View from the ground: Philippines
Over 100 civil society groups launched an alternative plan to respond to the crisis. The plan calls for a ‘Drastic overhaul of economic policies’. Key messages include:
- Surge in social pump-priming
- Reversal of privatization
- Repeal of debt payment
- Abolition of pork barrel among key elements of plan
Convinced that the global crisis has proven the failure of the Philippine government’s prevailing pro-“free market” framework, they are instead calling for “a more decisive role of society over the market, more democratic access to resources, as well as greater public participation in economic decision-making.”
