RP debt now worse — Ping

President Arroyo will end her inherited term of three years and five months in June this year with one distinct legacy — driving Filipinos deeper in debt by P2 trillion, opposition presidential hopeful Sen. Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.

Lacson said when Mrs. Arroyo took over from ousted President Joseph Estrada in January 2001, the national debt stood at P3.2 trillion.

"Today, it is P5.2 trillion. In just three years of fiscal mismanagement under the Arroyo administration, the national debt soared by P2 trillion, or by nearly P700 billion a year," he said.

He stressed that the debt stock means that each of the more than 85 million Filipinos owes about P63,000, more than P20,000 of which represents indebtedness incurred under Mrs. Arroyo.

The former Philippine National Police chief pointed out that the debt and fiscal situation has come to a point where the nation has to borrow money just to pay for the interest alone on its loans, and not yet on the principal.

What makes matters worse, Lacson said, is the fact that the nation’s credit rating has so deteriorated that it cannot even influence the rate of interest its lenders are charging.

"While Thailand can get loans at P4.2 percent interest, the Philippines has to agree to higher rates of at least nine percent," he said.

He said a large part of internally generated revenues and the money that the nation borrows is pocketed by corrupt officials.

Lacson lamented that the people seem to have adopted an attitude of resignation to widespread corruption and stealing.

"We have surrendered. We just watch corrupt officials steal from public coffers," he said.

Lacson said in two years, the Philippines could become another Argentina and could no longer borrow money from foreign and local sources.

"When that happens, there would be no more money for housing, education, infrastructure, and other services. The nation will sink. We don’t want that scenario. We have to do something," he said.

In a related development, House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla, Lacson’s lone senatorial candidate, warned the people that use of billions in taxpayers’ money by Mrs. Arroyo for election purposes could drive the peso-dollar exchange rate to new lows.

"Foreign and local investors and the nation at large are noticing how the President improperly spends public funds to boost her candidacy in May. She spent P1.4 billion for her Kalsada Natin project and more than P700 million for fertilizer and pesticide that might already have evaporated," he said.

He said much of the P1.4 billion for the Kalsada Natin, Alagaan Natin project has been paid to suppliers of t-shirts and billboards bearing the name and photograph of Mrs. Arroyo.

"Such wasteful spending will result in a bigger budget deficit this year and in more borrowings. It is that expectation that is driving the value of the peso down, not politics," he stressed.

Padilla chided Mrs. Arroyo for boasting that in terms of educational qualifications, she is the best prepared to lead the country up to 2010.

He said despite the President being a holder of a doctorate in economics, it is under her watch that the country recorded an unprecedented budget deficit of P200 billion last year and another P200 billion this year.

"Not even under college dropout Erap did we hit that high," he said. — With Jose Rodel Clapano