"Filipinos have to watch out for themselves these days because Pres. Arroyo and her adminis-tration have been focusing on non-essential issues and is ignoring indicators of economic storms about to hit the country, "Sen. Mar Roxas said.
Speaking before Rotary Club International members in Quezon City, Roxas said Filipinos will encounter more sufferings because of higher prices, lower incomes and more job losses because of the Administration’s failure to solve or prepare for the onset of these economic problems.
He said, "The government failed to tackle the nation’s falling economy, which Moody’s projection would only grow one (1) percent next year. Such a grim economic prediction is exacerbated further by reports of oil prices rising again to the $70-80 per barrel level and an expected rise in food because of a corn and rice shortage".
Meanwhile, as schools open, the dropout rate in schools are rising while public schools suffer from lack of decent facilities such as potable water supply, toilet facilities, and congestion in overpriced classrooms, Roxas pointed out.
"Parang naghuhugas-kamay talaga si Pangulong-Arroyo, sa kabila ng lahat ng peligrong hinaharap ng bansa natin," he said. "May mga bagyong parating, at hindi ko alam kung talagang hindi ito nakikita ng adminis-trasyong Arroyo, o nag-bubulag-bulagan lang sila."
According to Roxas, instead of helping Filipinos understand and prepare for the coming crises, "(President Arroyo) is hammering them into a twisted sense of acceptance. Our people are being hammered into a twisted, self-imposed para-lysis, succumbing to their default destiny, not even knowing that they can put up a fight, and win."
"Kailangan nating lumaban. We can do things; at hindi kailangan ng magic dito. Ang pamahalaan, dapat na mamahala. Ang pinuno, dapat na mumuno. At the heart of the matter is the people. Sama-sama tayo. Hindi ko kayo pababayaan. Lalaban tayo," he vowed. /MP
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