Duterte administration
Jobs crisis prevails despite lower unemployment rate — IBON
December 20, 2016
Though claiming lowest joblessness in the past decade, research group IBON said that government’s latest unemployment figures fail to show the real extent of the jobs crisis in the country. Underemployment and poor quality of work still prevail, said the group. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently released the October 2016 results of the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Marcos debt equivalent to 4x 1986 PH budget
November 24, 2016
Marcos dictatorship debt totaling Php470 billion is equivalent to 4x the national government budget of Php121 billion in 1986.
64% of Filipinos had trouble paying for electricity—IBON Survey
November 21, 2016
IBON’s latest survey showed that many Filipinos had trouble meeting expenses on electricity and water in the recent months. Asked how their family met expenses on electricity and water in the past three months, six of ten said they had trouble meeting electricity expenses while many said they had trouble meeting water expenses. Sixty-four percent […]
