Holds US and puppet regime Arroyo liable to Filipinos

DAVAO CITY–Members of militant youth organizations ANAKBAYAN and League of Filipino Students (LFS) here staged a “dulaang kidlat” or a lightning street play last February 5 (at the Bankerohan Intersection) depicting the people’s growing rage against the current global financial crisis.

The militants blamed the imperial United States as the main culprit of the current world-wide economic crisis as the leader among monopoly capitalist states. The groups cited the burst in the US’ bubble economy (housing and IT) and the crisis in overproduction as indicators of the cause of the current recession.

LFS Davao City spokesperson Karlos Manlupig said the US needs its neo-colonies and puppet regimes such as, among others, the Arroyo government in order to dominate the world economically. This, Manlupig said, does not insulate the Arroyo administration of being culpable with the extent of the effects of the crisis in the country. The Arroyo government is guilty of outright selling of the Filipino people and our resources through pro-US policies (mining, export rights, cheap labor, etc.)

“Aggravation of the educational crisis, skyrocketing prices of consumer products and massive lay-offs greeted the Filipino people this year,” said Sheena Duazo, Anakbayan Southern Mindanao spokesperson.

Duazo added that more than 15,000 workers were already laid-off and more than 19,000 workers had their working hours reduced and most of them are from the youth sector, and that by the end of the year, there will be more than 11 million jobless Filipinos.

“These are contrary to the lies Mrs. Gloria Arroyo told us, that our economy is resilient and secure from the impacts of the global crisis,” Duazo said.

Duazo expressed that the youth’s dream for a quality and free education is becoming unpropitious. “Under the US-Arroyo regime one in every three Filipino youth between 6-24 years old is a drop-out or had never been to school. Due to the high cost of education, most of our fellow youth have no choice but to leave school and are forced to find jobs to survive,” Duazo stated.

“If the government is really sincere in its campaign for quality education, it should prioritize the allocation of enough budget for education rather than implement random drug-tests and the proposed nonsensical 1-year extension in college courses, Nursing and Education among others,” said Manlupig.

Manlupig added that the 1-year extension is just another band-aid solution of the government. “This will only delay the students’ stay in their college or university preventing them to mass-up in the swelling numbers of unemployed and is just an added burden for students and parents,” explained Manlupig.

“It is high time for the youth to unite and urge the government to act upon our demands. The condition is very ripe to kick Arroyo out of Malacanang.” Duazo stressed.

“Moreover, in the midst of this extreme crisis, Arroyo and her cronies cannot deny that we are gravely affected by the collapse of the world capitalist system. And we have no other option but to turn this rage into a fight against the crisis of monopoly capitalism and to advance our national democratic struggle,” Manlupig said. ###

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