The 14th LGC anniversary celebration, which has for its theme, "Kilos Lokal, Asenso Nasyonal," is spearheaded by the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) in partnership with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Asia Foundation.
During the event, ULAP officials led by its president, Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, is expected to renew their call for full local autonomy and a pledge to reject attempts at destabilizing the government in a bid to grab power.
Aumentado said that strong local government units are the building blocks of a stable national government as he reiterated the unwavering support of local officials for President Arroyo in the wake of continuing destabilization moves against her.
"Our constituents abhor the manner by which disillussioned personalities in imperial Manila are furiously ganging up on the presidency to topple President Arroyo without the slightest regard for the plight of the provincianos," Aumentando said.
"These provincianos are suffering from economic instability due to political unrest being fomented in Manila," Aumentado said.
"The fate of the country must not lie in Manila alone," he said.
Aumentado said Kilos Asenso, which is launched at the Manila Hotel starting at 7 a.m. today, aims to tap the "bayanihan spirit and self-reliance of the people to bring progress and prosperity to the countryside."
Iloilo City Mayor and League of Cities president Jerry Trenas said the battle against poverty could be enhanced greatly if international creditors would plow back to the Philippines just 50 percent of its foreign debt payment to finance the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations (UN).
Trenas also proposed that the P17.5 billion unprogrammed funds ordered released by the Supreme Court to the local government units (LGUs) be monetized and used as local equity to access some P150 billion from the debt-for-equity swap proposal now waiting for approval by international creditors.
President Arroyo, in her working visit to the United States last month, had proposed to the UN and foreign creditors a debt-reduction and debt-conversion initiative to free 100 developing countries, including the Philippines, from servicing their foreign debts.
Observers said that foreign debts remain the greatest challenges to development today, taking heavy toll on education, health care, housing, infrastructure and reforestation, among others. The Philippines, for example, automatically appropriates nearly a third of its national budget to service its foreign debts.
Trenas said the mayors are fully behind the deft reduction proposal presented by the Chief Executive.
Secretary Reyes said today’s event is another strong statement on the Arroyo administration’s intent to fulfill its responsibility for genuine administrative reforms and complete fiscal and local autonomy.
Reyes said that Kilos Asenso is a people’s movement for prosperity which will be led by local executives who will mobilize and harness resources such as talent to attain prosperity in the community.
The Kilos Asenso membership and mobilization campaign will begin at the provincial and city levels, and will move down to towns and barangays and even sitios.
At today’s affair, Reyes will speak on the "Milestones of the Local Government Code and Executive Order 444"; San Fernando City Mayor Oscar Rodriguez on "Charter Reforms for Strong Local Governments"; Presidential Assistant and DILG Undersecretary Tessa Castillo on "Advocacy for Child-Friendly Local Governance"; and ULAP Council of Advisers member Hilario de Pedro III on "ULAP Development and Management Agenda."
ULAP executive vice president Ramon Guico Jr., Budget and Management Secetary Romulo Neri, and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza will join today’s event which will be participated in by officials of various associations of local government officials.
These groups include the League of Provinces of the Philippines, League of Cities of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), Liga ng mga Barangay ng Pilipinas, League of Vice Governors of the Philippines, Vice-Mayors’ League of the Philippines, Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines, Philippines Councilors League, National Movement of Young Legislators, Lady Local Legislators League, and the Pambansang Pederasyon ng mga Sangguniang Kabataan.
Local officials meet
Arroyo today
on Senate-Palace gap
Local chief executives will meet with President Arroyo in Malacañang today and with the senators tomorrow to find ways to bridge the gap between the Chief Executive and the Senate without either losing face.
The local officials will be led by Bohol Governor and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) president Erico Aumentado,
The Palace-Senate dispute stemmed when Mrs. Arroyo issued Executive Order 464 that requires senior government and military officials to seek presidential permission first before they face congressional probes.
Aumentado said the local officials support EO 464 because the President, under the Constitution, has the prerogative not to divulge sensitive government matters such as national security. (Elena L. Aben)
--------
LGUs are building
blocks of a stable
national government
Saying that the fate of the country must not lie in Manila alone, officials of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) mark today the 14th anniversary of the Local Government Code of 1991 with renewed calls for full local autonomy and a pledge to reject attempts at destabilizing the government in a bid to grab power.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, ULAP president and head of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, said that strong local government units are the building blocks of a stable national government even as he reiterated the unwavering support of local officials for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the wake of continuing destabilization moves.
"Our constituents abhor the manner by which disillusioned personalities in imperial Manila are furiously ganging up on the presidency, desperate to topple President Arroyo without the slightest regard for the plight of the provincianos who are suffering from economic instability due to political unrest being fomented in Manila," said Aumentado.
Aumentado said that more than 1,500 local officials will be gathering at the Manila Hotel starting at 7 a.m. today to launch a massive grassroots movement called "Kilos Asenso" which is aimed at tapping the "Bayanihan" spirit and self-reliance of the people to bring progress and prosperity to the countryside.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City Mayor and League of Cities president Jerry Treñas said that the defeat of poverty could greatly be enhanced if the world’s commercial banks and international creditors plow back even 50 percent of the country’s foreign debt payment to finance the localized Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.
To show that Filipino mean business, Treñas proposed that the P17.5 billion unprogrammed funds ordered released by the Supreme Court to the local government units be monetized and used as local equity to access some P150 billion in the proposed debt-for-equity swap, pending approval by international creditor institutions.
President Arroyo, in her working visit to the United States last month, had earlier proposed before the UN and foreign creditors a major debt-reduction and debt-conversion initiative to free the servicing of some $2.3 trillion official debt stock by more than 100 debt-ridden developing countries, including the Philippines.
Observers say that foreign debt remains among the greatest development challenges in the world today, taking heavy toll on education, health care, housing, infrastructure and reforestation, among others, counting the Philippines which automatically appropriates nearly one third of its national budget to service foreign debt payments.
Treñas said the mayors are fully behind the proposal presented by the President and lobbied by Speaker Jose de Venecia to ranking senior officials of the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the G-8 among others, which he described as the best solution yet to alleviate poverty in the Philippines and solve the world problem.
"The debt-for-equity swap where 50 percent of the foreign debt owed by the Philippines is converted to equity investments is exactly what the country direly needs today," Treñas said. "And we could enrich this proposal by offering our own local equity to insure that the funds will not be squandered but used for poverty-reduction programs."
Recognizing the great impact of this debt-for-equity proposal on combating poverty, providing better health care and education and insuring the long-term effect of fiscal sustainability of meeting the country’s debt commitments, Philippine Councilors League President Carlo Fortuna expressed high hopes that with the LGUs’ full support, this program can go a long way toward supporting Mrs. Arroyo’s 10-Point Agenda.
"The Millennium Development Goals of the UN are well articulated in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan," Fortuna quipped. "The feasibility of achieving the MDGs based on the timeline set by the UN, depends on the country’s achievement of its development prospects, which for the moment is being blocked by the foreign debt burden," he said.
As proposed by De Venecia, the debt-for-equity scheme does not ask creditor countries to write off the billions of dollars owed by the Philippines.
Instead, the monies will be plowed back in terms of investments in areas such as reforestation, mass housing, safety water systems, hospitals, infrastructure and micro-financing.
Because of the huge interest payments in servicing these debts, Treñas said this deprives, in effect, the Philippines of scarce resources and hard-earned savings that it could have otherwise invested in economic growth, job-creation and poverty-reduction programs.
"Our cities are beginning to feel the social effects of a growing population. We need fresh investments to meet these new challenges in governance, Treñas said, adding that the country is also forced to slash social spending and investment in infrastructure aside from imposing more – and higher – taxes.
Debt-ridden countries, the Iloilo City executive said, must consequently sacrifice budget allocations for education, health care, housing and development projects in the name of financial responsibility and continued access to international capital markets.
He also cited the recent cases of floodings that have cost scores of human lives and destroyed hundreds of millions worth of crops and properties due mainly to environmental neglect and degradation in the province of Quezon and other parts of the country.
"Socialized mass housing is also a felt need in the metropolises and highly-urbanized areas where investments coming from the debt-for-equity proposal would be a welcome development," Treñas said.
The LCP membership counts on all 117 HUCs (highly-urbanized cities), ICCs (independent component cities) and CCs (component cities) nationwide with an estimated population count of 40% of the country’s 80 million people.
"Logically speaking, the higher the debt a poor country owes its creditors, the lower its’ level of foreign-investor confidence," Treñas said, explaining that a higher percentage of interest than usual is also being imposed by creditor-countries.
