MANILA, Philippines?President Benigno Aquino III?s strategy of public-private partnerships and phase-out of subsidies is not only outmoded but has failed in the countries that adopted it, according to two party-list House members.

?I think the President and his advisers are still trapped in the 1990s free market and globalization mentality that advocated privatization and removal of subsidies. The people around him, specifically Socio-economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, have not realized that these ideas have failed not only in the Philippines but all over the world,? said Akbayan member Walden Bello.

Akbayan supported Mr. Aquino in the last elections but Bello said it disagreed with the President on his stand on public-private partnerships and removal of subsidies to solve the budget deficit.

Bayan Muna member Teodoro Casiño said he was ?bothered? that Mr. Aquino would make public-private partnerships the foundation for national development, specifically to address the problems of lack of infrastructure; the poor state of the Navy; and the insufficient funds for education, health and social services.

?The way he said it in his Sona, it appears he considers PPPs as a cure-all for the problematic delivery of social services and infrastructure improvement left by the Arroyo administration. This is dangerous,? Casiño said.

Casino said that by transferring the state?s role of national development and leaving it to big business interests to deliver social services, the President would be practically ?selling out? the national patrimony.