Last week President Aquino discussed his legislative agenda with the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council. The agenda submitted was disappointing, considering that most of the measures were minor, except perhaps for two proposals.
The two major proposals were a “fine-tuned’’ Reproductive Health bill that has been renamed Responsible Parenthood bill ostensibly to make it more acceptable to the Catholic Church, and a measure restructuring the “sin taxes’’ on alcohol and tobacco products.
Other measures on the President’s legislative agenda are bills providing additional benefits and protection to house help, amending the Human Security Act, amending the People’s Television Network Law, amending the rural electrification program, providing for the delineation of specific forest limits of the public domain, protecting individual personal data in information and communications systems in the government and the private sector; granting broader protection for consumers; reorganizing the Philippine statistical system; imposing stiffer penalties for stealing or tampering with government risk reduction and preparedness equipment, accessories and other facility items; expanding the coverage of the science and technology scholarship program; and amending the Twenty Percent Balanced Housing Law.
These are lightweight bills that do not provide solutions to the most serious problems of the nation. Measures, for instance, that would relieve the problem of poverty; measures that would strengthen the government’s anti-corruption campaign and healthcare system, including the lack of hospitals, clinics and government doctors and nurses; address problems of the educational system, such as the lack of schoolrooms, teachers and books; provide solutions to the problem of criminality, particularly in Metro Manila and other urban areas, the deforestation problem and the decreasing water supply throughout the country.
On the problem of poverty, the Aquino administration has the conditional cash transfer which provides for a monetary dole to the poorest households in the country. The conditional cash transfer, a flagship program of President Aquino, is beginning to make a dent on the problem of poverty, but it should not be the lone solution. If the government wants to provide for a more permanent solution to the problem of poverty, it should help set up both public and private establishments that would provide jobs to the unemployed.
On the problem of corruption, measures are needed that would improve the justice system. The new ombudsman has shown the way by hiring 100 more lawyers to help her prosecute the hundreds of cases now pending in her office. Other courts could benefit a lot from the hiring of additional lawyers and other personnel who can help them dispose of the huge backlogs in their offices. The Freedom of Information Bill and the Whistleblowers’ Act could also help the administration greatly in its anti-corruption drive.
The poor know the gravity of the nation’s health and medical problems. Six of 10 Filipinos who succumb to diseases die without ever seeing a doctor, according to the University of the Philippines’ National Health Institute. There is a great need for more government hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses.
The Aquino administration would earn the eternal gratitude of the nation if it could solve the perennial problem of lack of schoolrooms, teachers, books and teaching equipment within its term. Measures providing solutions to this problem are clearly needed.
The problem of criminality is getting worse, despite glowing reports from the Philippine National Police. Many people have become victims of criminals, especially in Metro Manila and other urban areas. Measures such as one that would increase the personnel and equipment of the police are needed.
Deforestation, ineffective agrarian reform, the decreasing water supply are other problems that need legislative solutions. Alas, the Aquino administration, on which the people are pinning their hopes for a better life, seems to be more concerned with minor rather than major problems. But it is not too late. It can submit other measures to Congress in the coming months.