United Opposition (UNO) vice presidentiable candidate Jejomar C. Binay said that Presidential Economic Adviser Joey Salceda’s admission that the government was not able to address mass poverty problems was simply old news.

“Governor Salceda only confirmed what the Filipino people have known all along. Their lives are worse off now than they were nine years ago,” he said. “But it is still a consolation that somebody from Mrs. Arroyo’s inner circle has spoken up and admitted what we have been saying and what the people have been going through under the Arroyo administration.”

He claimed that while the administration boasts of increases in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.4. percent, the government still failed to make taxes work for Filipinos.

“Wages remain stagnant while the prices of goods continue to rise. The VAT has made even the most basic goods beyond the reach of many hard-working Filipinos,” he further claimed.