The left-leaning Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chided Malacanang for its obvious lie that there are brighter prospects for the country this year. According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of the group, “President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye are obviously lying through their teeth, when they said that they are looking forward to an improvement in the economy and that there would be positive results from her program against graft and corruption. These are just motherhood statements and empty rhetorics,”

“They know fully well that what they are saying are without basis and is geared to fool the people on the real situation of our country. As can be seen by her first move of the year Gloria is trying to rob small coconut farmers of their hard-earned coco levy funds worth more than P130 billion. Besides water rates jacked up on the first day of the year and oil and power rates are sure to follow, what is bright in that?” asked the peasant leader.

As for his part Ka Willy Marbella, spokesperson of KMP “the only bright thing that may happen this year is that at the maximum Gloria can be ousted from power together with her anti-people policies or at the minimum the mass movement calling for her ouster would have become broader. This being the year of the rooster our existence would become more of  “tatlong kahig isang tuka” with the economic crisis growing from worse to worst,”

“The contradictions between the ruling class and the people will become more acute as well as with the contradictions among the ruling cliques. In other words there would be an all-out “sabong” this year in our country,” ended Marbella. # # # 

KMP - 3 January 2005