WEF a prelude to Cha cha, militant group says

(L-R) Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, WEF gestures while President Benigno Aquino III, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Myanmar Vice President U Nyan Tun look on during the World Economic Forum in Makati Shagri-la. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After the conclusion of the World Economic Forum on East Asia, one militant group has slammed the international gathering as a prelude to Charter change.

In a statement, Bayan Muna Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate described the WEF as a connection for Charter change, which Congress would discuss at the House of Representatives in the following week.

“The WEF is just one of the proponents of Cha-cha and it should be exposed for what it truly is,” Zarate said. “The driving force of the WEF is to gain more profits for businesses regardless if more people would suffer.”

Colmenares added that the WEF would open up the country to new foreign investors leaving Filipinos blindsided with new and unknown policies.

“The participants in the WEF essentially want one thing and that is the intensification of neo-liberal economic policies in the world,” Colmenares said. “They want to open up more economies and aspects of economies that are not yet liberalized, deregulated or privatized.”

Colmenares added that the inclusive growth that the Philippines is boasting was designed to “sugar coat” the policies that would be detrimental to the Filipinos.

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