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 The continuing drop of the peso against the dollar and the ongoing Mindanao conflict are just some of the reasons why the Philippine Economy is in an even steeper uphill battle. The depreciation of the peso for example has caused a chain reaction from the oil price hike to the higher prices of the basic commodities and transportation fares. The Mindanao conflict on the other hand has caused foreign investors in the Philippines to look for �more favorable� countries to do business while at the same time putting the Philippines in bad light for would be investors and eventually scaring them away. But the above mentioned are the more recent developments plaguing the Estrada administration. There is an even more constant crisis that has caused the country great �suffering� for nearly more than 4 decades now, and this is the Philippines foreign debt crisis (A country�s debt owned to foreign creditors and therefore denominated in foreign currencies). FIGURING OUT THE FIGURES As of December 31, 1999 the total Philippine Debt stands at 52.21 billion US dollars from 51.17 billion US dollars at the end of September 1999, documents released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Over a period of time, despite the country�s yearly payments, the foreign debt continued to increase year after year to what it is today. (See Table 1) As can be seen in Table 1, in 1992 when the former President Fidel V. Ramos assumed office, the country�s foreign debt stood at $32.089 billion. During the course of his six-year term, the foreign debt figures increased up to $47.817 billion by the end of the Ramos administration in 1998. This means that in a period of six years, the foreign debt increased by $15.728 billion. Also from the figure we can see that the Ramos administration borrowed an average of $2.6213 billion every year outside the country.
 As can be in seen in Table 1, from time to time President Estrada assumed presidency in 1998 up to the end of 1999, the total external debt of the country rose from $47,817 billion to $52.21 billion, $4.393 billion higher since Estrada took over. Medium and long-term loans comprise 89% of the foreign exchange liabilities, with the shortest maturity at 9.2 years. (This means that payments would end only after the maturity date or 9.2 years) Multilateral sources and international financial institutions (like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank) account for 39% of the country�s foreign debt, bilateral sources or debts between two countries, predominantly Japan, represent 31%, while bondholders or noteholders account for 25 percent, (See Table 2) while the balance is owed to banks, suppliers and other institutions.
 Under Presidential Decree 1177 or the automatic appropriations act, the government gives priority to the payment of the country�s foreign debt or at least 20% of the National Budget over the delivery of the basic services. For interest payments alone 109.3 billion pesos has been set-aside in the 629-billion peso National Budget for the year 2000 (BSP). The appropriation for the debt servicing (the principal and interest payments on a country�s debt to its creditors) may yet increase if the peso depreciates against the dollar or yen. THE REAL DEAL The World Economy, most recognize, is harsh and competitive. In order to compete, Third World countries must adjust their economic structures. In order for a country to be able to borrow from the IMF or WB, the country must present a collateral or assurance for payment of debt usually in the form of State Assets. Then, they must agree on a Structural Adjustment Program or SAP where they must promise the creditors liberalization, privatization and deregulation in the economy. Liberalization is the eventual elimination of trade barriers and tariffs. Since the capitalist who influence largely the two institutions have �anti-protectionist tendencies,� they need to eliminate trade barriers of less develop countries so that they could freely �dump� their surplus or overproduced goods. Privatization is the selling of government owned assets to private individuals or corporations. Examples of these are privatization of Meralco and MWSS. Deregulation is when the government ceases to exercise control over the market of a particular commodity. Such was the case in the deregulation of the oil industry way back in 1996. As a result, structural adjustment policies are spreading in the African, Asian, and Latin American Continents. The tragedy is that this brand of structural adjustment works for benefit the few � the transnational elite. In the Third World, for most workers, peasant, and small entrepreneurs producing for the domestic market, it has been a disaster. The country continues to pay debts regularly to earn a �Seal of Good House Keeping� from creditors - the IMF. This means that the country has a good standing as debtor if it continues to pay debts. If this is not met, the status of the country will be categorized as �under observation,� and puts the country in bad light for future borrowing from creditors. WHAT CAN BE DONE? The Ecumenical Jubilee 2000 Campaign Network or ECJN has proposed some steps that the government should undertake to solve the foreign debt crisis that the country is not facing. Bong Imperial, the National Coordinator of ECJN said that - the IMF and the WB and other imperialist controlled finance institutions should unconditionally and totally cancel debts of poor countries including the Philippines. There should be total repudiation of immoral, onerous, fraudulent, and behest loans. This can be done either by constitutional amendment, lobbying, or referendum (a voting of the people to continue) or the debt servicing. There should also be a rejection of the IMF and WB structural adjustment policy and its debt driven, export oriented and import dependent economic program. With $52.21 billion in debt and nearly 75 million Filipinos, each Filipino owes the Foreign Creditors almost P30,000. This should be reason enough. Also there should be a scrapping of the Automatic Appropriations Act because it is unconstitutional in the first place. The constitution clearly states that education should have primacy above all priorities and not debt payments. The debt budget should instead be re-channeled other more pressing concerns such as social services. © 2000. IAN, JAY-AR, RACHELLE.
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