the crusader - december 1, 2010 (vol. 1, no. 2)

8/8/2019 The Crusader - December 1, 2010 (Vol. 1, No. 2)

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The Official Newsletter of the Ateneo Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA

December 1, 2010 Vol. 1 N

INSIDE

Politics: Budget Transparency 1

Special Section: The Budget Process 3

Economy: Public Private Partnerships 4

Perspective: On the Korean Conflict 4

Theory & Politics: Neoliberalism 5

POLITICS | Not Transparent Enough

The International Budget Partnership (IBP), a

United States based group that monitors

budget transparency in 94 countries, gave the

Philippines a mediocre score of 55% in its

annual Open Budget survey released last week.

This means that the government was not able

to provide sufficient information on the five

out of eight budget related documents, which

are supposedly open for public viewing. Thescore reflects how the government needs to do

more to make the budget more transparent.

Lack of transparency leads to more room for

corruption.

Picture Source: http://pcij.org

Several factors are to blame. One, there is n

enough public involvement in the conception

the budget. The executive and legislative do

involve nor sufficiently inform the public on t

creation of the budget. Even though items

the budget may be openly debated in t

Senate or the House of Representatives , t

final versions are discussed within closed do

in the Bicameral Committee. Secondly, peoare not doing enough to demand for mo

transparency and when they do the governme

is often suspicious or dismissive of th

intentions.

continued on the next page

Editorial Board: Miguel Calayag, Kristine Chy, Zarah

Domingo, Daniel Garingan, Joshua Lim, JA De Lima, Jules

Lo, Coco Navarro, James Roman, Miguel Rivera, Maria

Venturanza


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Instead of listening, government

officials are defensive, claiming that

the students did not bother to look at

the greater picture of the budget as a

whole.

THE CRUSADER 2

Last week, students of state-owned University of

the Philippines walked out in protest of budget

cuts to the individual budgets of state

universities and colleges (SUCs). Instead of

listening, government officials are defensive,

claiming that the students did not bother to lookat the greater picture of the budget as a whole.

The total budget allocated for all SUCs had in

fact increased for 2011 in comparison to the

allocation for this year despite the fact that

individual allocations decreased, according to

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. Sources

suggest that the unsustainable SUCs will either

be merged with other SUCs to form university

systems, or will be closed altogether, in order to

save on potential operational costs.

While budget officials appear to be open to

dialogue with sectors involved, the overriding

concern cutting down costs reeks of

neoliberal ideological motivations that willeventually render any dialogue fruitless so long

as the government insists on this pre-

determined position. Transparency is one issue.

Ideological stubbornness is another.

Students and faculty members of the University of th

Philippines protesting proposed education budget cu

Picture Source: abs-cbnnews.c

BUDGET ALLOCATIONS PER SECTO

in 2009 and 2010


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THE BUDGET PROCESS

Information taken from www.dbm.gov.ph, the official website of The

Department of Budget and Management. Flowchart prepared by The

CRUSADER Editorial Board.

THE CRUSADER 3


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THE CRUSADER 4

PERSPECTIVE |A Looming War?

A volatile North Korea delivered an aggressive and fa

response to a South Korean artillery exercise last

November 23 that left 4 people, including 2 civilians,

dead in the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

Although there had been several deadly military

engagements and provocative rhetoric from the Nort

throughout the years since the end of the Korean Wa

the incident last November 23 still sent shockwaves t

the world market and the global political arena

reminding everyone that one of East Asias most

successful capitalist-democracies has always been at

threshold of a possible nuclear onslaught. These

seemingly spontaneous episodes of violence howeve

are not completely surprising. Instead, these are clea

indicators of the failure of political discourse amongs

major stakeholders in the on-going Korean affair. Thi

includes not only the two Koreas but also the major

world powers such as the United States and the Peop

Republic of China. It also illustrates the destructive

consequences of leaving highly political decisions on

indefinite hold in favor of pursuing economicdevelopment. In the case of the South, five decades

after a mutual agreement on the cessation of hostilit

it has become major regional power. On the other ha

North Korea has been occasionally labeled as a rogue

militaristic state suffering from chronic economic illn

ever since. Unfortunately, the prolonged truce betwe

the North and the South resolved tensions did not

resolve the real dispute between the two, but instea

fostered indifference and violence towards each othe

That same truce that apparently aimed to cease war

only led to individualistic interests instead of Korean

solidarity. Economic prosperity might have landed on

South Korean soil but at the expense of a genuine

democratic experience. It must be realized the Korea

War is not a just a war between a broken people, it is

also a war for democracy.

ECONOMY | What about the public?

President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III reiterated last

week his governments commitment to developing more

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) which seek tostrengthen the countrys economic foundation through a

BOT (build-operate-transfer) approach. This economic

strategy involves private firms investing in the

government by building and developing infrastructure

facilities where ownership will gradually be transferred

to the government, after breaking even and getting

profit of course. This is a gamble however. In most PPPs,

the government assumes its share of market risk having

to play around with big money and if threats do realize

into financial problems, such as facilities not earning

profits (which is the case now with the EDSA MRT line),

taxpayers will unwittingly shoulder the heavy burden

even when they are out of services reach.

This trend is not new. In fact, most of the natural

monopolies such as water systems, oil,

telecommunications and transportation are due to PPP

deals contracted during the presidency of Fidel Ramos.

Experience with these partnerships should already make

the government cautious front in dealing with such

negotiations. During Ramoss time, PPPs involving theIndependent Power Producers (IPPs) turned out to be a

long-term burden since they forced the government to

pay for excess or unused power and shoulder most

operational problems. These continue to bear on

present economic woes vis--vis dollar denominated

debts and payments.

These lopsided arrangements such as take or pay

provisions are not entirely the private sectors fault.

Investing in the Philippines continues to be a risky affair.PPP investors are in the risk of encountering irregularities

such as corruption and dishonoring of contract (as in the

failure of NAIA 3 to run as an international airport).

Instead of simply promising PPP schemes profits for the

private companies involved, the government must assure

them of transparency mechanisms and a trustworthy

regulatory framework. Better infrastructures will also

help. But with a government that seems to be weary of

public spending, attracting PPPs will entail giving in to

the demands of private sector partners.


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What is NEOLIBERALISM and why is it ANTI-DEMOCRATIC?

Global neoliberalism transforms aspects of social life into economic and

market relations which is evident in the entrepreneurial turn in politics

today. According to this ideal of contemporary politics, the model citizen is

one who strategizes for her/ himself among various social, political and

economic options, not one who strives with others to alter or reorganize

these options. The political theorist Wendy Brown enumerates very

interesting examples: 1) the market rationality permeating universities

today, from admissions and recruiting to the relentless consumer mentality

of students in relationship to university brand names, courses, and

services, from faculty raiding and pay scales to promotion criteria; 2) the

way in which consequential moral lapses by politicians, businessexecutives, or church and university administrators are so often apologized

for as "mistakes in judgement," implying that it was the calculation that

was wrong, not the act, actor, or rationale. In short, politics is understood

as the simple harmonization of the plurality of group interests and not

about the formation of validity claims, collective principles and identities.

Any analysis of global capitalism

today must realize thatcontemporary capitalism can no

longer be restricted to the realm

economic production but must b

studied from all aspects of socia

life, including language, culture,

and everyday human affairs.

Quotable Quotes

In this country, populist politicians ignore the basic tenets of free enterprise which means thatservice provided by private businessmen on behalf of the government has a cost.

--- Malaya newspaper columnist Amado Macasaet commenting on the economic regulatory environment

in the Philippines

It only takes one word from the President and it would stop. I wonder why he doesnt say and d

so.--- Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan on President Aquinos seemingly indecisive stand

on jueteng and illegal gambling

Saya kangen nasi goring, bakso dan rambutan. [I miss eating fried rice, meatballs, and rambutan.]

--- Barack Obama, President of the United States of America remarking on a recent state visit to

Indonesia.

THE CRUSADER

THEORY & POLITICS

the crusader - december 1, 2010 (vol. 1, no. 2)

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