Aquino slammed on $1-B IMF 'loan'

By Fernan Marasigan / Reporter

CRAZY!

This was how Party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna described the Aquino administration’s plan to lend $1billion to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) emergency pool.

“The Aquino government’s plan to lend $1billion to the IMF is plain crazy. Our national debt just breached the P5-trillion level early this year, meaning we are more in debt than ever. Why on earth lend money when we ourselves need it?” said Casiño.

Instead of lending the amount to IMF, Casiño said it could be offered to small and medium enterprises in the country and the millions in the informal sector.

This developed as workers, led by labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), condemned Mr. Aquino for saying that the $1-billion loan to the IMF will be used to help countries suffering from the global economic crisis and that it will redound to the benefit of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The workers, who picketed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) office in East Avenue, Quezon City, on Monday, said the multilateral agency is not really helping workers and the poor in other countries.

“The IMF is not helping the workers and the peoples of Europe and the world. It is in fact making life harder for them by imposing austerity measures in exchange for aids and loans,” said Leadro Gerodias, KMU deputy secretary-general.

Instead, the workers suggested that Mr. Aquino should find ways of using the country’s foreign-exchange reserves in ways that actually benefit OFWs and Filipino workers.

“More than 700,000 micro, small and medium enterprises in the country plus millions in the informal sector are so desperate for credit that they have to borrow money from usurious‘ 5-6’ lenders due to the lack of proper credit facilities. Dapat ipautang na lang ’yang perang ’yan sa maliliit nating negosyante,” said Casiño, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development.

Also he said the plan is not sanctioned by Congress and has never been discussed in budget deliberations.

“Only Congress has the power to allocate such a huge amount for this purpose. Enough of such craziness!” said Casiño.

Party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis criticized what he described as action pitching of the Aquino administration for its plan.

“The Philippines’s $1-billion pledge to IMF will only give more bragging rights for [President] Aquino, currently the favored Am-Boy [American Boy] of the Obama government,” said Mariano.

The multi-billion dollar crisis fund, also known as the ‘firewall fund’ is aimed at helping the financial agency respond to the euro-zone debt crisis. Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIGS) have asked the IMF for assistance after being locked out of debt markets. The total pledges announced at the G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, totaled to $456 billion.

“It is at the height of hypocrisy and insensitivity that the Aquino government would commit a staggering $1 billion to the IMF when Filipinos are in dire need of additional budget for basic social services like health, housing and education,” said Mariano.

The militant legislator urged Malacañang to pull-out the donation, saying that contributing to IMF’s crisis fund when the country is in a chronic economic crisis is highly illogical and unacceptable.

“The Philippines is not even a member-country of the IMF. [President] Aquino’s commitment is of his own volition. The actions of President Aquino favoring foreign interests have further disadvantaged Filipinos. He is a blind follower of foreign dictates. He would willingly sell-out the country only to satisfy the whims of foreign financial agencies and governments,” Mariano said.

He said the $1-billion fund would be more beneficial if used to fund the shortage of education materials and equipment for public schools.