The Peoples Response

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The Peoples Response

• Presentation by Bayan
• Global Financial and Economic Crisis Exposing
  Capitalism, Looking for Alternatives

DLSU, Taft Ave., Manila 9 February 2009
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Supercrisis, looming Greater Depression

• Exposed supposed drivers of RP growth like export
  of goods labor as hollow, unreliable,
  unsustainable
• GMA administration unable unwilling to
  undertake radical shift in economic model
• Firewall against crisis (i.e. VAT) as illusion
  NEDA projection 800,000 job losses this year

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But the conditions are favorable

• to expose the decaying economic system propose
  genuine alternatives
• to affirm the legitimacy correctness of the
  peoples struggle to build a progressive,
  self-reliant economy
• to rally the people in a movement for meaningful
  reforms

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Our task to educate inform

• The displaced workers farmers, government
  employees, office workers, small medium-scale
  Filipino business, the youth, women, urban poor
  other sectors most affected by the crisis will
  only pour out in hundreds of thousands and even
  millions clamoring for reform if they can
  comprehend the historical current roots of the
  crisis

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Nationwide ED information campaign

• in the universities, urban rural poor
  communities, factories, among the opinion
  policy makers
• to spark discussion on the crisis, on its
  exploitative oppressive roots
• to generate discussions on what we can do
  demand in terms of short- to long-term reforms

6
We are not starting from scratch

• Bayans campaign on removing the 12 VAT on oil
  power
• NO DEAL! Movement to stop unequal economic
  agreements (i.e. JPEPA)
• Tanggol Trabaho of COURAGE
• MIGRANTE on genuine pro-OFW relief measures
  decent jobs at home
• KMU on decent wage hike, against labor
  contractualization

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• KMP with Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill
• PISTON to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law
• GABRIELA for price control of basic goods
  services
• LFS, Anakbayan on support for public education
• and many others

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Building up on the peoples existing campaigns

• Intensity of crisis challenges us to match it
  with even greater resolve to struggle
• to bring about an even bigger broader
  peoples movement
• towards establishing a common peoples agenda
• through fora, direct consultations, discussion
  groups, etc

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But most important, it should translate to
concrete actions campaigns

• Mass signature drive
• Coordinated protest actions other activities
• Alliance or coalition, etc
• linking with the peoples struggles in other
  countries

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• Our fighting demands for economic relief,
  survival, long-term reforms Ensuring a
  pro-people nationalist response to the crisis

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On jobs benefits

• Ensure easy access to social security
• benefits and expand unemployment
• benefits for displaced workers
• Provide immediate easy availment of cash
  assistance for displaced OFWs
• Stop the retrenchment of government workers
• Stop the erosion of wages protect jobs against
  flexible labor policies unjust retrenchment

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On taxes debt

• Full implementation of tax breaks for
• minimum wage earners their
• equivalent in the public sector
• Removing VAT on oil, power, food items other
  basic goods services
• Moratorium on debt payments (to include
  cancellation of odious debt)
• Tax break financial assistance package for
  Filipino SMEs
• Crackdown on government corruption, wastage,
  smuggling, re-imposition of tariffs

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On prices

• Imposition of price control
• mechanisms repeal deregulation
• policies on oil power
• No new increases in utilities such as water,
  power transportation
• Freeze in tuition increases in both public
  private schools, repeal deregulation of tuition
• Ensure availability of affordable food, esp.
  rice bring back to market subsidized NFA rice _at_
  P18.25/kilo increase domestic rice procurement
  of NFA ensure farm gate price _at_ P17/kilo

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On liberalization

• Stop bilateral FTAs, stop JPEPA no new
• commitments in WTO stop
• implementation of WTO agreements
• Oppose moves for more investment liberalization
  such as through HR 737 (100 foreign ownership of
  land)
• Stop neoliberal policy of trade liberalization
  support local production by restoring tariffs

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On the domestic economy

• Orient the economy towards
• production for domestic consumption
• self-reliance
• Provide incentives support domestic industries
  uphold policy of national industrialization
  prioritize establishment of national industries
• Implement genuine land reform spur development
  in the countryside deal decisively with rural
  unemployment poverty

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• The people must collectively fight back. It is
  where our greatest and only hope to get out of
  the raging crisis lies.

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Thank you!

• For more information about
• Bayan our campaigns,
• log on to www.bayan.ph

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