Still a “D” on corruption and poverty

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas

One thing stood out in President Aquino’s State-of-the-Nation Address on Monday. For the first time in four SONAs, Aquino did not blame the previous administration for the country’s current state of affairs. Finally, the President has decided to face the state of the nation sans his usual blame game. After three years in office, it just makes no sense to continue blaming the previous administration for his failures. Just for that, Aquino deserves some praise.

There are other reasons to give the President some credit in his lengthy speech. People must love the way he dressed down some officials he has appointed to important positions in government. He has lately been good at dressing down government officials in public.

He warned erring government officials and employees: “And for those employees who refuse to turn their backs on the culture of wang-wang: my patience has run out. You were given three years to demonstrate your readiness to change; now, I shall pursue all of you and hold you accountable. No hard feelings,” Aquino boomed.

Aquino named some government agencies accused of wrongdoing and incompetence such as the Bureau of Immigration, National Irrigation Authority, and the Bureau of Customs.

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon offered to resign immediately after the speech, but Aquino rejected the offer outright with this note: “Ruffy, we both know the difficulties in the agency you are trying to reform. My confidence remains the same.” Is he serious? How can he criticize the customs bureau’s performance publicly and say later that he has complete confidence in the agency’s head? Doesn’t command responsibility apply to friends and allies?

All these tough talk will be for naught if Malacanang does not wield the stick against all corrupt and non-performing officials, regardless of their political color. We would love to see erring government officials, appointed by Aquino or not, being prosecuted for graft or being fired for incompetence.

Beyond the removal of Chief Justice Renato Corona and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Aquino still has nothing to show for his much-ballyhooed campaign against corruption. The same rotten bureaucracy runs the government’s day-to-day operations, bribery remains rampant, kickbacks and pork scams still rule over government projects, and smuggling and tax evasion are still unchecked.

In his SONA, Aquino cited the gains in the first three years of his administration, including the rapid economic growth achieved in recent months. Again, Aquino deserves credit for the rapid rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) achieved in the first quarter of every year he has been in office, 4.6 percent in 2011, 6.5 percent in 2012 and 7.8 percent in 2013.

However, amid these amazing growth rates is the troubling reality that job creation has also fallen down correspondingly from 1.4 million jobs in 2011 to 1.0 million in 2012 and negative 21,000 as of April 2013, as pointed out by the Ibon Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa.

Even more troubling is the fact that despite the rapid economic growth, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened even more, and poverty remains an alarming problem in the country.

Africa said that based on government records, the country’s long-standing jobs and poverty crisis has worsened under the Aquino administration. He said Aquino claims to acknowledge the country’s economic problems and to be seeking “inclusive growth,” but the administration’s polices were no different from those of the last three decades that have resulted in today’s “grossly distorted and unequal economy.”

Africa cited a few more government statistics to back his claim. He said that despite rapid economic growth, the number of unemployed and underemployed Filipinos increased by over 1 million from 10.9 million in April 2010 to 11.9 million in April 2013 – consisting of 4.6 million unemployed and 7.3 million underemployed. “This is the most number of unemployed and underemployed Filipinos in the country’s history,” he added.

Africa also said that despite the rapid growth, poverty has remained unchanged. He noted that the National Statistical Coordination Board reported official poverty incidence as statistically unchanged at 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012 compared to 28.8 percent and 28.6 percent in the same periods in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He said poverty incidence of 27.9 percent means around 26.8 million poor Filipinos – computed using a projected population of 96.2 million in 2012 – or an increase of some 3 million to 4 million from 2009,” Africa said.

“The Aquino administration has been in power since mid-2010 and the last three years give undeniable evidence as to whose interests it upholds primarily. There is growing wealth and prosperity for a few amid joblessness and poverty for the many,” Africa said.

Africa said that while the poor has become poorer, the net income of the country’s top 1,000 corporations has been growing at an increasing rate in the latest three years for which data is available – their cumulative net income has gone up from P756 billion in 2009, to P804.1 billion in 2010 and to P868.1 billion in 2011.

The net worth of the 40 richest Filipinos have also grown tremendously, he added, noting that their collective worth has been steadily increasing from $22.8 billion in 2010, to $34 billion in 2011, and to $47.4 billion in 2012. This combined net worth in 2012 was equivalent to over one-fifth or 21 percent of GDP for the year!

Another political analyst, Dr. Clarita Carlos of the University of the Philippines, while praising the economic gains achieved by the Aquino administration, said Aquino remains to be perceived by the public as a leader “without clear priorities” and the changes he has claimed have not been felt by all.

She acknowledged that Aquino had been addressing the ills of the society and scored some achievements during the first half of his term, but ordinary citizens have yet to see their effects, along with the President’s road map and vision for the people.

Aquino would eventually be judged not on the strength of his SONAs, but on how he has made good his campaign promise, “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” In other words, what has he done to curb corruption and alleviate poverty? I have to give him a D and he has three more years to change it into a passing grade.

(valabelgas@aol.com)