Monday, September 05, 2005
DEFENSOR: DEFENDING AN INDEFENSIBLE PRESIDENT
August 13, 2005
“Sec. Mike Defensor does live up to his name, as a staunch defender of an indefensible President – at all cost.” This was the statement by Rizza Ramirez, National President of the National Union of Students of the Philippines as the DENR Secretary-cum-Presidential Damage Controller declared the Garci tapes as spliced, according to so-called technical experts from abroad.
Ramirez says, “The Palace line is going in circles, with no cohesion in its lackluster propaganda. The authenticity of the Garci tapes is no longer in question; it is moot and academic already as GMA herself admitted to 11 lapses in judgment. That alone is enough to compel her to resign.”
“It is a shame that Sec. Defensor keeps on being the top spin doctor of a scandal-ridden President, especially when he once fought alongside the students and the people as NUSP President in struggling for genuine systemic change. Money and power does talk,” Ramirez asserts.
“Malacanang seems to be missing the point entirely. No amount of bland counter-propaganda can bring her political legitimacy back – ever, as the socio-economic foundation of this entire political turmoil is rooted in her regime’s utter abandonment of the interests of the people.” Ramirez explains.
Ramirez asserts, “In particular, youth and students join mass actions to force GMA out of office precisely because it is in this government where state universities received its biggest budget cuts while debt payments reached a record-high. GMA never lifted a finger to raise education subsidies, but intervened much in taxing the people dry. ”
Ramirez adds, “Tuition fees skyrocketed in private colleges and universities with no effective remedies from the government save for insisting that they transfer to state colleges and universities – which are also starting to collect exhorbitant fees, and have no sufficient budget to speak of to create a suitable learning environment for the students.”
“That said, GMA and lapdogs such as Sec. Defensor should now realize that their political woes are far from over. This crisis is of her own making, and she herself sowed the seeds of protest in the minds of the youth and students. Her yearly budget cuts to education are tantamount to state abandonment of education. It is as worse as robbing the people of their vote. It is robbing the youth of their future. Ramirez finally says.
NUSP, together with Youth-DARE, will also lead sustained mass actions in the coming weeks such as the August 16 Youth March to be held in Morayta involving numerous student councils from different colleges and universities in Metro Manila.
“Sec. Mike Defensor does live up to his name, as a staunch defender of an indefensible President – at all cost.” This was the statement by Rizza Ramirez, National President of the National Union of Students of the Philippines as the DENR Secretary-cum-Presidential Damage Controller declared the Garci tapes as spliced, according to so-called technical experts from abroad.
Ramirez says, “The Palace line is going in circles, with no cohesion in its lackluster propaganda. The authenticity of the Garci tapes is no longer in question; it is moot and academic already as GMA herself admitted to 11 lapses in judgment. That alone is enough to compel her to resign.”
“It is a shame that Sec. Defensor keeps on being the top spin doctor of a scandal-ridden President, especially when he once fought alongside the students and the people as NUSP President in struggling for genuine systemic change. Money and power does talk,” Ramirez asserts.
“Malacanang seems to be missing the point entirely. No amount of bland counter-propaganda can bring her political legitimacy back – ever, as the socio-economic foundation of this entire political turmoil is rooted in her regime’s utter abandonment of the interests of the people.” Ramirez explains.
Ramirez asserts, “In particular, youth and students join mass actions to force GMA out of office precisely because it is in this government where state universities received its biggest budget cuts while debt payments reached a record-high. GMA never lifted a finger to raise education subsidies, but intervened much in taxing the people dry. ”
Ramirez adds, “Tuition fees skyrocketed in private colleges and universities with no effective remedies from the government save for insisting that they transfer to state colleges and universities – which are also starting to collect exhorbitant fees, and have no sufficient budget to speak of to create a suitable learning environment for the students.”
“That said, GMA and lapdogs such as Sec. Defensor should now realize that their political woes are far from over. This crisis is of her own making, and she herself sowed the seeds of protest in the minds of the youth and students. Her yearly budget cuts to education are tantamount to state abandonment of education. It is as worse as robbing the people of their vote. It is robbing the youth of their future. Ramirez finally says.
NUSP, together with Youth-DARE, will also lead sustained mass actions in the coming weeks such as the August 16 Youth March to be held in Morayta involving numerous student councils from different colleges and universities in Metro Manila.
# posted by Terry Ridon : 2:29 PM
