Some Catholic bishops “flunked” President Aquino for “failing to curb poverty” even as the Philippines’ economic growth outstripped that of other Asian countries. “Growth has not trickled down to the poor,” scoffed National Secretariat for Social Action’s Bishop Broderick Pabillo. “On a scale of one to ten, I’d give Aquino a grade of three.”
The satisfaction of Filipinos with the performance of their national government, from mid-2010 until the first quarter of 2013, is unprecedented ever since Social Weather Stations began tracking it in 1989 (see “Satisfaction with gov’t dips but still ‘very good’,” BusinessWorld, 6/06/2013).
Policy inconsistency has been the bane of our economy for far too long. “Implementation inconsistency” may be the better term in certain cases. Whatever it is, our government has had a notorious track record of saying one thing now, and then doing the exact opposite.
I always fall into a state of disbelief every time I hear good news about the economy. Just like when news broke out that the Philippine “economy grew a stunning 7.8 percent.” Well, that could easily be taken as a good thing since that was the way it was reported. But most Filipinos probably reacted with raised eyebrows: “So?”
A lot of cash is available in the system to finance productive ventures that can sustain the country’s economic growth. But banks choose to park these funds at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas than risk lending them. As of the latest count, nearly P2 trillion is with the central bank’s special deposit accounts (SDAs). That’s almost equivalent to the national government’s budget of P2.01 billion for the entire 2013.
First off, an appreciation for automated elections. A day after the elections, we already knew the winners, or at least the winning senators. That’s one sea change. Though it’s a testament to our capacity to factor things, good or bad, bane or boon, that we didn’t even seem to notice the difference.
“The future starts today, not tomorrow,” Pope John Paul II once cautioned. That reality underpins the new Asian Development Bank study that sketches “a daunting unfinished agenda when the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015.”
One may be hard put to find fault with the quick and efficient response of the Department of Energy under newly appointed Secretary Jericho L. Petilla to the May 8, 2013, massive power outage in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.
With the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Act now a law, it’s time to focus on action. No more excuses. As the so-called centerpiece of President Aquino’s administration, K to 12 must now live up to its promise of reforming basic education from the ground up.
Fellow Inquirer columnist Winnie Monsod was quite disturbed—nay, agitated—as we discussed the advance executive summary recently submitted by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to the President, of its assessment on the controversial Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco).
The Migrante Sectoral Party chapter in New Zealand is calling on President Aquino to stop wasting time and start using government funds for the benefit of thousands of stranded Filipinos in Jeddah, who are awaiting immediate repatriation.
I imagine a mass serenade dedicated by thousands of Filipino “superold” veterans of World War II to President Aquino and his officials, regarding the long-unpaid Total Administrative Disability benefits mandated by Republic Act No. 7696 (An act amending certain sections of RA 6948 otherwise known as “An act standardizing and upgrading the benefits for military veterans and their dependents”). The serenade goes (with an old familiar tune) thus:
