As PH debt climbs to P7.16 trillion, Robredo demands gov’t transparency

Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday demanded transparency from the government and urged the public to be critical after the country’s debt reached P7.160 trillion in September 2018.

“Dine-demand natin sa pamahalaan na maging transparent, malaman natin kung saan siya napupunta. Maraming sinasabi na ‘Build, Build, Build.’ Maraming sinasabi na iyong mga proyektong galing sa China pero sana alam ito ng taumbayan,” Robredo said in an interview.

(We are demanding the government to be transparent. We should know how the money was spent.  Many are saying “Build, Build, Build” and those projects from China, but we want the people to know.)

Robredo said that incurring debt itself is “not bad” as long as the funds were used to help the economy. Debts only become negative when used for corruption purposes.

“Ang utang by itself hindi masama, kung iyong utang nagagamit para lalong mapalago iyong ekonomiya,” she said. “Pero kung iyong utang mapupunta nga sa korapsyon, kung iyong utang mapupunta doon sa mga bagay na iyong returns hindi naman mas marami sa kaniya, dapat hindi natin ginagawa,” she added.

Robredo noted that during the Marcos regime, the country’s debt only went to the pockets of the president’s cronies.

She urged the public to be more critical of how the government uses the funds and learn from the lessons of the past.

“So iyong sa akin, mas maging discerning sana iyong tao. Kung umuutang, lumalaki iyong utang, saan ito napupunta (The public should be more discerning. If we are borrowing money, where is this being spent)?” she said.

“Kasi halimbawa napupunta ito sa mga kalsada, napupunta ito sa mga tulay, doon sa mga lugar na mahirap maabot, ito iyong mabuting utang, kasi iyong expected na returns nito mas malaki kaysa doon sa utang,” she added.

(If the money was spent on roads, bridges, and areas that are hard to reach, that is good debt because the expected returns will be bigger than the actual loan.) /ee

READ: PH debt climbs to new high of P7.16 trillion in September