The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) scored the continuous imposition of policies by international bodies upon our country. According to Ka Willy Marbella, spokesperson of the group, “the World Bank (WB) had just recently announced that it would not authorize loans to the Philippines if the Value Added Tax bill is not passed, now the United Nations is saying that we need an anti-terror bill so that the fight against terrorism can have more teeth, or so they say. But actually these measures are really more of a burden and a hindrance to the people  rather than an answer to their problems,”

“First the VAT measure have been rejected wholesale by the populace and to some extent by the Senate, now the WB is using the “carrot on stick” tactic on us so that the government would push even harder to pass it. In other words it is plain and simple blackmail. Second, they are using the “boogey man tactics” on the anti-terrorism bill, saying that terrorists will pounce on us if we do not have one.It is as if the repressive laws of our land are not enough to catch so-called terrorists, it is their resilience in doing so which is lacking,” added the peasant leader.

As for his part Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of the group, “for the National ID system , it seems that DILG secretary Angelo Reyes and the Metro Manila mayors have found a way to circumvent the Supreme Court decision by using section 394 of the Logal Government Code (LGC) of 1991, saying that it is just a matter of strictly enforcing barangay registration,”

“But this is absurd and its primary goal is to build the database of the National ID system and then implement it even if it is unconstitutional. It is like the zonings in Marcos’ time. We will challenge this in court by filling a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop it. We will also file declaratory relief charges against the mayors that will implement this. The Macapagal-Arroyo regime it seems is hellbent in returing martial rule in our land,”ended Ala. # # #
 

KMP - 9 March 2005