Of death and debt

On the day of his return, August 21, 1983, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated on the tarmac of Manila International Airport. This was during the term of the dictator, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.

Forty years after, Ninoy’s assassination remains unsolved to this day, during the term of the dictator’s son.

Justice for Ninoy reverberated during the dictator Marcos’ reign.

Justice for Ninoy still continues today, before the dictator’s son, Marcos Jr.

Ninoy Aquino would have been this country’s president. A former Philippine senator, God-centered, focused on his mission to serve the Lord and his country, fearless/undaunted by all the advice not to return to the Philippines, what a legacy Ninoy would have left behind, he who believed that the Filipinos were worth dying for.

Ninoy’s widow, Cory, and their son, Noynoy/PNoy, carried out his legacy for him. Not only did they believe that the Filipino is worth dying for; they also believed and lived the truth that the Filipino is worth living for.

Today, we remember Ninoy and celebrate, with much joy/thanksgiving, his life as well as those of Cory/PNoy and their legacy --Ninoy and his martyrdom, Cory and democracy’s restoration-- the 1986 Constitution, and Pnoy’s committed/dedicated service to the Filipino people/our country.

PNoy’s great economic legacy is of timely relevance today.

Former UP School of Economics Professor, Dr. Raul Fabella wrote in his “PNoy and inclusion: “from 2010 to 2016, poverty incidence declined from 26.3% to 21.6%, an almost 5% difference in six years, a remarkable achievement.”

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. in his June 28, 2021 write-up “My Cup of Liberty”, thanked PNoy for his great economic legacy “that less interventionist, less prohibitionist policies are pro-growth, pro-poor.”

Particularly, a.) The PNoy administration’s 6.2% GDP growth was the best performer of the seven administrations (1980-2020); b.) The PNoy administration with 2.7% inflation rate again was the best performer in price stability among the seven administrations, and, c.) The PNoy administration significantly reduced government gross debt as percent of GDP to only 37.3% in 2016 from 47.6% in 2010 --a 10.3% point reduction in just six years.

By June 2016, the Aquino presidency’s last month, the country had ?5.9 trillion outstanding debt.

When Duterte ended his presidency in June, 2022, Philippine outstanding national government debt ballooned to ?12.79 trillion.

By end-May 2023, “the national government's total outstanding debt stood at ?14.10 trillion. The level of debt grew by ?185. 40 billion or 1.3% from the previous month.”

At the ongoing budget hearings, Marcos Jr.’s economic team once again suggested foreign borrowing. We join the lawmakers scrutinize the proposed budget and ask: Why borrow?

Who will benefit from the proposed 2024 national budget and more debts? Why not remove the president/vice president’s confidential funds, declare moratorium on infra projects, review/see where/what else in the unspent/present 2023 budget can be used for 2024?

Thanks to Bob Chanco for sharing this very simple explanation of Senator Ralph Recto about the proposed borrowing folly:

“The 2024 national budget of ?5.767 trillion translates to an average daily spending of ?15.8 billion ngunit ?11.7 billion lang ang kayang pondohan ng buwis. Kaya may ?4 bilyon na dapat utangin.”

“Payment for interest alone on the burgeoning public debt will be around ?1.8 billion a day next year.”

Worse, Recto said, the proposed budget does not give the whole picture.

The scheduled interest payments of ?670 billion and ?1.24 trillion in principal amortization in 2024 --“’Yan lang ang bayad sa utang, hiwalay ang uutangin.”

“‘Yung bayad sa principal, ‘yung amortization (?3.4 billion a day), na automatically appropriated, if added to the ?1.83 billion interest payment “real” debt service expenditures would be around ?5.2 billion daily. “

“If government were a household, it is living beyond its means, umuutang sa 5/6 dahil sa matinding pangangailangan.”