PNoy:
Pinoys Are Worth Fighting For
Emotional but substantive was PNoy’s
SONA (State of the Nation Address).
Quoting his
late father Ninoy Aquino, PNoy said in his SONA, “The Filipino is worth dying
for.” Followed it with “The Filipino is worth living for.” Then, from him, “ At
idagdag ko naman po: the Filipino is definitely worth fighting for,"
What indeed, is the State of the
Filipino nation today?
Right off
the bat, the Filipino is fortunate to have a President who is good and honest
and who is determined to follow the righteous path. In the process, he is
expecting and exhorting others to follow. Many did but understandably, old
habits die hard. As I said in a previous column, it takes a whole generation to
reform society and its people.
The Philippines now has an investment
grade status. It is a rating that is yearned and envied by many countries. The
grade was obtained from Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s – the
three recognized international “raters”. Measured against the performance
of other countries and against its own past, the country’s investment grade
rating is unprecedented and, historically, a record. That alone, is a sign
of good things to come. The burden of high interest payment for loans is
reduced, and more investments are likely to follow.
No
other than the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has hailed the “Philippines as
the next Asian “miracle” and a global model in fighting corruption, as it
emerges from decades as a regional economic laggard.”
In fact, he further said President
Benigno Aquino should take much of the credit for the turnaround, highlighting
his ant-corruption campaign, efforts to build transparency in government and
focus on “inclusive growth”.
Based on the
data published by the International Monetary fund, in the years 2012 and 2013,
the Philippines posted high GDP growth rates, reaching 6.8% in 2012 and 7.2% in
2013, the highest GDP growth rates in Asia, followed by China and Indonesia.
The goal is to maintain such level of growth.
Battle Against Corruption
As of today, PNoy’s anti-corruption
campaign has yielded some outcomes that show the government’s determination and
commitment. It is following what I described in a previous column as GPS
(Government Prosecution of the Sleazy).
For the
first time in history, three Senators, the Mastermind of the Pork Barrel Scam
(Napoles), and many other public officials are in prison for being charged
with Plunder. Others are charged for lesser offenses of violation of
ant-graft laws. The expectation is that many more will be charged soon.
SONA 2014
PNoy’s SONA was 91 minutes long
compared to last year’s 102 minutes. It garnered a total of 85 applauses.
The
Philippine Inquirer published a summary of his SONA. I will mention some
features of the report.
After the usual greetings, he thanked
foreign donors for their assistance during Super Typhoon Yolanda. He cited
Albay’s zero casualty during Typhoon Glenda; he praised Albay Gov. Joey
Salceda. He reported the arrest of those involved in the killing of Mayor
Ernesto Balolong and businessman Richard King.
He
enumerated government acquisitions to modernize Armed Forces—new helicopters,
country’s first landing craft utility ship BRP Tagbanua.
He reported that 1.65 million were
employed from April 2013 to April 2014. He expects the completion of the
Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway until Urdaneta by this year, and until La
Union by 2015. He enumerated more infrastructure projects such as:
Fix 108.8
kilometers of roads, bridges and landslide-prone areas damaged by Yolanda; and Continue
to “Build Back Better” for those affected by Yolanda.
AFP modernization was, he
considers, an important achievement: Two of 12 FA-50 lead-in fighter
trainer jets coming in next year; the rest expected to be delivered by end of
2017; 17 refurbished UH-1 helicopters expected by September.
Other target
military purchases: Brand-new 8 Bell combat utility helicopters, 2
antisubmarine helicopters, 10 AgustaWestland-109 helicopters, 2 light-lift
aircraft, 3 medium-lift aircraft and radar systems, among others. The
acquisition of 50,629 M4 assault rifles is also expected in the next months.
Legislating pension reform in order to
gain funds to hire more policemen and buy new equipment for PNP is a priority.
On Agrarian
reform: Completion of Cadastral survey by 2015 after 102 years. He will suggest
legislation to extend delivery of notices of coverage.
On Bangsamoro: Working on Bangsamoro
Basic Law and push for its passage.
RATINGS and REACTIONS
Columnist
Mel Sta. Maria reported that in a survey conducted by TV5, PNoy’s speech was
received favorably by 84% of the listeners and watchers.
Even oppositionists and critics had
something positive to say. In a statement, Sen. Ramon
"Bong" Revilla Jr. praised Aquino for ditching macho posturing and
politicking in the SONA and focusing instead on his programs.
Revilla
said the President could have accomplished more in the past four years if he
had adopted a similar track since taking office in 2010.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also praised
President Aquino for spending much of his SONA enumerating completed projects
and accomplishments.
Both
are in prison. They must have access to TV or the Internet.
The State of the Nation cannot be aptly
described unless the status of DAP controversy is also included. What has
not been cleared by the Press in its reporting to the public is that DAP itself
has not been declared unconstitutional. The Supreme Court declared only certain
acts and practices as unconstitutional. The misunderstanding in these
acts and practices is in the definition of “savings” and other terms
used. This is why PNoy has asked for a
clearer definition by Congress so that the legislative intent would not be
misinterpreted.
The
President also asked for a Supplemental Budget to fund the numerous DAP
Projects that are in the pipeline and which he believes are beneficial to the
people.
It looks like he really believes that
“the Filipino is worth fighting for."
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