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According to the executive summary of the latest impeachment complaint filed against Arroyo, prepared by human rights lawyer Neri Javier Colmenares of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, Arroyo committed an impeachable offense when her government entered into a railway project with the Chinese government without the approval of the country’s Monetary Board and without giving preference to Filipino labor and investment.
On top of these violations, the president and her political allies signed the agreement with the Chinese government despite allegations of overpricing and unresolved questions on the feasibility of relocating some 40,000 urban poor families whose homes and shanties would be demolished to make way for the project.
Colmenares said the North Rail project would cost US$ 15 million per kilometer, which is more expensive than the groundbreaking 2,000-kilometer Qinghai to Tibet railway system, which only cost US$3.6 billion, or roughly US$1.8 million per kilometer.
The overpricing was allegedly to accommodate payoffs and kickbacks. Critics of the president say a substantial part of the US$125 million advanced by the Chinese government to the Arroyo government for the US$503-million project went into private pockets.
Since 2004, the Philippine government has reportedly paid 1.4 billion pesos (over US$28 million) for the project that has yet to commence, with interest payments amounting to 1 million pesos (US$20,000) per day.
While the Manila government is doing exemplary work in the field of corruption, it is leading the education and future of Filipino children nowhere. According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, the Philippines is still far from achieving the Education for All goals set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization by 2015, because of income inequalities.
However, UNESCO did not mention that aside from economic inequalities, the systematic corruption in handling public funds in the Philippines and the low priority the government places on education are also important factors affecting the poor state of education in the country.
According to the government’s own report, Filipino children who belong to the poorest 20 percent of the population receive five years less education than children from the wealthiest families. The same report said that on average, the poorest 20 percent have 6.3 years of education compared to 11 years among the well-to-do families in the Philippines.
The NSCB revealed that in the 2006-2007 school year only 83 percent of children were enrolled in primary school, down from 90 percent five years earlier. Even worse, only 59 percent of children eligible for secondary school were enrolled. This means one out of six children is being deprived of primary education and one out of three children is deprived of secondary education.
Alarmed over the drop in enrolment in basic institutions and the deteriorating state of the education sector, activist lawmaker Teodoro Casiño recently filed a House resolution seeking an investigation into the rising number of out-of-school youths and the worsening condition of education. The resolution was endorsed by lawmakers Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of the Gabriela Women’s Party and peasant legislator Rafael Mariano.
The lawmakers said the government’s neglect and abandonment of primary, elementary and tertiary education, coupled with the soaring prices of basic commodities, are the main reasons why children are dropping out of school.
In the Philippine Senate, 2010 presidential contender Senator Mar Roxas III also filed a bill seeking to require the government to meet world standards in the education system. Roxas, chair of the Senate committee on education, said there has been a steady decline in the number of students reaching high school level. He added that the quality of education had been compromised as well.
The senator said the Philippines spends only a meager 2.5 to 3 percent of its gross domestic product on education, and as a consequence, the country suffers from a shortage of classrooms and teachers and produces low-quality graduates.
In his education bill, Roxas cited recent studies which showed that 91 percent of Filipino high school students are squeezed into crowded classes of 41 or more, thus reducing their ability to learn. Out of 100 students who enroll in primary school, only 65 finish grade six. Of these, only 43 finish high school.
Education officials have denied that the government is abandoning its responsibility to develop and enhance the public school system, where most of the poor children are enrolled.
Education chief Jesli Lapus said the government had increased its education budget by 13 percent next year, from 149 billion to nearly 168 billion pesos (from US$3 billion to $3.4 billion), adding that the private sector has also promised to give 4 billion pesos (US$81 million) to address the country’s educational woes.
However, the public is not aware that a significant portion of the annual budget for education goes for the educational needs of military and police schools and personnel. The education czar failed to explain that billions of pesos from the education budget go to train members of the armed forces and the Philippine National Police, despite the fact that these two agencies are among the biggest and most well-funded government agencies in the annual budget.
On the corruption side, fiscal experts who served previous governments have admitted that 40 percent of the country’s annual budget went to corruption. The current government is no different. This is the reason the Arroyo government cannot focus on the educational needs of the people; it is preoccupied with using the people’s money to buy political loyalty and power.
Despite the present sorry state of Philippine education, advocates of children’s rights and the people’s welfare still see a ray of hope and a bright future for Filipino children, but not under the present regime.
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(Gerry Albert Corpuz is a correspondent of Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He is also head of the information department of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. His website is www.gerryalbertcorpuz.motime.com, and he can be contacted at themanager98@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Gerry Albert Corpuz.)
