PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

AFP budget a waste of funds, CPP says
March 13, 2005

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today charged the Arroyo regime for squandering P46 billion by allotting it to the "nonproductive and repressive Philippine military," disputing complaints by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that its budget allocation was "too small".

CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that the P46 billion budget for the AFP is a "big waste of funds".

Arroyo's military budget is actually "too big" considering the "utterly miniscule budget that goes to education, health and housing and other important social services" compared to the huge amount earmarked for the AFP," Rosal added.

"Arroyo prioritizes spending for the military and foreign debt payments. It is the Filipino people that is suffering from this lopsidedness," Rosal said.

"In the past years, military officials and soldiers have enjoyed raises in their salaries, but government workers' demand for much-needed pay hikes have fallen on deaf ears," Rosal said.

"Tens of thousands of students are in urgent need of additional classrooms and teachers, workers need more jobs and higher wages," Rosal pointed out.

He added that the regime's neoliberal economic policies have resulted in the rapid deterioration of public health and education facilities and extremely low wages. Moreover, he said, public utilities run by big businesses bleed the people dry by charging exorbitant fees for their services.

"In this situation, it is the height of obscenity for the Arroyo regime to prioritize military spending," Rosal added.

Rosal moreover scored Arroyo and her military officials for their "twisted notion" about the relationship between security and economic development.

Rosal said "history has shown that people bear arms and rebel because their socio-economic conditions compel them to do so." He added that Arroyo was merely revealing her "fascist mindset" when she and her AFP officials claim that economic development can only be achieved by quelling the revolutionary movement.

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



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