Militants disappointed Aquino did not take up VFA with Obama

Militant groups criticized President Benigno Simeon Aquino III for failing to bring up the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement when he met top United States officials in New York. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Aquino could have brought up the matter with US President Barack Obama or US State Secretary Hillary Clinton. "(It was a) missed opportunity to assert national interest (on a very important issue)," Bayan said in a statement on its website on Sunday. Aquino met with Obama on Saturday (Manila time), during a meeting of leaders of the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On the previous day, Aquino and Clinton witnessed the signing of a $434-million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant to the Philippines to fight poverty and corruption. In an interview with reporters, Aquino said he had talked to Obama for around seven minutes and agreed to have a longer discussion in the future. Militants urged Aquino, on the eve of his departure for his weeklong US working visit, to bring up the VFA with US officials. “The VFA is one proof that RP-US relations are unequal. It’s time the Philippine president stand for national interest and abrogate this one-sided pact. It is time the Philippine president demand the withdrawal of US forces in Mindanao. We support moves by the Philippine Senate, including a resolution filed by Sen. Miriam Santiago, calling for the termination of the VFA," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. had said earlier. On the other hand, Bayan cautioned Aquino against the possible side effects of the $434-million MCC grant to fight poverty. Reyes said the MCC, created and funded by the US government under George Bush, is a foreign policy instrument that "promotes discredited neo-liberal economic policies for Third World countries in exchange for so-called aid." Bayan noted that MCC board chairwoman, US State Secretary Hillary Clinton, had stressed the need for “tearing down the barriers of economic growth" as one of the principles of the MCC grant. “This is clearly in reference to opening up the Philippine economy further to foreign goods and investments," Reyes said. “These grants and so-called aid are used to advance US economic and political interests in the guise of promoting democracy and good governance. The MCC grant in effect will only reinforce unequal and disadvantageous economic ties with the US," he added. Abandon arroyo govt policies Meanwhile, Bayan urged Aquino to be more specific in his anti-poverty program and to abandon the previous policies of the Arroyo government. "Despite all the ant-corruption and anti-poverty rhetoric from the president, the current government’s so-called anti-poverty program does not seem to be clear. Its blueprint for addressing poverty seems similar to the previous government. We're approaching the 100-day mark of his administration but there is still no substantial program that will address poverty," Reyes said. Bayan lamented the Aquino government was still adhering to a "foreign-investment and debt-driven economy," wherein development is dependent on external factors. Bayan also said over the past few decades, similar foreign investments and loans have done more harm than good and have worsened poverty in the country. “The Aquino government’s centerpiece anti-poverty program seems to be the Conditional Cash Transfer program carried over from the previous regime. This dole-out system has not made a dent on poverty over the past years, yet it will be receiving more funding this year," Reyes said. “Job-generation is largely dependent on foreign investments and the previously discredited Private-Public Partnership. There remains no strong commitment to land reform and national industrialization which are the necessary internal factors for economic growth and poverty eradication," he added. Bayan said the Philippine government’s commitment to neo-liberal economic policies — including freed trade, privatization and deregulation — are also factors that contribute to widespread poverty. “The Aquino government should address poverty through genuine land reform, development of the economy to serve domestic needs, genuine national industrializatoin and a departure from neo-liberal economic policies. These are long-term solutions that need to be undertaken to arrest the worsening trend of poverty and hunger in the country," Reyes said. –VVP, GMANews.TV