Philippine Politics

MANILA, Philippines - Congress resumes sessions Monday after a month-long break, with approval before yearend of the proposed P1.415-trillion national budget for 2009 on top of its agenda.

The budget, up 15% from the P1.227 trillion appropriated this year, is scheduled for third and final approval in the House. The measure remains at the committee level in the Senate but the chamber’s leader has committed to its early approval.

Both chambers said they were looking at realigments, with House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles saying the priority should be food security, education, and health. Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the finance subcommittee, said the realignments should prioritize infrastructure spending to provide more jobs to Filipinos.

“The early approval of the proposed 2009 budget reflects our commitment to put in place the fiscal guidelines that will ensure smooth operation of the government next year,” Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said in a statement.

The Senate and the House have also detailed lists of commitments before the next recess on December 17, but have only six weeks to act.

Six common measures — based on the priorities issued by both chambers — appear to have the best chances of being passed before yearend:

* the proposed Magna Carta of Women;
* a five-year extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP);
* rationalization of fiscal incentives;
* amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA);
* reproductive health bill; and
* a national tourism policy program.

Of the six, all but two — fiscal incentives rationalization and the reproductive health bill — are on a joint legislative-executive priority list.

Up for approval by the bicameral conference committee on Wednesday, meanwhile, is the Cooperative Code that provides tax incentives to cooperatives.

Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto A. Lim favors the legislative priorities. Asked what other measures he would suggest that Congress pass, Mr. Lim said: “Having Congress get through all the pending measures would be enough.”

Edgardo G. Lacson, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the legislature should focus on what the group calls the FIRE (food improvement and security, infrastructure, reengineering education, and energy) program.

Of 22 priority measures listed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, Congress has so far approved 10:

* the 2008 budget;
* extension of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to 2015;
* Civil Aviation Authority bill;
* amendments to the University of the Philippines charter;
* amendments to the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises;
* the cheaper drugs law;
* higher tax exemptions for wage earners;
* Personal Equity Retirement Account;
* Credit Information System Act; and
* the Renewable Energy Act.
* Still pending are:
* the EPIRA amendments;
* CARP extension;
* national tourism policy bill;
* a bill allowing the Ombudsman to use private prosecutors;
* the Anti-Smuggling Act;
* a bill imposing stiffer penalties on the illegal explosives trade;
* the Magna Carta of Women;
* the Witness Protection Act;
* modernization of the Fire Code;
* concurrence with presidential proclamation granting amnesty to rebels;
* amendments to the Customs Brokers Act; and
* amendments to the Consumer Act. - BusinessWorld

President Arroyo said on Wednesday Southeast Asian nations and their dialogue partners have agreed to create a standby liquidity fund for the region.

Arroyo said the World Bank (WB) had committed to initially provide $10 billion as its contribution to the facility.

She said she hoped other multilateral institutions could contribute to the fund to protect the region from the ravages of the global financial crisis.

“The facility can be used to purchase what the bankers call toxic assets and recapitalize troubled financial institutions and private companies,” she said.

Sidelines of WB-IMF annual meet

The finance ministers from East Asia are discussing a Philippines plan for a fund to help neighbors facing severe liquidity problems during the credit crisis, Arroyo said Wednesday.

The discussions took place on the sidelines of the annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington, she said.

She added that the meeting was also attended by representatives from the IMF, WB and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“They reached an understanding to establish a standby facility to assist ASEAN countries (which) have severe liquidity problems,” she said in a speech to local government officials in Manila.

There was no immediate reaction from the other meeting participants, which included the 10-member ASEAN, China, South Korea and Japan.

She said those at the meeting “welcomed our initiative not only in providing access to financing but also more importantly in boosting confidence in the ASEAN economies.”

She said the World Bank and the IMF “will draft the implementing mechanism as soon as possible, in consultation with ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors.

“Immediately thereafter, they will convene another meeting to discuss the guidelines for the facility, which we suggested should be quick-disbursing with minimal conditionalities.”

Aside from the Philippines, ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

ASEAN plus three includes the group’s dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea. Reuters, Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK (AFP) - - A rare bird in the political world, the US Communist Party is feeling rather smug in these days of capitalist turmoil.

At the party’s New York headquarters on 23rd Street in Manhattan, regional party chairman Libero Della Piana, 36, laid out why he thinks Marxist-Leninism’s time has finally come.

“We are very excited, we feel that we are at a turning point,” Della Piana, an imposing half-Italian, half-African American with a pony tail, told AFP.

“We can afford to be less on the defensive for the first time since Ronald Reagan, and we can say our word in rebuilding America on a new basis, rebuilding a better world, instead of one based on the greed of the few.”

The US Communist Party was founded in 1919 and never really took off. It was ostracized during the Cold War and members faced discrimination, even firing from their work, during the anti-Communist drive of the 1950s.

Today, the party claims to have 3,000 to 3,500 members — seemingly not a threat to the giant Democratic and Republican parties contesting next month’s White House election.

But American communists think that the collapse of Wall Street and huge disillusionment among the public with the economy has put them on a roll.

“We receive more and more phone calls, we have more inquiries from people, we see an increase in interest,” Della Piana said. “We hope to be part of the discussion. I can see a role for the Communist Party in this next period.”

“The crisis’ number one lesson: the market cannot regulate itself,” he said. “Otherwise it goes out of control.”

Communist youth coordinator Erica Smiley, 28, said “the major issues for the young are: peace, jobs, health care, education, and we provide them with answers.”

Whether the communists will be able to deliver remains open to question.

One plus is that their recently renovated New York headquarters, featuring the obligatory tomes of Lenin and Marx, is prime real estate — a serious and very capitalist nest egg.

But few people were about during a visit by AFP on Monday and the atmosphere was collegial and slightly sleepy, rather than revolutionary.

“They are all out working to get people to vote,” explained Bill Davis, 65, who has been a faithful member for 37 years.

There is no communist running for the White House and the Communist Party does not endorse Democrat Barack Obama.

Yet many staff here wore his picture on lapel buttons, while Republican John McCain was relegated to a box of tissues — the tissues being pulled through his mouth.

MANILA, Philippines – Senators on Thursday described the Supreme Court ruling which upheld the executive privilege invoked by former national planning chief Romulo Neri when he evaded questions regarding the government’s deal with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp. as “erroneous,” “terrible,” and “unreasonable.”

However, the senators said they would respect the decision and vowed to continue their pursuit of the truth in relation to the deal.

Senator Francis Escudero described the decision as “erroneous” and warned it would shield corrupt government executives linked to anomalies.

“I believe that this is an erroneous ruling that will henceforth be used as a subterfuge of the corrupt and those who want to escape accountability while holding public office, this is a dark day indeed for constitutionalists and our legal system,”he said.

In another interview, Senator Aquilino Pimentel described the ruling as a “terrible, unreasonable decision.”

For his part, Senator Francis Pangilinan said that he was “saddened” by the decision but added that they would have to respect the ruling.

“While we will have to recognize and respect the ruling, we are nevertheless saddened that the SC has opted to take the side of Malacanang in this controversy but nevertheless, it is a sad day for greater transparency and accountability,”he said.

Senator Manuel Roxas II echoed Pangilinan in saying that the Senate would respect the decision.

However, he said that the Senate still believes that the privilege should only cover issues that threaten “national security, diplomatic relations, and peace and order.”

“Executive privilege should not apply to projects such as the (ZTE deal), or other matters where graft and corruption are alleged,” Roxas said.

He added that the Senate still awaits the high court’s decision on the government’s claim of executive privilege over the the NEDA documents pertaining to the ZTE project.

“These documents have always been open for all to see, and rightly so, because they are of public interest and relate to projects and programs paid for by the public,” Roxas added.

Roxas, however, stressed that the Senate will be firmly committed on its quest for truth.

“Our search for the truth on this matter is far from over. We will continue to exhaust all legal resources to get some accountability on this anomalous deal,” Roxas said. - Amita Legaspi, Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV