Press Release
July 16, 2009

CHIZ LAYS DOWN 6-POINT PRIORITY POLICY

Good governance, self-sufficiency in basic food supply, lower bureaucratic costs, and environmental stewardship are some of the key elements of opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero's six-point priority policy to address "decades of missed opportunities."

Speaking at the 10th Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDEV) Lecture yesterday, Escudero said his six-point policy aims to eliminate poverty and improve the quality of life of every Filipino.

"After the 2nd World War, the Philippines had the second highest per capita GDP in Asia. Today, we have one of the lowest. During the 50's, the Philippines had one of the highest standards of education in Asia. Today, we are ranked so poorly in achievement scores," he said.

Escudero said that as public servants, "we serve the highest interests of our people."

"Primarily, we seek to eliminate poverty and improve the quality of life of every Filipino. This means striving for higher family income, a highly educated and trainable workforce, better health care, affordable food and housing and peaceful communities," he said.

"First on my list is good governance. We must repair our house. Many of our institutions have been severely weakened," he said.

"We must follow the principle of subsidiarity - devolving authority to the lowest level of government which can handle the problem. Regions and provinces, cities and municipalities are tired of waiting for Imperial Manila to act on their problem," Escudero added.

In line with this, Escudero pushed for environmental stewardship which aims to preserve the environment and at the same time boost tourism development.

Stewardship means acting as caretakers of the environment, he said. And as tourism leverages the natural bounty of the land, Escudero said it will also encourage development of the far reaches of the country.

The senator called for strengthened finances since huge budget deficits are unsustainable. "We must put a stop to smuggling - estimated to be as much as $10 billion a year. The uncollected VAT alone would be over P50 billion," he said.

"Third, we must invest in our youth and in our future. We must give our children the equal opportunity to develop their minds and bodies to the fullest. We must cut down drastically that 34-percent drop-out rate in primary grades," the senator stressed.

"Fourth, we must be self sufficient in producing our basic food staples such as rice and corn and fish. The average Filipino household spends about 52 percent of its income on food. Seventeen percent alone goes to buy rice or corn grits," Escudero said.

"By lowering their expenditure on food, we would be awarding every family with an increase in disposable income, and mitigate labor demands for wage increases," he added.

"Fifth, we must fast track our infrastructure development. Aside from pump priming our economy, we would be bringing down the cost of transportation and opening up those areas of our country which have not been developed," he said.

"We must prioritize projects already partially built. Half a bridge is equivalent having no bridge at all. Then we have to focus on widening our major arteries. Especially where traffic jams occur daily. The wastage of people's time and fuel runs into billions not counting the inefficient use of trucks which deliver goods," Escudero noted.

"Sixth, we must make our goods and services globally competitive. We must move heaven and earth to lower energy costs. We must complete the sale of (National Power Corp.) generating plants and PPA contracts to the private sector to generate more competition. Thus far, only about 40 percent have been privatized," he explained.

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