ROXAS: GMA IGNORING COMING STORMS
'TWISTED, SELF-IMPOSED PARALYSIS FORCED ON PINOYS'

Filipinos have to watch out for themselves these days because the President Arroyo and her administration have been focusing on non-essential issues and has ignored indicators of economic storms about to hit the country, Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said over the weekend.

Speaking before Rotary Club International members in Quezon City, Roxas said Filipinos will encounter more sufferings because of higher prices, lower incomes and more job losses because of the Administration's failure to solve or prepare for the onset of these economic problems.

He said the government failed to tackle the nation's falling economy, which Moody's projected would only grow 1% next year. Such a grim economic prediction is exacerbated further by reports of oil prices rising again to the $70-80 per barrel level and an expected rise in food because of a corn and rice shortage.

Meanwhile, as schools open, the dropout rate in schools are rising while public schools suffer from lack of decent facilities such as potable water supply and toilet facilities or from congestion in overpriced classrooms, Roxas pointed out.

"Parang naghuhugas-kamay talaga si Pangulong-Arroyo, sa kabila ng lahat ng peligrong hinaharap ng bansa natin," he said. "May mga bagyong parating, at hindi ko alam kung talagang hindi ito nakikita ng administrasyong Arroyo, o nagbubulag-bulagan lang sila."

Roxas said that instead of helping Filipinos understand and prepare for the coming crises, "(President Arroyo) is hammering them into a twisted sense of acceptance. Our people are being hammered into a twisted, self-imposed paralysis, succumbing to their default destiny, not even knowing that they can put up a fight, and win."

"Kailangan nating lumaban. We can do things; at hindi kailangan ng magic dito. Ang pamahalaan, dapat namamahala. Ang pinuno, dapat namumuno. At the heart of the matter is the people. Sama-sama tayo. Hindi ko kayo pababayaan. Lalaban tayo," he vowed.