International and Regional Issues
Food producers poorer, hungry three years after Yolanda
December 10, 2016
Despite about Php144 billion in funds, the Philippine government has barely delivered on the planned rehabilitation and reconstruction in Yolanda affected areas. The people are more vulnerable, poorer and hungry with uncertain livelihoods and security of tenure. For most farming communities in Eastern Visayas, production has not recovered. “Many farmers are only able to […]
Aid for profit undermines development
December 5, 2016
Official development aid (ODA) is increasingly becoming a tool to support private profits rather than people-centered development. This indicates the persistence of the neoliberal ways that prevent aid from meaningfully contributing to national development. The Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) recently held in Nairobi, Kenya, concluded with a […]
Use funds to hasten Yolanda rehab, Duterte gov’t urged
November 29, 2016
Research group IBON echoed the call for government to expedite Yolanda rehabilitation as the typhoon survivors trooped to Manila to air their grievances. Government should make use of the billions of pesos in relief funds and resources to help millions of survivors who have for three years now been struggling to recover their homes and […]
EV agri neglected despite billions in Yolanda funds
November 28, 2016
As disaster survivors from Eastern Visayas converge in Manila to bare mounting poverty, hunger and injustice in the region, research group IBON said that the region’s agriculture and fisheries sector are slow to recover despite billions in available Yolanda funds. The group noted that while a significant number of people in Eastern Visayas depend on […]
Marcos-initiated “globalization” led to PH economic decline
November 26, 2016
“In 1980, the Marcos regime actually made the Philippines the first country in Asia and the second country in the world, after Turkey, to be at the receiving end of a World Bank structural adjustment loan (SAL). The conditionalities of the US$200 million loan included among others tariff cuts, removal of import licenses and […]
Marcos ensured US-directed IMF/WB intervention in PH policy making
November 25, 2016
“The rule of Nacionalista Party’s Ferdinand E. Marcos which began in 1965 was strong on nationalist and patriotic rhetoric. Yet Pres. Marcos was by no means a nationalist if ‘nation’ is understood as the majority of Filipinos and ‘nationalism’ as upholding their interests and asserting Filipino sovereignty over foreign powers. “Most anti-nationalist president. […]
Under Marcos dictatorship unemployment worsened, prices soared, poverty persisted
November 25, 2016
“The decade 1975-1986 was actually a time of intense social crisis and economic difficulty for most Filipinos. The unemployment rate was falling in the early years of the Marcos regime – from 7.1% in 1966 to 3.9% in 1975. But this reversed in the mid-1970s to rapidly rise back to 7.9% in 1980. The […]
Word-class bureaucrat capitalism under Marcos added to PH econ woes
November 24, 2016
“This narrative highlights the evils of dictatorship and abuse of power. But it falters in explaining why, over three decades after the end of the Marcos regime, the economy still remains so backward in the things that matter – job creation, poverty reduction, agricultural and industrial development, and policy sovereignty. “Bureaucrat capitalism under Marcos was […]
Punlaan music album at People’s Bookshop Sale
November 23, 2016
Experience the Punlaan land to the tiller food for all-themed music album at the People’s Bookshop Sale (starts November 23). Launched last October, Punlaan is a unique compilation of original Filipino farmers, indigenous and cultural groups’ compositions narrating the stories and struggles of the Filipino people in the context of a backward and underdeveloped economy […]
