As of October 2011, there were 38.5 million employed Filipinos. This means that each employed Filipino, young and old, fully- or under-employed, is indebted by P126,515.00. And it's not even personal or household debt. It is government debt, to be passed on to each taxpayer in this country. That's how great, sensitive and welfarist the government is.
And there's more debt: contingent debt, mainly guarantees by the national government which can become part of the outstanding debt stock if the guarantee recipient (a government corporation or financial institution, etc.) cannot pay its debt. This is P583 billion as of September 2011. And that's how great, sensitive and welfarist the government is.
More than seven years ago, we have a lively exchange of ideas on the question: Is repudiation of public debt a good option? That was in pilipinasforum@yahoogroups.com, an online discussion group which I formed and co-moderated since 1999. The voices of "repudiate the debt" are still with us until now, coming from different sources. So perhaps these exchanges will help clarify the issue.
This is more than 20 pages long, so get your most liked snacks. Special thanks to Dr. Butch Arroyo, my batchmate from UP School of Economics in 1984, for his elaborate discussion of the subject. Butch is an Economics Professor at the Johns Hopkins Univ. in Washington, DC.
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On Debt Repudiation
March 2004
About debt repudiation, I am attaching below Butch Arroyo's posting in PF about the subject. He posted this in reaction to a privilege speech given by Sanlakas party-list Cong. JV Bautista, arguing for "selective debt repudiation".
