ROXAS TO PUBLIC: BE MORE VIGILANT AGAINST GOV'T ABUSES IN 2009

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said the public must be more vigilant in watching out against abuses of the Arroyo administration in 2009, especially with higher odds of more anomalous deals being committed in a run-up to the 2010 national elections.

"Hindi tayo maaaring maging maluwag sa ating pagbabantay sa mga katiwalian ng gobyernong ito. Habang papalapit ang susunod na eleksyon, siguradong darami na naman ang mga anomalyang papasukin ng mga alipores ni Pangulong Arroyo (We cannot be lenient. As the next election approaches, allies of President Arroyo would surely seek out and forge anomalous deals for election funding purposes)," he said.

Roxas said because government was too busy pushing for partisan interests this year, it miserably failed in addressing the plight of a growing number of poor and hungry families and jobless workers affected by the impact to the local economy of the global financial meltdown during the last quarter of the year.

"Naging malala ang mga problema ng ating bayan nitong 2008, lalo na ang kahirapan at gutom na patuloy na bumabagabag sa milyon-milyon nating kababayan. Naging bingi si Pangulong Arroyo at ang kanyang mga kaalyado at ipinagpilitan nilang pumasa ang Gloria Forever Charter Change (The nation's problems became worse in 2008, particularly hunger and poverty which continues to affect millions of our countrymen. President Arroyo and her allies played deaf to the needs of the people and insisted on pushing for Gloria Forever Charter Change)," he said.

The Ilonggo senator said the public should guard against persistent attempts of administration allies at the House of Representatives to ram a Gloria Forever Charter Change through the throats of the Filipino people.

Government spending of the 2009 budget should likewise be monitored closely to ensure the funds are not misused and diverted to the pockets of officials planning to run in the 2010 elections.

In particular, he said the Department of Agriculture's 2009 allocation must be meticulously watched to guarantee it is spent properly for food security and to augment the meager income of farmers nationwide, and not to finance the electoral bids of administration cronies in the coming elections, as what happened to the P728 million in fertilizer funds during the 2004 presidential contest.

"Bantayan nating mabuti ang paggastos ng DA ng kanilang taunang badyet. Siguruhin natin na hindi mapupunta sa bulsa ng mga opisyales na katulad ni Joc-Joc Bolante. (Let us watch closely how the DA spends it annual budget. Let us make sure that the funds do not go the pockets of officials like Joc-Joc Bolante)," he said.

Bolante is accused of masterminding the diversion of the P728 million in DA funds to President Arroyo's campaign chest during the last elections.

Roxas said the public should also be attentive on how Malacañang expends funds intended to address the plight of resident and overseas Filipino workers retrenched by local and foreign companies affected by the US-led financial crunch.

A watchful eye should also be set on Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who the senator said seems to have made it her mission to ensure that presidential allies are exonerated from anomalies committed during their tenure.

The public should also begin talking in a unified voice to pressure giant oil companies to bring down the prices of their gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products, to spur rollbacks in the prices of basic commodities as well.

"Ipagdasal natin sa Panginoon na nawa'y gisingin naman niya ang kunsensya ng administrasyon ni GMA at tigilan na ang katiwalian sa pamahalaan. Nawa'y bigyan niya tayo ng lakas na magkaisa at isulong ang tunay na pagunlad at mga pagbabago sa ating lipunan (Let's pray that He wake up the conscience of this administration so it will stop corruption. I hope God will give us the strength to unite and push true development and reforms in our society)," he said.