The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) lambasted the UP 11 for being sorry apologists of the regime by pushing for the approval of the repressive Value Added Tax (VAT) bill. According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of KMP, “it is a shame that UP is an institution known to protect the interest of the poor but it seems that the UP 11 has another orientation and it is to the poor people’s detriment. Now the UP 11 are pushing for a highly unpopular bill guaranteed to make life worse for more Filipinos,”

“Nagpupumilit ngayon ang UP 11 na pabanguhin ang VAT dahil isinusuka na ito ng mamamayan. Idinadaan nila ngayon sa mga matatatas na salita ang pagpapalusot saVAT,pero alam na alam naman ng masa na hindi ito makabubuti sa kanilang kabuhayan,” added Ramos.

“Sa special session na darating ay muling puputaktehin ng protesta ang Senado upang ibasura na ang VAT na ito.Ang bersyon man ng Senado o ng Kongreso ay walang pinag-iba pareho nitong patataasin ang presyong mga bilihin, pahirap lang ito sa amin,” said the peasant leader.

As for his part Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of the group, “we have long suggested that the 4 na Dapat sa Halip na VAT should be followed to alleviate the crisis but they ignored it. The 4 na Dapat consist of 1.) Pursuit of tax evasion cases of big corporations (P54.1billion), 2.) Put a stop to overspending and corruption in government (P160 billion), 3.) Moratorium on debt servicing (P301billion), 4.) Reinstatement of tariffs on agricultural products (P100 billion), all in all these measures would amount to P512.2 billion, far more than the P80-90 billion target of the government from its 8 tax measures,”

“The government and the UP 11 should heed the people’s call, it is plain and simple “JUNK VAT!” ended Ala.

The UP 11 are Emmanuel de Dios, Benjamin Diokno, Emmanuel Esguerra, Raul Fabella, Ma. Socorro Gochoco-Bautista, Felipe Medalla, Solitas Collas-Monsod, Renato Reside, Edita Tan, Gerardo Sicat and Ernesto Pernia, which are all basically neo-liberal economists. # # #
 

KMP - 28 March 2005