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BY RHICK LARS VLADIMERALBAY
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Saturdsy, August 19, 2017
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“WE CAN never ask for a package as complete as her,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DPWH) secretary Judy Taguiwalo during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “She had been serving DWSD’s clientele long before Digong thought of running for mayor.”
“If the ideal DSWD secretary is one who possesses competence, compassion and commitment, then it can be said that UP (University of the Philippines) gave her the first, her activism gave her the second, and her underground years gave her the third,” continued the grandson of the late statesman and “best president we never had”, Claro M. Recto.
But alas, this is the Philippines – where corruption is rampantly rewarded and public service is another way to say bureaucrat capitalism. So on Aug. 16, without any tangible reason the Commission on Appointments rejected Secretary Taguiwalo, even though it was clear she was firmly on the side of the underprivileged and oppressed masses, and even though she introduced much-needed change in the corruption-hounded DSWD.
I echo the sentiments of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines on the unjust reject of Sec. Taguiwalo from her government position.
CEGP hits Duterte, cohorts on Taguiwalo’s CA rejection
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) denounces the interest-driven and anti-poor decision of Commission on Appointments (CA) to reject the ad interim appointment of Secretary Judy Taguiwalo as head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
President Rodrigo Duterte’s apparent lack of support to Secretary Taguiwalo’s confirmation has only shown how he has turned his back on the people’s clamor for genuine social change. Just like the rejection of former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Gina Lopez appointment, President Duterte allowed the traditional politicians to reject Secretary Taguiwalo for political convenience and to accommodate his cohorts.
The rejection of Secretary Taguiwalo is a victory for corrupt congressmen, neoliberal economic managers, and militarists who want her out of cabinet because of her uncompromising stance against corruption and traditional politics. She effected streamlined operations in DSWD by strongly acting against the department’s old corrupt practices and patronage politics which drew the ire of many pork politicians who rejected her confirmation.
Her support for SSS pension hike, free tuition policy and prioritization of people’s welfare frustrated President Duterte’s economic managers namely Secretary Dominguez, Secretary Diokno, and Secretary Pernia who push for privatization and commercialization of many social services. Together with other bureaucrat-capitalists and business interest groups, they undermined Secretary Taguiwalo’s position as DSWD secretary.
Following this unwelcome development, the Filipino people can only expect the social welfare department to return to its orientation of implementing programs anchored on the neoliberal economic framework of profiteering from basic social services such as dole-out programs that do not ameliorate the lives of the marginalized.
However, it is clear the fight for pro-people service does not end with her removal from the echelons of bureaucracy. The Filipino people, inspired by Secretary Taguiwalo’s genuine advocacies to address the root cause of poverty in the country, shall intensify the struggle for social change in the parliament of the streets. (maverhick.blogspot.com/PN)
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