CIVIL society organizations (CSOs) are calling for the repeal of a Marcos Sr.-era law that mandates automatic appropriation of funds for the government’s debt service, arguing the need for public consultations to address “more urgent” needs of the country.
CSOs on Tuesday launched the Philippine Citizens Debt Audit that seeks to scrutinize the country’s ballooning debt that has reached P13.418 trillion.
The CSOs emphasized that the country’s dependence on debt was a legacy of the Marcos Sr. administration that was carried through by the successive administrations.
The CSOs pointed out that it is about time to repeal a Marcos Sr. law that allows automatic appropriation of funds for debt service, in order to ensure the public’s participation in the use of the national government’s coffers.
“[We press] for the repeal of a Marcos Sr. law that allows automatic appropriation of funds for debt service, without benefit of public consultations and regardless of more urgent survival needs today of the Filipino people,” they said.
Rene Ofreneo, President of Freedom from Debt Coalition and Professor Emeritus of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said the automatic appropriations policy for debt service is curtailing citizens’ “right to information and participation in debt governance and management.”
“These public debts were and continue to be incurred in the name of the Filipino people. We are also the ones shouldering debt service payments, whether through taxes or cuts in public expenditures for health, education, job creation and other needs,” Ofreneo said.
“Yet, we only get to know what debts were contracted after the deed is done, and then bear the consequences for debt-funded projects that may have violated human rights or destroyed environments,” Ofreneo added.
The CSOs were referring to Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1177 issued by former President Marcos Sr. that revised the budget process “in order to institutionalize the budgetary innovations of the new society.”
Under Section 31 of PD 1177, the national government must automatically appropriate funds for various government expenditures that include principal and interest on public debt.
Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development, said debt audits are critical in “shaping” and “transforming” policies on the government’s debts and debt payments. Nacpil added that these audits could also serve as a basis to call for changes in the policies of lenders.
“Filipinos are struggling to survive in the face of multiple crises. Examining the public debt through a debt audit can identify loans that should not be paid, and open opportunities for shifting public money from debt service to people’s needs especially in these extremely difficult times,” Nacpil said.
The Philippines ended 2022 with an outstanding debt of P13.418 trillion, 14.4 percent over the P11.728 trillion recorded in end-2021, latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/02/03/phl-ends-2022-with-debt-of-p13-4-trillion-highest-ever/)
Historical Treasury data showed it was the Philippines’s highest end-December outstanding debt on record.
The country’s outstanding obligation at the end of last year was below the national government’s (NG) projected debt stock level of P13.43 trillion for 2022.