Accolades meaningless if people remain poor
There are times you’d think the Philippines is getting better under the Aquino administration. To be sure, all the accolades that the administration—President Aquino, in particular—has been getting lately provide additional materials for great-sounding press releases from the President’s spokespersons and his allies. Together with the favorable survey results, these accolades could lead people to believe that the Aquino administration is doing just fine in running the country.
But then when you really think about it and look closely at critical issues such as poverty, employment (or lack thereof), poor infrastructure, lack of investments, reports of corruption, smuggling, killings, etc., you’d have second thoughts.
We hope the Aquino administration would see the real picture and would not be content with accolades without actually elevating the standard of living in the country and of its people, which should be its ultimate objective.
—SYLVESTER CASTRO,
