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Gabriela on promises of gov't in 2024 NEP: 'Nothing more than lip service:'
Gabriela on promises of gov't in 2024 NEP: 'Nothing more than lip service:'
Women’s group Gabriela on Sunday, Aug. 20, labeled the government's promises in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) as "nothing more than lip service."
“The promises of the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to ‘strengthen the capabilities’ and ‘protect the purchasing power of the people,’ is really nothing more than lip service,” Gabriela Secretary-General Clarice Palce said in a statement.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/26/marcos-proposed-2024-budget-to-boost-filipino-purchasing-power
Palce alleged that all the people who stand to gain from allocation are President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.’s “cohorts, as evidenced by the bloated funding for corruption and repression.”
She pointed out that Filipino citizens, especially women, might endure even harder times due to budget cuts on public services, while the debt of the country continues to inflate.
Philippine GDP declines
To assert her point, she referred to the decline of the Philippine’s gross domestic product (GDP) from the third quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023.
“Yet nowhere in his budget proposal can we find measures to address this (GDP decline). Marcos Jr. cannot conceal the worsening crisis with flowery yet empty promises of growth, especially from women who are disproportionately impacted by the grim state of our economy,” Palce stated.
Gender wage gaps
She also underscored the gender wage pay gaps between men and women, where according to Gabriela, women often face “irregular income and no job security and benefits.”
As the women group pointed out, female worker earnings in the Philippines are only 78 percent of what male workers earn.
It said that “recent government figures also show the worse effects of the jobs crisis to women workers, who recorded a higher unemployment rate at 4.9 percent and underemployment at 10.1 percent in June 2023,” Gabriela said.
“Among the employed, women are largely found in the informal economy, where they have irregular income and no job security and benefits,” it added.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/9/fewer-filipinos-without-jobs-in-june-gov-t
Addressing the mounting crises
Palce criticized the 2024 Philippine budget which reached up to P5.768 trillion.
"As if any of that (budget) will go to addressing the mounting crises that confront Filipino women and peoples," she said.
"If anything, we are more likely to sink further into economic decline as this increase means more debt, which will be paid off by this and future generations of poor and middle-class Filipinos,” she added.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/9/marcos-admin-plans-p5-768-trillion-budget-for-2024
https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/26/marcos-proposed-2024-budget-to-boost-filipino-purchasing-power
Add'l taxes for sweetened, salted beverages, food items
Gabriela also condemned the plan of the Marcos Administration to add greater taxes for sweetened, salted beverages and food items.
As per the group, the "taxes that burden only ordinary Filipino and that which have been proven time and again to be inflationary."
“Once again, ordinary Filipinos will bear the brunt of poor fiscal policy of yet another admin while the ultra-rich enjoy tax cuts and select officials receive inflated pork and confidential funding," the Gabriela Secretary-General said.
"How is that increasing our purchasing power?” she questioned referencing the promises of the government in NEP 2024.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/22/gov-t-plans-to-raise-sugar-impose-junk-food-taxes
Palce concluded her statement by directing a message toward the president.
“Our message to BBM: this is not rocket science. There is a clear-cut method to increase people’s purchasing power, and it is NOT by imposing more taxes on the toiling masses," she said "It is NOT by building infra projects that displace millions. It is NOT by lining the pockets of officials, cronies, and state machineries for repression."
"We raise purchasing power by raising wages and strengthening government support in the form of social and economic services for ordinary Filipinos,” she added. (Sonny Daanoy)