This demand was echoed yesterday by the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), which stressed that the government should also raise the purchasing power of state workers and move to ease inflation which reached double digits in June. COURAGE also called for a R3,000 across the board wage increase for government workers.

"If Mrs. Arroyo really wants to provide the people with immediate relief from the skyrocketing increases in the price of oil, then she should suspend the collection of EVAT. She should stop meddling in the conduct of business and just concentrate on the business of governance," he said.

Binay said the Arroyo administration is trying to "demonize" the oil companies in particular, and the business community in general, by making it appear that the spikes in oil prices are being controlled by the private sector, requiring her personal intervention in order to bring prices down.

"For an administration that professes to encourage private investments, the action of Mrs. Arroyo is simply meddling in the affairs of business and will discourage the entry of investors who are wary of government intervention, especially an intervention that does not appear to have basis in law," he said.

Binay added the government is using the same approach it took when it attempted to take over control of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recently.

Palace officials and its political allies were blaming Meralco for the high power rates, but did not acknowledge that taxes imposed by the government contribute to the high electricity rates.

"The administration has a record of blaming sectors other than itself whenever there is a political or economic crisis," he said.

Earlier, Binay had proposed the holding of a people’s signature drive urging the Arroyo administration to suspend the collection of EVAT on oil and energy products.

He appealed to all local government officials, schools and Churches to set up signature booths in their areas where the people can sign a petition urging Malacañang to order the immediate suspension of EVAT.

Binay said Makati will be the first local government to establish signature centers for the "Suspend EVAT" campaign.

Should enough signatures be gathered, Binay said the signature forms will be forwarded to Malacañang.

"If we gather enough signatures and Malacañang ignores it, then they do so at their own risk," he said.

Meanwhile, a group of government employees yesterday called for a R3,000 across the board wage increase for government workers and lifting the 12 percent VAT on petroleum products to help them cope with rising prices of fuel and basic commodities.

In a press statement, Ferdinand Gaite, president of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), said government should raise the purchasing power of state workers and move to ease inflation which has reached double digits in June.

"We have to let our wallets meet the market. It is obvious we need greater purchasing power. We also need reasonably priced products in the consumer market, for what would be its purpose if the ordinary Filipino cannot afford food, fares, and utilities," he said.

COURAGE, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) convened the ALL GE Unity to ask government to raise wages of ordinary workers, lift EVAT on oil products and reconsider the oil deregulation policy.

The All-GE Unity is a coalition of state workers from the national government agencies, state hospitals and medical centers, public elementary and high schools, and state colleges and universities.

"We are not satisfied with the rollback. We want to know the real price of fuel, minus the padded pricing that ensures oil companies still enjoy their humongous profits," Gaite said.

"The government should scrap the extended valueadded tax on oil and to reconsider its policy of deregulating the oil industry," he said.

In statement, the All-GE Unity said boosting the purchasing power of ordinary workers will spur greater demand for goods.

Emma Manuel, AHW president, said rising prices of oil products dent household and hospital budgets in more ways than one.

"Fuel and oil products figure so prominently in our everyday life. It’s not only used in ambulances, for transportation. It is also an important input in so many commodities like plastics," Manuel said.

One of the effects of high prices and low wages is hunger, said Antonio Tinio, ACT president.

"Note that this is involuntary hunger, a sorry position to be in when you cannot afford food. The numbers are rising, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS)," Tinio said.

The latest SWS survey conducted last June 27-30 revealed that for the second quarter of the year, hunger incidence rose to 16.3 percent from 15.7 percent in March.

"Hunger in the National Capital Region is at 22 percent compared to 15.7 percent during the first quarter. Out of every 100 Filipinos in the capital region, 22 report that they have gone hungry during the past three months," he said.

"They will be the people’s bulwark come July 28 as Congress reopens. They will spill out into the streets together with government employees, private employees, the students, the women, the children and all hungry angry people with their own state of the nation in mind," Tinio said.

The All GE Unity said it will lobby for the passage of several laws to increase wages of state workers and to lift VAT.

The group said that when Congress adjourned earlier this year, there were two pending bills at the Lower House on the salary hike: House Bills 387 and 1064, supplemented by House Resolution 350 which specified these bills as urgent. Anti-EVAT bills are also lodged in both the Lower and Upper Houses, with supporters including the Anakpawis partylist and Senator Mar Roxas.