Labor leader and presidential candidate Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman wants to audit the P 11.7-trillion national debt of the Philippines and to end the dependence on importation.
According to the Bureau of Treasury (BoT) last Feb. 1, national debt totaled at around P11,728,000,000,000.
“Inutang ito ng mga trapo ng mga dinastiya nakaupo sa gobyerno kaya karamihan ng mga inutang na ito ay ninakaw (This was borrowed by corrupt politicians and dynasties in power, which is much of this debt was stolen),” De Guzman said at the CNN Philippines Presidential Debate on Sunday, Feb. 27.
“Ito’y masamang utang. Kasi ito’y inutang mula kay Marcos ng mga daang administrasyon (This is bad debt. It was borrowed by Marcos and past administrations),” he asserted.
He further explained that should he be elected, this P11.7 trillion national debt would be audited and held accountable to the corrupt politicians he referred to.
“Kaya ang dapat gawin natin ay i-audit natin ito at ang pagabayaran natin kung sino nagnakaw dito (We need to audit this debt and make those who stole it, pay for it),” De Guzman explained.
However, De Guzman isn’t against incurring debt from other countries if the funds were to be used correctly.
He also wants to repair the economy by ending import dependence which he believes will continue to inflate national debt.
“Yung pag-utang ay tama ‘yon, kung matino ang gobyerno pwede nating gamitin. Pero kinakailangan ayusin natin yung ating sistema ng ekonomiya. Kung ang ating sistema ng ekonomiya ay import dependent, export oriented na lagi tayong lugi sa pag-eexport, mababa ang presyo, mataas ang presyo ng pag-iimport, talagang mangungutang tayo lagi (Borrowing is correct under an honest government. But, we need to fix our economic system. If our system is import dependent, export oriented where we export fow low and import for high prices, then we will always be in debt),” he concluded.
De Guzman is running for the presidential seat in the 2022 elections alongside running mate Walden Bello under the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM).