GOV'T IS SELLING FAMILY JEWELS, SAYS LOREN

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday compared the Philippines to a bankrupt family that is selling its family jewels to stave off hunger.

Loren made the statement in commenting on the plan of the government to sell at least P10 billion worth of properties to plug its widening deficit as announced by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.

According to Loren, "The Arroyo administration has brought our country to the verge of bankruptcy, and is undertaking a madcap privatization of our government's assets to pay ofF its debts and borrow more money, thus pushing our country deeper into the debt trap."

According to news reports, the government may have to sell more than P10 billion depending upon the properties available for sale.

Loren said, "I am afraid that once this administration has sold off all our country's valuable assets, there will be no more left to sell, no more money with which to pay our debts and pay for essential imports, and most of our people will starve, except for a lucky few who have gotten rich despite our country's worsening situation."

Loren lamented that while many large corporations, businesses and some people in government have grown rich several times over in the past years, the country's poverty has continued to increase, so that nearly fifty percent of the country's population now consider themselves poor.