PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

CPP condemns Arroyo-Lopez bailout deal for Maynilad
March 23, 2004

The Communist Party of the Philippines today condemned the bailout agreement between the Arroyo government and the Lopez family that passed on to the government the burden of several billion pesos of unpaid debts of the Lopez-owned Maynilad.

CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that the bailout deal "illustrates the failure as well as the evils of privatization, where government guarantees the interests of big domestic and foreign capitalists to the detriment of the people."

"The IMF-dictated privatization program has only resulted in the people's suffering," Rosal said, citing constantly rising charges for privatized essential services and the large-scale corruption involved in the sale of state-owned assets since the Ramos regime.

Rosal also said that the Arroyo-Lopez deal is a "sleaziest kind of political quid-pro-quo."

"In exchange for slating Lopez stooge Noli de Castro as Arroyo's vice-presidential candidate in the desperate hope of boosting Arroyo's dwindling popularity, the Lopez conglomerate is being rescued from the burden of Maynilad's multibillion-peso indebtedness. It is ultimately the people who will bear the burden of these debts." Rosal said.

Rosal expressed confidence that the people will strongly protest the obnoxious bailout package.

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553



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