People’s
Assembly Against Imf-Wb And Imperialist Globalization
The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country which has been suffering from the burden of debt to the IMF-World Bank since after World War II. At present our foreign debt stands at $52 Billion.
At birth, each Filipino already owes the multilateral agencies almost $700. A family of six needs $11 for the barest necessities. But the minimum wage is pegged at a mere $5 per day while most farmers earn as little as 90 cents per day.
Under Presidential Decree 1177, which has been enforced since the Marcos dictatorship, the government gives priority to the payment of the country’s foreign debt over the delivery of basic services. Forty percent (40%) of the national budget is set aside for debt and interest payments, while only ten percent (10%) is allotted for education. A mere one cent per Filipino is budgeted for health services.
We can never trust these multilateral agencies which give loans with one hand while taking away more through interest payments and Structural Adjustment Programs. In 1996, the IMF Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC) dangled the false hopes that 41 countries might become eligible for debt relief but the list has now been tapered down to fifteen (15); and only one has actually received a cancellation.
In the Philippines, the IMF-WB loans have always come with Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) attached. In particular, the IMF-WB prescription for the Philippines includes:
· Continuing trade and investment liberalization resulting in local markets being flooded with imported goods, while local farmers’ harvests rot in the field and local businesses go bankrupt.
· More and more privatization resulting in hospitals, social welfare centers, water and electrical utilities being run by profit-hungry private corporations.
· “Re-engineering” of the government structure resulting in the lay-off of thousands of employees and a freeze on further hiring.
The IMF-WB allows these loans to be siphoned off by corrupt government officials, as long as they agree to its conditionalities and perpetuate the cycle of debt. It is the Filipino people who are left to suffer the ill effects of the SAPs.
The People’s Assembly Against IMF-WB and Imperialist Globalization condemns the IMF and World Bank as instruments of the G7 countries (led by the US) to dominate and control the world economy to their advantage. Countless suffering for millions of people has been mandated by the IMF-WB to protect the profit interests of the rich few. Thus, we stand with all the oppressed peoples of the world in solidarity against the IMF-WB and imperialist globalization.
JUNK THE THE DEBT!
JUNK THE IMF-WORLD BANK!
DOWN
WITH IMPERIALIST GLOBALIZATION!