Manila, Philippines – The Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women lambasted Duterte, the Department of Finance and his economic managers for approving a monthly subsidy for only P200 per poor family.
The peasant women group questioned the sincerity of the Duterte regime and slammed the step just to undermine the mounting calls of the poor sectors to suspend the excise tax and VAT on oil products amid the economic crisis and oil price hikes. Moreover, the government continues to deny the worsened situation of the poor peasant families with legitimate calls of a provision of P10,000 social amelioration and P15,000 agricultural production subsidy.
“Anong klaseng ayuda naman yan? Ang P200 kada buwan ay hindi lapat sa lupa. Nagpapakita ito na nakahiwalay sila sa kongkretong kalagayan at ang halaga mismo ay insulto sa mga maralita na dapat ay kinikilala ang karapatan sa ayuda. Sa totoo lang, kulang nga ito para sa isang araw, na pambili ng 1 kilong bigas, ulam para sa 3 beses na kainan, at pambili ng sahog at iba pa,” exclaimed by Zenaida Soriano, Amihan National Chairperson.
She added that this step is only to make it appear that the government is doing something but essentially it amounts to nothing.
“Ang kahilingan ng mga maralita ay P10,00 ayuda at P15,000 production subsidy at suspendihin ang excise tax sa produktong langis. Bakit napakahirap para sa kanilang ibigay ito? Ubos na ubos na ang kabuhayan ng mga magsasaka, pahamak pa ang isa pang batas ni Duterte na Rice Liberalization Law na nagpapabagsak sa presyo ng palay at nagbubunga ng pagkakabaon sa utang. Tapos ngayon ay may mga higanteng oil price hike pa,” Soriano added.
Amihan added that peasant women try to survive with a daily budget of P478 to P700, which includes 2 kilos of rice, fish, vegetables, condiments, coffee, sugar including the costs for allowance for schooling children, medicines and other needs. The recent LPG price hikes have seriously affected their household budget.
Lastly, Amihan urged the poor Filipino families to denounce the P200 monthly “ayuda” of the Duterte regime amid oil price hikes. Moreover, urged them to join the calls to scrap the excise tax, the Oil Deregulation Law and TRAIN Law, through which the Duterte government and oil companies have benefitted from the crisis. ###
