Editorial:
Forge the broadest people�s unity to overthrow the US-Arroyo regime
The political crisis of the ruling system seethes without letup as the socio-economic crisis intensifies.
Contradictions between the reactionary regime and the Filipino people, as well as contradictions among the various military factions and the civil bureaucracy have turned sharper and more violent.
The elections failed to resolve their fractiousness. On the contrary, massive electoral fraud and violence have even made them more severe. Reactionary politicians are now trading barbs as to who among them was most responsible for corruption and the squandering of public funds.
Meanwhile, the US-Arroyo regime is heaping burden upon burden on the people with its austerity and revenue-enhancement policies. On the other hand, it silences their cries and brutally suppresses their actions.
The intensification of the political and economic crisis of the ruling system presents more opportunities to expose the real roots of the crisis and raise the masses' level of consciousness and struggle.
We must seize these opportunities to more rapidly forge the people's broad unity until it becomes a powerful movement that will bring down the US-Arroyo regime.
The people's broad unity may be forged based on the following burning issues, which show that the ruling regime is defintely ripe for the ousting.
- Arroyo allows unbridled increases in oil prices, thus inflicting untold hardships on the Filipino people. Her regime favors the unrestrained accumulation of superprofits by the oil monopolies, to the further detriment of the people. She turns a deaf ear to the widespread demand to junk the oil deregulation law.
- She has allowed prices of food and other basic goods and services to rise without letup. In fact, the latest power and water rate hikes were pushed upon her government's orders. While she she issues such orders favorable to big business, she adamantly opposes any significant increase in the minimum wage. Instead, she concocts palliative measures such as the distribution of food coupons.
- She has utterly failed to generate the jobs she promised. This is because she has failed to take any step towards carrying out national industrialization and land reform. She relies completely on the export of labor to alleviate the unemployment problem. Inside the country, her only claim to fame lies in the bigger number of call centers set up�a development that does not contribute significantly to the economy and is a fleeting phenomenon that is sure to vanish in a few years' time.
- She has rendered the Philippine economy completely dependent on foreign loans, thus worsening the country's foreign indebtedness. Philippine foreign debt now comes to $56.3 billion, the bulk of which was not spent for the people's benefit. In 2005, the Arroyo regime will be squandering up to `2 trillion on debt payments. Despite all this, Arroyo refuses to repeal the Automatic Appropriations Act, which devours a huge percentage of public funds to service debts that did not benefit the people.
- While religiously servicing the foreign debt, Arroyo slashes the budget for social services. Her government has even raised charges for government services, which is why the toiling masses can no longer afford to send their children even to public schools and seek medical treatment even in government facilities. Arroyo continues to reject calls to increase the salaries of government employees, spurring thousands of them go abroad, especially professionals from the health sector.
- Her government plans to impose more taxes that will only add to the burdens already weighing heavily on the Filipino people. The imposition of additional taxes on liquor and cigarettes is already in the works. Added taxes on oil products and telecommunication services are also being planned. This only shows how ruthless Arroyo is in the face of the people's wretched conditions. On the other hand, she has no plans of returning additional tax revenues to the people in the form of improved health, education and other social services.
- Arroyo has brought bureaucrat capitalist corruption to unprecedented heights and breadths. No less than Gloria and Mike Arroyo and their son Mikey use their power and influence to amass millions of pesos worth of bribes and participate in anomalous transactions. Arroyo protects erring officials in exchange for a portion of their ill-gotten wealth.
- Her regime unleashes unprecedented violence against the people. It launches a violent terrorist war that mainly targets unarmed civilians and mass organizations both in the cities and countryside. It desperately wants to stem the advance of the armed revolutionary movement. It justifies its actions by using supposed destabilization schemes as pretexts and uses the iron fist to suppress any opposition. Street demonstrations, especially those staged by the toiling masses to convey their democratic aspirations, are repeatedly dispersed.
- It is set to scuttle the peace negotiations with the NDFP. It is the Arroyo government that has shut the door to the possibility of resolving the armed conflict by political means with its imposition of one-sided preconditions that violate principles previously agreed upon. One of them is a demand for a ceasefire declaration from the NDFP as a condition for continuing the talks. On the other hand, the Arroyo regime has failed to carry out its obligation under previous agreements to take positive steps to have the CPP, NPA and Comrade Jose Maria Sison removed from the US "terrorist" listing.
- Arroyo is unparalleled in her puppetry to US imperialism. She has not only allowed but invited the US government to further its military intervention in the Philippines in the form of "joint military exercises." She showed her disregard for national sovereignty when she allowed the US to set national policy through the unilateral and baseless inclusion of the CPP, NPA and Comrade Jose Maria Sison in its list of "foreign terrorists." She carries out economic policies in accordance with the line of "imperialist globalization" that violates the national patrimony of the Philippines and allows foreign monopoly-capitalist companies to wrest control of strategic public enterprises to the detriment of Filipino businessmen and the Filipino people.
These significant issues are pushing the people to unite to overthrow the present government. Faced with the threat of another people's uprising, the US-Arroyo regime has been using more violent means to suppress the people. The "anti-terrorist campaign" is now an ever-common pretext.
The much-vaunted change of governmental system from presidential to parliamentary has no other objective but to fool the people with the illusion of change. Charter change will be used to undermine civil and political rights, pave the way for the imposition of martial rule, discard the principle of economic sovereignty, auction off the national patrimony, do away with remaining restrictions on foreign investments, and allow the brazen return of US military bases and troops.
There is now a more urgent need to unite all patriotic and progressive forces, including the genuine and loyal representatives of the workers, peasants, middle forces and even civilian bureaucrats and military personnel who assail and repudiate the corruption and subservience of ruling politicians to the US.
The cooperation forged in the struggle to overthrow the US-Arroyo regime may extend to the formation of a new government that could better address the people's democratic and patriotic aspirations.
Nevertheless, the long-term solution lies with the victory of the national-democratic revolution. Through this, workers, peasants and the middle forces will be able to hold power and carry out policies that will uphold the nation's sovereignty and patrimony, eliminate imperialist, feudal and bureaucrat capitalist rule, develop the country through self-reliant means and advance a foreign policy that upholds world unity, progress, equal economic relations among all countries and world peace.
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