Noynoy backers want show of will in Sona 07/26/2010

Noynoy backers want show of will in Sona

07/26/2010 Civil society groups supporting President Aquino wanted him to show political will and commitment in the State of the Nation Address (Sona) he will deliver today, saying that he should not sacri-fice the delivery of basic social ser-vices to the poor despite the fiscal crisis he inherited from former President Arroyo. Aquino’s administration begins with an extremely high trust rating of 88 percent, higher athan any of the post-dictatorship presidents which is a measure of people’s belief in the commitment of the Aquino administration to reverse the anti-poor policies implemented during the regime of Arroyo, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said. The Sona should ensure that no Pinoy will be left behind by the P-Noy adminis-tration’s poverty eradication efforts, Social Watch Philippines (SWP) said. “Our bottom-line is those at the bottom. These are millions of abso-lutely poor and absolutely hungry Filipinos who will be left behind even if we achieve the Development targets as embodied in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” said former national treasurer Leonor  FDC said it submitted to Aquino an agenda outlining demands for changes in the debt and public finance policy, the power industry, the water sector, and government’s stance on climate negotiations and responses to climate crisis.  “This is in the context of a looming fiscal crisis due to the record-breaking deficit and empty public coffers left by the Arroyo administration, electricity prices soaring past major Asian cities save Tokyo, a water crisis that is pushing Filipinos to desperate extremes, and a looming La Niña that might bring us another devastating Ondoy,” it said. Aquino should stop Arroyo’s practice of using band-aid solutions to the country’s chronic problems, the FDC said. A business-as-usual approach will only delay the inevitable descent of the economy to oblivion, but it will not change its course, the group added.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100726hed2.html

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