FOR President Aquino, his biggest accomplishment, so far, is the “transformation in the attitude of the people” who used to feel resigned, dejected and apathetic.
Now, there are more people who want to participate in governance, he said on Thursday.
At a celebration to mark the first year of his presidency at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, Mr. Aquino reported to the people his administration’s accomplishments on its first year in office and the reforms the government has been undertaking to correct the mistakes of the previous administration.
Amid growing criticism, the President said he will just let the beneficiaries of his administration respond to allegations that he has no accomplishments in his first year in office, among them, the 21,800 families of soldiers and policemen who will have decent homes before the end of the year and those under the Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) program.
He added that some 240,000 farmers are benefiting from the 2,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads that have been constructed in just one year.
“Let’s ask them. Isn’t it clear that there have been changes?” he said.
The President also said judicious spending and plugged loopholes in the system have helped the government fund its programs under the General Appropriations Act—without having to raise taxes.
A total of P12 billion funded various programs, such as the fuel subsidy for jeepney-franchise holders, the hiring of 10,000 nurses in poor provinces and the purchase of modern ships for maritime patrol, among other projects, he said.
“This is just the first year so we do not want to give a specific grade. But we don’t believe that the President did not pass; that would be unfair to say,” Peter Angelo V. Perfecto, Makati Business Club (MBC) executive director, said on Thursday.
When it comes to the anticorruption program, Perfecto said the MBC believes the administration should get a passing mark, especially in light of the changes in the way the biddings are conducted
Fernando Aldaba, an economist from Ateneo de Manila and former president of the Philippine Economic Society, agreed that the Aquino administration’s policies on anticorruption and the expansion of the CCT program are among the strongest policies implemented by the President.
The good government and anti-corruption drive, Aldaba said, will help increase investor confidence among domestic and international investments. He added that the President’s efforts at curbing corruption are the reasons the country was able to receive higher credit ratings from international rating agencies.
Aldaba said the expansion of the CCTs, in the long run, will be felt, once a convergence in services at the ground- level implementation of the program starts.
“In its first year, I think the administration has accomplished a lot of things, and it is now ready to accomplish more in the coming years,” he said.
These accomplishments were identified by the MBC as:
On the economic side, the MBC noted that the government posted a fiscal surplus of P61 million in the first four months of 2011, a stark improvement from the P131.8-billion deficit in the same period in 2010. The gross international reserves rose to $68.8 billion (equivalent to 10.6 months’ worth of imports) as of end-May, from $48.7 billion (8.4 months of imports) in end-June 2010. The country’s balance of payments surplus expanded 174 percent to $3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2011, from $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010.
Approved investments rose 76 percent to P162 billion in the first quarter of 2011, from P92 billion a year ago, and what is even more striking is that P140 billion of that amount was accounted for by Filipino investors, rising 211 percent from P45 billion in the first quarter of 2010, the MBC said.
The agriculture sector reported a strong 4.2-percent growth performance in the first quarter of 2011, bouncing back from a 1.8-percent slump in the first quarter of 2010.
The average unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent in the first two quarters of 2011, from 7.6 percent in the same period in 2010, although the MBC noted that the underemployment rate rose.
“We see that the Aquino administration’s fiscal reforms and implementation of policies that promote macroeconomic stability have inspired confidence in the international investment community,” it said.
The group noted that the highly successful issuances of long-term peso-denominated global bonds and the bond swap, whereby nearly P200 billion of the country’s old debts were exchanged for new 10- and 25-year bonds were unprecedented and indicated foreign investors’ optimism in the country’s long-term economic prospects.
“Moreover, the lengthening of our debt profile makes it possible for the government to channel more of its limited resources to infrastructure projects, poverty alleviating social services, and meeting the Philippines’ Millennium Development Goals targets,” it said.
“These are all important and undeniable gains that should not be disregarded or belittled, and the Makati Business Club believes the Aquino administration deserves credit for these,” Perfecto said.
For the administration’s Year 2, the MBC is seeking the execution of the comprehensive Philippine Development Plan for 2011-16, the government’s PPP program, the settlement of the Naia 3 dispute and the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill.
Aldaba, meanwhile, added that the national government must empower local government units to participate in poverty reduction and local economic development.
“P-Noy must be more proactive in responding to the identified cost of doing business constraints by for example chairing the National Competitiveness Council,” Aldaba said. --Mia Gonzalez, Max de Leon, Cai Ordinario
