industry where giant corporate energy players have been making significant profits at the expense of the public and national development (Part Two of a two-part series on EPIRA’s 10 years) Part One: EPIRA: failed promise of […]