A critical analysis of the debt service management under the Arroyo administration.

Abstract

The Philippines is facing a crisis that has been detrimental to the Filipinos and even to the economy. The ballooning total debt, which started in the Macapagal administration, that grew out of hand in Marcos dictatorship. With a large amount of debt that the Philippines have, it is important to know how the government is managing this problem that is a burden to all the Filipinos. The government gets the debt payment from the Philippine budget, the budget that is supposed to be for the Filipinos, since it is from the Filipinos. The study was undertaken by gathering data, regarding debt, debt servicing and the national budget from government offices. With this data and library work, the researcher has made an assessment of the Arroyo administration‘s debt management strategy. An assessment from making comparisons between the debt management of the current administration and her predecessors as well as the debt service payments made by the government compared to the budget for social services. The current administration has been the biggest borrower and the largest payer compared to all her post-Marcos predecessors combined. The debt problem has almost doubled for the end of 2009 compared to the total debt before she took office in 2000. With that, her debt payments are also the same, spending more for debt payments, crowding out the budget for basic social services that Filipinos need, even as the government entail more borrowings to meet debt obligations. Obligations that are composed of fraudulent loans, that has never been for the benefit of the Filipinos, instead is a burden, since this loans that are contracted and are legitimate is being paid until now. The present administration has failed to reduce indebtedness; instead it has pushed the Philippines further in debt trap. The management of the Arroyo administration has been like the previous administrations, putting debt payments ahead of social services.