The Duterte administration’s proposal to do away with public bidding and replace this with the even less transparent ‘Swiss challenge’ system for all government projects could lead to more extensive and veiled corruption, said research group IBON’s executive director Sonny Africa. Pres. Duterte’s push for the Swiss challenge system is supposedly aimed at getting rid…
Lifting of foreign ownership restrictions through the Duterte administration’s Charter change (Cha-cha) will further stunt the Philippine economy. This will allow foreigners to further encroach on the country’s various industries. Government will also give up its responsibility to provide the public accessible and affordable goods and services, leaving Filipinos at the mercy of corporations.
Download the 2017 Yearend Birdtalk briefing paper here The year 2017 will be remembered as the year when the first major signs of distress for the Duterte administration showed themselves. The signs of economic troubles and the fundamentally anti-poor direction of economic policies became even clearer. The political agenda of centralized power and extended rule…
Download Usapang IBON Yearend 2017 primer here Umiigting ang ligalig sa administrasyong Duterte, wala pang dalawang taon sa panunungkulan. Lumalala ang kalagayan ng mamamayan, habang ipinatutupad pa rin ng gubyerno ang mga kontra-mamamayang patakarang neoliberal. Tuluyan nang napako ang mga popular na pangako ni Duterte, pero patuloy pa rin ang kanyang pagpapanggap na siya ay…
This month, IBON Foundation launches thru a mini-forum the book “Guns Against Needles: Escalating attacks against community health workers in the Philippines”. The event will be on 26 January 2018, 2pm at the IBON Conference Hall, 4th Floor located at the IBON building, #114 Timog Ave. QC. The forum/ launch intends to bring together health…
PH growth job-destroying in 2017 Going on its second year, the Duterte administration saw the largest contraction in employment in 20 years, research group IBON said in its yearend analysis of economic and political trends. This shows that generaly rising Philippine economic growth remained unfelt by Filipinos and in fact saw a worse jobs crisis,…
While President Duterte likes to claim that his administration adheres to an independent foreign policy, it appears that his major programs such as the packages of tax reforms and the planned Charter change (Cha-cha) are actually pushed by US and other foreign interests. IBON noted that the tax reforms and Cha-cha are among the key policy reforms long lobbied for by…
With the recent majority vote in favor of a constituent assembly (con-ass) by the House of Representatives (HOR), research group IBON warned that one of the primary reasons behind the push for Charter change (Cha-cha) is the lifting of foreign ownership caps. This will lead to the further stunting of the Philippine economy, said the group,…