MANILA, Philippines – In solidarity with the Haitian people, the Freedom from Debt Coalition on Tuesday appealed to the Taiwan government through its representative here to immediately and unconditionally cancel the debt of Haiti which was ravaged by a 7.0 earthquake last January 12 that killed an estimated 200,000 people.
FDC also urged Taiwan government and private banks to follow the bold steps done by the Paris Club and the Venezuelan government on Haiti's debt.
MANILA, Philippines - Warning that the United States and other developed countries may yet again raise earlier proposals for international financial institutions (IFIs) to manage global climate funds in the ongoing United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, cause-oriented groups together with some Ondoy victims storm the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank offices in Ortigas, demanding the banks to keep out of climate negotiations.
Led by the Freedom from Debt Coalition and Climate Exchange (CLIMEX) Pilipinas, the protesters demanded that the two financial institutions must not let their bad climate reputation stain the climate negotiations.
MANILA, Philippines – Members of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and Climate Exchange (CLIMEX) Pilipinas staged a creative protest in front of the United States embassy here today, denouncing the recent statement issued by the top special envoy for climate conference in Copenhagen who admitted the US historic role in global warming but rejected the any notion of guilt or reparation.
Wearing colorful masks, raincoats and boots, around 200 members of FDC and CLIMEX Pilipinas lambasted US special envoy Todd Stern for saying that the US is not in debt to developing countries because the greenhouse effect is a “relatively recent phenomenon.”
CEBU, Philippines – Labor unions and associations from forty-two rural electric cooperatives (RECs) and various consumer groups have gathered here Tuesday for a two-day conference, aiming to advance the interests of RECs’ workers and consumers in the country.
The participants also launched “Koop Ko ‘To” (This is my cooperative) Movement during the conference which was sponsored by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), National Solidarity of Unions (NSU) and National Solidarity of Associations in Electric Cooperatives (NSAEC).
It is undeniable that the Philippines is in crisis. Mainstream economists still debate whether or not the country had actually been resilient enough to survive the global economic recession. Government technocrats still dispute that the massive unpopularity of the Arroyo administration is indicative of the current economic state. But after the onslaught of tropical storms Ondoy, Pepeng, and Santi, there was no more room left for doubt. The Philippines is in crisis. We are in desperate times.
QUEZON CITY – Desperate times call for drastic measures.
Instead of relying on usual remedies like new borrowings to finance the relief and rehabilitation efforts and the reconstruction of public structures damaged or destroyed by Ketsana (Ondoy) and Parma (Pepeng), the government should firmly and unilaterally call for a debt moratorium, and sternly seek reparations from developed countries’ governments and international financial institutions like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the current climate crisis.
JUBILEE SOUTH
Jubilee South is a network of debt campaigns, social movements, people’s organizations, communities, NGOs and political formations in over 50 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia/Pacific.
YOUTH AGAINST DEBT (YAD)
YAD is a dynamic alignment of different youth and student organizations organized by the Freedom from Debt Coalition with common issues on Debt and Education.
EMPOWER CONSUMERS
EmPower Consumers is a multi-sectoral coalition of electricity consumers in the Philippines.
