ROXAS URGES GMA: CONVENE MULTI-PARTY BUDGET SUMMIT
NEW 2009 BUDGET TO DEAL WITH FINANCIAL TSUNAMI

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said today drastic steps need to be taken to prepare the Philippines from the onslaught of a "financial tsunami" as he urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to convene immediately a multi-party budget summit to recast the proposed P1.4-trillion 2009 national budget to cushion the impact of the ongoing global financial crisis.

Roxas said that Malacañang and leaders of both chambers of Congress must sit down anew and give more funding to programs to ensure food security and protect the livelihood and jobs of Filipinos, millions of whom live in squalid poverty.

"Nananawagan po ako sa ating Pangulo na magpatawag ng isang multi-party budget summit para balangkasin natin muli ang budget na gagastusin natin sa susunod na taon nang sa ganoon ito'y magamit para sa pagsalba ng mga trabaho at hanapbuhay dito sa atin (I call on the President to call a multi-party budget summit so we could recast the budget and use it to save jobs and livelihood for many Filipinos)," the Ilonggo senator said.

The new priorities in the recast budget should be programs to boost agricultural production to ensure food security, micro-lending programs to encourage Filipinos to go into business and boost domestic spending, quality education to improve the quality of local graduates, and strengthening of the domestic jobs market, Roxas said.

He said the tightening of credit lines as a result of the US financial crisis will result in slower consumer demand, which will mean lesser incomes for exporters and potential job losses for thousands.

"Unang-una yung kahigpitan sa pautang sa international, darating din dito iyan. Kung yung mga bangko hindi na magpapautang sa mga kapwa bangko, darating ang panahon, hihigpit din ang pautang sa mga ordinaryong Pilipino, tataas ang interest rate (The tight credit situation abroad will defintiely reach us. And if banks will stop lending to each other, it means credit will also tighten for Filipinos and interest rates will go up)," Roxas said.

"Pangalawa, kung humina yung ekonomiya ng Amerika, ng Europa, ng bansang Hapon, pati ng Tsina, yung binebenta natin sa kanila mababawasan at magbabawas din ng orders dito, magle-layoff ng mga manggagawa (Second, if the economies of the US, Europe, Japan and China weakens, our exports will go down and companies will need to lay off workers)," he added.

Another negative impact of the financial crisis is a slowdown in dollar remittances from OFWs, which in recent years has been a consistent factor in stabilizing the Philippine economy, Roxas noted.

"Ngayon pa lang, dapat gawin na natin ang lahat para magkaroon tayo ng matibay at makapal na pader para malabanan ang pinansiyal na tsunami na ito (We need to do everything now to put up a strong buffer against this financial tsunami)," he said.