Filipino Solon Tags President As "Incompetent"

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 25, 2008) - A Filipino lawmaker on Friday branded President Gloria Arroyo as "incompetent" and blamed her government for current state of children in the country.

"Gloria Arroyo's incompetence as a leader stunted the growth of our children,” said Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan during a press conference organized by the Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns.

"Arroyo deprived 29 million children in the Philippines their basic rights to life, survival and development as enshrined both in the Constitution and the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child," she said.

Ilagan said Arroyo’s anti-people policies have forced a large number of young Filipinos, mostly below 18 years of age, to work so they can their poor family instead of going to school.

"A lot of children from poor farming and fishing communities are employed as factory workers, construction workers and domestic helpers in the cities and some girls are trafficked to become prostitutes in other countries such as Japan, China and Taiwan."

"During her first State of the Nation Address in 2001, Arroyo promised three kids from (the slum district of) Payatas (in Manila) to improve the quality of life in the Philippines by providing every Filipino access to quality education," she said.

She said seven years have passed but the statistics show that 1 out of 10 children is unable to go to school and two to three students have to share a textbook and that 60 to 75 students atten their classes under a mango tree because there was not enough rooms for them.

"Is this her definition of quality education and better life?” she asked.

In 2007, Arroyo claimed that her government invested more for education than the previous years, but a consolidated report submitted to the Geneva Convention on the Rights of the Child noted that the education sector's share in social services actually declined.

But a report by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research said that the national government spending on education fell by 22% from 2001-2006.

For 2008, Ilagan said, the budget allocated for education is just slightly over P2000 per person or 14% less than in 1998. She also cut the budget and is pushing for the privatization of public schools, moving education further away from many poor Filipinos’ reach.

"The future of our children remains bleak because we still have GMA as our president," Ilagan said. (With reports from the Mindanao Examiner)