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GO
bares 10-point agenda
Candidates of the Genuine Opposition (GO) have released a 10-point
legislative agenda, vowing to oppose Charter change, reject any
new taxation, and strengthen human rights should they win the
May 2007 midterm elections.
The opposition vowed to deliver in the area of legislation on
the following concerns:
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Generating more jobs through labor-intensive infrastructure
projects in the rural areas rather that so-called mega projects,
which are “prone to large scale corruption;
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Training the country’s youth in disciplines calling
for higher skills through increased budgetary allocations
for the educational system at all levels, including teachers’
pay, books and classrooms, “except anomalous rice subsidies;”
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Substantial lowering of the costs of drugs by as much as 90
pecent by providing incentives for domestic production of
drugs, adopting procurement reforms in the health sector and
importing affordable medicines;
-
Lowering the costs of transportation and power through the
aggressive development of renewable domestic sources of energy;
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Rejection of any new taxes such as the proposed tax on text
messaging, improvement of tax administration and exclusive
utilization of additional revenues collected under the expanded
value-added tax scheme for priority areas such as education,
healthcare, agriculture and science and technology;
- Strengthening
protection of human rights by granting prosecutorial powers
to the Commission on Human Rights and upgrading its investigative
capabilities and reviewing the government’s counter-insurgency
program to “deemphasize the heavily militarist approach”
and once again address the deeper causes of social conflict
— poverty and injustice — through development
programs;
- Contributing
to the arrest of global warming and ensuring a cleaner and
better environment for future generations through programs
that would accelerate the use of cleaner fuels, reforestation,
lower electricity consumption and waste recycling;
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Organizing additional support programs for overseas Filipino
workers that will provide them with legal assistance abroad
in their countries of work, retraining services, entrepreneurship
mentoring and welfare and counseling services to the families
they leave behind;
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Reinforcing the effectiveness of the press in its role as
watchdog against graft and corruption by decriminalizing libel
and increasing penalties for harm done to journalists; and
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Instituting other meaningful reforms to make the economy more
dynamic, efficient and equitable and also make Filipino workers
and enterprises more globally competitive.
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