Congress urged to suspend P8-B payment for ‘illegitimate’ debts
ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News

A budget watchdog on Monday called on Congress to suspend payment for P8-billion worth of debts, which it described as “illegitimate.”

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) identified nine national government debts which were allegedly “fraudulent, wasteful and useless.”

The FDC said the financial obligations for these projects should be suspended:
Austrian Medical Waste Project
Social Expenditure Management Program 2
Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project
Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Modernization Project
Power Sector Restructuring Program
Power Sector Development Program
Angat Water Supply Optimization Project
Procurement of Search and Rescue Vessel from Tenix Defense Property Ltd. and
Pampanga Delta Development Project

“Kailangan suspendihin habang iniimbestigahan ‘yung kaso para malaman natin kung may anomalya talaga riyan, kung mayroon talagang panloloko o panlilinlang na nangyari. Kapag napatunayan iyon, dapat ipanawagan natin na huwag nang bayaran,” FDC project coordinator Jofti Villena said on Monday.

Villena said the allocations for the interest payments of these debts should instead be used to fund social services for next year.

She added that her group has already talked with some lawmakers to raise the matter during plenary discussions on the proposed 2012 budget.

The national government allocated P723 billion from the P1.816-trillion budget for next year for debt servicing.

“Pwede kasi na ang perang ito ay mapunta sa edukasyon, sa state colleges and universities na alam naman natin na sobrang binabaan na ang budget, or sa health or subsidy for agriculture,” she said.

Around 30 members of the FDC and other labor groups staged a protest in front of the Batasang Pambansa gates in Quezon City on Monday— a day before the lower chamber starts plenary debates on the national budget on Tuesday.

Read full article @ www.gmanews.tv

Related articles

• How to wreck an economy (business.financialpost.com)
• [Event] Climate Campaign Conference – FDC & JSAPMDD (hronlineph.wordpress.com)
• [Event] Public Forum on Gender and Development (GAD) Budget – www.fdc.ph (hronlineph.wordpress.com)
• .:villena:. NEW!! (eatmystylee.wordpress.com)
• Congress just makes the economy worse (capitolhillblue.com)
• Analysis: Is Congress hurting the economy? (huffingtonpost.com)
• How being honest about your debts can help you save (csmonitor.com)
• Are We About To Have Another Debt Ceiling Crisis? (ritholtz.com)
• A Different Way of Thinking about Your Debts (thesimpledollar.com)
• National debt: Why entitlement spending must be reined in (money.cnn.com)