Marcos son hits Arroyo for econ claims in SONA

The congressman son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos on Monday slammed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for her statements on the country's economy in her State of the Nation Address last July 27. "The President said that we can bask in the glow of the many good things that have happened during her watch. We, however, live with the reality today of all economic sectors producing less, of people losing their jobs or working less, of companies closing or cutting down their operations, of the national budget devoting more public money to service debt, and of government incurring bigger deficits just to continue its operations," Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said in a privilege speech before the House plenary. The former president's son said Mrs. Arroyo omitted several information from her SONA, such as the economy's 0.4 percent gross domestic project growth and the 32.9 percent drop in imports during the first five months of the year. He said Mrs. Arroyo did this to avoid the "troubling story of where we really are today." "Very clever, Madame President, but not clever enough to deceive the nation. What she presented Congress and the nation was a doughnut--an enticing tale about a strong economy, with a big hole in the middle," Marcos said. The congressman also expressed alarm at the country's dependence on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) remittances, likening it to a diabetic dependent on regular injections of insulin to stay healthy. "Any development strategy that critically depends on the deployment of workers abroad is cause for alarm, not for bragging. We cannot anchor our future on the export of our brawn and brainpower without suffering, sooner or later, a major decline," he said. The Ilocos Norte representative added, "The economy is not strong when graft and corruption continues to hound government and national life, exacting a hefty part of every peso in the national budget." To address the country's economic woes, Marcos called on Congress to, among others, provide market development assistance, training subsidies, and other incentives to local firms; improve tax collection efforts; and review the level of debt payments and subsidies for government-owned and controlled corporations. Marcos made the speech amid controversies hounding the presidential entourage's supposedly lavish dinners during her recent US trip. - GMANews.TV