With hunger, poverty and joblessness at a record high, and with the people losing faith in a government accused of misusing government power and resources, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay on Sunday said any attempt by Mrs. Arroyo to extend her hold on power should be resisted.

“The people have suffered so much under the regime of Mrs. Arroyo. Eight years is enough,” Binay, also the United Opposition president, said. But he said it is now clear that Mrs. Arroyo has no plans of retiring from politics, as her sons claim.

“It is apparent that Mrs. Arroyo has no plans of riding into the sunset. She continues to wield power as if she is not on her last few months in office,” he said.

“It is for this reason that the opposition is bracing for a full-scale administration push to extend Mrs. Arroyo’s stay in Malacañang beyond 2010, whether through Charter change or martial law,” he said.

Binay issued the statement following reports that Mrs. Arroyo will again make a pitch for Charter amendments when she delivers her State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) today.

He said the last eight years under Mrs. Arroyo “have been characterized by the administration’s abuse of power to subvert our democracy, to subvert our economy and to subvert our national patrimony.”

“This is the same administration that is plotting to keep its grip on power beyond 2010, either through a constituent assembly, or failing that, outright martial law,” he said.

Disputing Palace claims that the Arroyo administration has made gains in the economic front and has moved to ease hunger and poverty, Binay said rosy economic figures do not give the true state of the nation.

Binay cited government statistics showing that the number of poor Filipinos now total 27.6 million, or an increase of 2.7 million between 2000 and 2006. The number of poor families rose by 530,642 also during the same period, bringing the total to 4.7 million.

And despite the government’s claim that it is winning the war against poverty, Binay said 47 percent, or about 8.7 million, of Filipino families consider themselves poor, while 27 percent put themselves on the borderline.

“How bad is the hunger situation in the Philippines? In a survey conducted by Gallup International, the Philippines ranks fifth among 56 countries where hunger is prevalent,” he added. Unemployment remains high despite efforts by the administration to fudge the numbers, with government and private think tanks placing the total unemployed to 11.2 percent.

The total unemployed has totaled 4.2 million, while those who are underemployed totaled 6.6 million, he said.

“Worse, national funds are being treated and spent like it was personal money, like it was Mrs. Arroyo’s personal fortunes to dispense to her allies:

“The P728 million that Joc-Joc Bolante diverted from the fertilizer fund; the $503 million for the Northrail project at P1 billion per kilometer; The $329 billion in the scandalously overpriced NBN-ZTE deal that the Neda approved, in all these cases, high-ranking officials of the national government have felt entitled to the funds—and acted as if they did not have to account for them to the Filipino people,” he said.

State of joblessness

Meanwhile, militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said contrary to what Mrs. Arroyo promised in her 10-point legacy, which includes 10 million jobs, vast scarcity of employment opportunities and job closures stand as the striking truth about her bad employment record.

KMU said Mrs. Arroyo has made livelihood of Filipino families more unstable through low-quality and temporary jobs, including her “Pulis Oyster” employment scheme for out-of-school youth.

“[Mrs.] Gloria Arroyo promised to generate 1 million jobs yearly when she assumed the presidency. After nine years, what swept us was a vast scarcity of employment opportunities and the annihilation of countless jobs and livelihood,” according to KMU.

Besides agreeing with Binay’s number of unemployed, the militant labor alliance said more than 4 million Filipinos are always unemployed yearly. Worse, the administration redefined unemployment figures in April 2005 in a desperate attempt to cover up the massive loss of jobs, it said.

KMU said the government slashed 1.9 million from the actual 4.8 million unemployed Filipinos, and those who do not have work and not looking for work anymore were slashed from the labor force, hence from employment figures.