A native of Cebu, Nemenzo said the country’s future is in doldrums as millions of people live in abject poverty, misery and squalor.
The former UP president made the call following the launch of the campaign in Laguna.
More assemblies will be held in the Visayas to drum up support for the campaign against poverty and hunger that were caused primarily by the country’s accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the precursor of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Nemenzo spoke before 150 students during a symposium co-sponsored by UP Alliance of Economics and Management Students (UP AEMS) and the antipoverty coalition Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and its affiliate organizations and federation Laban ng Masa, Kabataan Kontra Kahirapan (KKK) and the Nationalist Student League (NSL), entitled "Saan Ka Pupunta mga Isko at Iska? Pagtugon ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan laban sa Kahirapan – A Symposium on Poverty, Trade, and Governance at the SEARCA Auditorium of the UPLB in Laguna on Monday, December 5.
Nemenzo said the education youth should act responsibly and help fight poverty.
The forum is part of the launching of the 3rd White Band Day Campaign in the Philippines initiated by GCAP.
"A country in crisis – as the Philippines today – cannot prosper where policies are made by those pompous charlatans in Congress. We cannot move ahead without a coherent development plan because the heads of government agencies are constantly engaged in turf wars. We cannot save the masses from the scourge of poverty when 35 percent of public revenues are automatically appropriated for debt service. We cannot give our people a sense of security when the law enforcers are in cahoots with the law breakers. When murders remain unsolved and the wrong suspects are apprehended."
Nemenzo, who is also chairman of Laban ng Masa which is pushing for a transitional government in lieu of the embattled Arroyo regime said patronclient politics, a form of elite rule that remained intact despite the ouster of two presidents during popular uprisings now known as EDSA 1 and EDSA 2 can be changed through forceful mass media, with help from formal education in schools.
"Our ultimate goal is to change the system of elite rule and the starting point is a Transitional Revolutionary Government. We want to ensure that the ouster of GMA will not install another trapo in Malacañang, but set in motion a process leading to system change. We cannot bring back hope to a nation in despair for as long was we have Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the helm…’’
Claudine Claridad, GCAP Youth Coordinator said incidence of malnutrition in the Philippines is comparable to that of SubSaharan Africa.
She said graft and corruption is to be blamed for the deepening problem of poverty in the Philippines, noting that 10 to 20 percent of the national budget is lost to corruption and that appropriation for basic social services like education, health, agriculture, agrarian reform, trade and industry, land distribution, public order and safety receive less as the lion share goes to infrastructure, defense, housing, social security, welfare and employment, general administration and government salaries.
She said students should help educate the people, mobilize them and lobby for policy reform in government.
Jayson Edward San Juan, chairperson, Nationalist Student League and vice chairman of KKK said wrong trade policies of the government is also to be blamed for rising poverty incidence in the Philippines. He said under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, the country experienced over the last 10 years the tremendous expansion of global trade side by side with the alarming rise in global poverty and hunger.
He said poor countries like the Philippines could not compete with rich countries under such trade relations, yet our leaders is seemingly looking forward to signing yet another agreement that will open the member-countries’ service sectors to global competition.
He said under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which basically means the liberalization of critical public services sectors like water, energy, health, and education is more of an investment agreement masquerading as a trade agreement.
Jose Luis Granados, a councilor of Kawit, Cavite, and chairman of KKK called on the youth to organize and activate the "3 Cs’’ – critical thinking, courage and commitment to help the country escape from the quagmire of poverty. (MNB)
