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People’s Review of SDG 1 & 10: Regressive gov’t policies hinder poverty, inequality eradication

July 7, 2021

Concerned groups and advocates held a forum to review and discuss the Philippine government’s progress in meeting by 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 10 on eradicating extreme poverty and reducing inequality. But the SDGs will not be achieved in the country as long as the government refuses to adopt progressive policies that bring about real development and pushes neoliberal policies that benefit the few.

Jobs crisis continues, informal work worsens

July 3, 2021

Latest labor force figures show that millions of Filipinos are still struggling to find work or turning more and more to informal jobs and self-employment to survive. Substantial ayuda is urgently needed and Congress should hold a special session to ensure the immediate allocation and distribution of funds for emergency aid.

The ill logic of rice liberalization

June 25, 2021

The economic managers have been using runaway inflation to justify liberalizing rice importation. But government’s obsession with imports liberalization has only worsened the jobs crisis, loss of livelihoods, and farmers’ bankruptcy.

A People’s Green New Deal? A look at PH labor

June 15, 2021

Dr. Max Ajl’s book A People’s Green New Deal presents socialist proposals on addressing climate change that are indeed doable and inspiring. In Chapter 5, he leaves us analytical notes on labor, planning and construction for an eco-socialist future, and industry and manufacturing, among others. These get us thinking about our own context in order to contribute to the operationalization of a people’s Green New Deal.

Ayuda urgent as jobs crisis worsens from govt’s failed lockdowns, response

June 10, 2021

Latest labor force data confirm that the jobs situation is still much worse than before the pandemic. Government’s over-reliance on destructive lockdowns to contain the coronavirus is ineffective and only causes unnecessary economic distress for tens of millions of Filipinos. At the very least, immediately providing substantial ayuda grows more urgent by the day.

Duterterioration of the Philippine economy

June 3, 2021

Under the Duterte administration,the Philippine economy was already weak before the pandemic and made worse by inept COVID-19 response.

The TRIPS waiver on Covid-19 pharmaceuticals and the Big Pharma

June 2, 2021

There is a raging debate about whether or not the WTO should temporarily waive some intellectual property rights of Covid-19 pharmaceuticals. Developed countries oppose the proposal, but recently the US has announced its limited support, while the EU continues to wrangle over its necessity. For proponents, the waiver would speed up and scale up vaccine production and contribute to a faster vaccination process in poorer countries.

There’s money for bigger Bayanihan 3: Economic managers just refusing to give more — IBON

May 26, 2021

There is more than enough money for bigger emergency aid and stimulus in Bayanihan 3 if only the economic managers prioritize ayuda.

Ayuda still needed even with shift to GCQ

May 15, 2021

Giving the Php10,000 ayuda demanded is extremely urgent. The amount merely approximates the government’s low official poverty threshold of Php10,756 and certainly does not come close to compensating the past year of collapsed incomes, anxiety and difficulty for tens of millions of Filipinos.