“Bomba ba ang sagot sa kahirapan? Gera ba ang sagot sa kahirapan? Lantaran ang pagpapakita ng pasismo. Imbes na itugon ang pondo para sa mahihirap, sa manggagawa, sa kapatid nating drayber ay doon niya isinesentro,” said Carmelita Collado of Urban Poor Coordinating Council (UPCC).
Urban Poor Coordinating Council (UPCC) and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) slammed the Marcos Jr. administration following the socio-economic and political crisis due to continuing poverty, inflation, increasing number of informal work and livelihood, and the meager wage hike in the National Capital Region.
According to the groups, Marcos Jr. has only prioritized its interest and subservience to foreign power controls like the United States and China rather than attending to the needs of various sectors at the expense of their right to housing, job security, livable wage, and basic human rights.
In their State of the Urban Poor Address, UPCC and KADAMAY emphasized the dire situation of the urban poor sector four days before the 2nd State of the Nation Address of Marcos Jr.
Right to housing
More than 4.5 million Filipinos remained homeless, while 3.8 million Filipinos are residing in informal settlements, according to KADAMAY.
UPCC spokesperson Carmelita Collado emphasized the need to allocate funds on adequate housing.
Collado then cited a meager allocation to the National Housing Authority with only P2 million and another P4 billion for housing projects while Build Better More projects of Marcos Jr. administration had P28.66 million this year.
She emphasized that such BBM projects only paved its way to forced eviction and demolition threats among urban poor communities in NCR.
Collado added that all these transpire while rampant and gross human rights violations were committed led by Philippine National Police-Armed Forces of the Philippines (PNP-AFP) as well as the National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict that intensified its red-tagging antics towards residents and local community leaders.
“Nananawagan kaming i-abolish ang NTF-ELCAC at irechannel and malaki nitong badyet para sa direktang serbisyong panlipunan ng iba’t ibang mga ahensya,” she added.
It must be noted NTF-ELCAC has a long record of budget distribution anomalies with the Commission on Audit (COA) flagging its use of budget following “incomplete documentation, low fund utilization and unutilized funds, unauthorized fund transfers and lack of guidelines on the use of funds” since 2020.
“Ipatigil ang lahat ng uri ng ebiksyon sa maralitang komunidad, kasama na dito ang iba’t ibang uri ng demolisyon, reklamasyon, at harassment,” said KADAMAY secretary general Mimi Doringo.
Collado added that confidential, intelligence, and unprogrammed funds from the Offices of the President, Vice President, and other agencies be rechanneled to basic social services and livelihood.
As a matter of fact, the budget to military has soared this 2023 with P240 million allotted to the Department of National Defense; P10 billion to NTF-ELCAC, P4.5 billion to Marcos Jr. while P650 million to Sara Duterte.
Livable wage
According to KADAMAY, the recently imposed minimum wage increase by P40 in NCR (making the P570 to P610) would not even suffice for a livable family wage at P1,200.
“Hindi tunay na halagang sahod o kita ng mamamayang naghihikahos ang P610 bunsod ng implasyon na umabot sa mahigit 8%. Na kung tutuusin, aabot na lamang talaga ito sa P500 at hindi ito sasapat para sa ikabubuhay ng maralitang pamilya,” said KADAMAY secretary-general Mimi Doringo.
They reported that at least 1.8 million Filipinos lost their regular jobs from December 2022 to January 2023. This year, the unemployment population is at 2.4 million while there are 6.7 million underemployed.
“Halos 4.5 milyong manggagawa ang kontraktwal. Hindi ito nagtataas at sa halip ay bumababa pa ang bilang ng mga regular na manggagawa,” Doringo added.
Doringo called on the Marcos Jr. administration to abolish all forms of contractualization, create more jobs, uphold labor rights, secure benefits and tenure alongside their right to organize and form unions.
Priorities
UPCC and KADAMAY criticized the Marcos-Duterte government following the railroading of Maharlika Investment Fund and other programs while maintaining a “strengthened and expanded” military presence of the US in the country.
It must be noted that the US will be conducting this year with more than 500 war games, military exercises, joint training of all sizes and all kinds in the Philippines—just right after the Balikatan war exercises last April.
“Bakit mabilis na tumugon si Marcos Jr. dito? Kasi may sarili siyang interes. Dahil hindi tunay na gustong niyang magbigay ng serbisyo at ito ay bunsod ng kanilang interes sa pangangalaga at pagpasok sa mga palisiyang may impluwensiya ng dayuhang bansa tulad ng Estados Unidos.” said Doringo.
On the other hand, Collado noted that Marcos Jr. is putting the Philippines at stake amid tensions between US and China, let alone the heightened military presence and additional Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement bases of the US.
“Sobrang rumaragasa ang krisis pangekonomya, habang nandiyan ang Balikatan exercises, ang EDCA, lumalagay sa peligro ang lahat ng Pilipino. Sila ang nagpapapasok sa atin sa isang gera, habang nagpapatuloy at papasidhi ang gera sa kagutuman, gera sa kapabayaan ng gobyerno,” Collado said.
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