Time’s up

Judgment at 100 days is another one of those strange things picked up from the Americans. I’m not sure how you can fairly judge someone’s performance a scant three months into office. Six months is the more normal corporate measure. But 100 days is “mandated” by tradition, and President Aquino measured himself and his performance upon that day: October 8. So let us do so, too .

His finest achievement was how he handled teacher Jesusa Antiquera’s difficulty on rising onto a bar stool. He did it with good humor, a helping hand and a genuine friendliness. Gloria would have thrown a tantrum at her program being so disrupted. And when some students rose to vociferously complain of the education budget he patiently heard them out, then dispassionately explained his position on this, again, there is no comparison. Gloria would have had them forcibly removed from the hall.

You don’t need grand visions, lofty missions, endless strategic plans. You just need to do the little things one a time. But little things can have a wide impact on society. Oh, you need the vision and the plans, but the little things add up—and work.

Banning “wang wangs” was a brilliant stroke. It wasn’t that it stopped the bullying of self-important officials (although it did do that), it was that it sent a message of equality. In a society where the strict hierarchal order is an anomaly in today’s modern world. This is a stricture on those not born so lucky.

Taking portraits off everything where it’s a required government service, not an undeserved gift from a politician, was another small step that leapt a building. Politicians now have to work for their recognition.

But his reaction to Jesusa told us what he was: A decent, solicitous person who cared about people. That’s leadership. Leadership is not what you do, it’s what others do because they believe in you. Some 71 percent of the populace trust this President because they believe in him—even after a few bungles as he learns the ropes.

On these three things alone, Aquino gets a passing mark in his 100-day test. But let’s, anyway, look at a few of the specifics. The fairest measure is to see what he’s achieved of what he promised. So here’s a summation of some of the more noticeable ones.

But before I go into that, let me chide his speechwriter for following the Arroyo model and painting everything in rose colored hues. He did not bring home the bacon from his US trip. Most of that US$ 2.8 billion was already decided upon P-Noy’s visit.

Admittedly some of it was because he was President and there was more confidence of a safe investment, so say that. The $434-million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant, for example, wasn’t released under Arroyo. It needed a new, trustworthy leader who will make sure the funds would be properly spent. Coca Cola’s $1-billion investment is not a lump-sum one as implied. It will be spread over five years. Still impressive when undistorted by twisted implications. So let’s tell it like it is, not a Gloriafied version.

So what did he promise? This is how we analyzed it at a Wallace Business Forum Roundtable on Tuesday (Maximum of 10 points each).

1. No graft and corruption (Working at this, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs are already catching crooks, 7 points).

2. Undo Arroyo’s midnight deals and appointments (Done it—but challenged in the Supreme Court, 8 points).

3. Prioritize deserving career officials (Trying to do it, but hampered by law and entrenched politics that still has to learn how to overcome, 8 points).

4. No new taxes under his watch (He can’t stick to this, sin taxes at least have to be simplified and raised, 0).

5. Less foreign travel (Cancelled trips to Belgium, Indonesia and Vietnam, and is cutting cost—P25 million versus the more than P37 million spent by Arroyo on her last US trip, 10 points).

6. Settle the Hacienda Luisita issue (Remains controversially unresolved, 0).

7. Eliminate middlemen in rice trading (Not yet done, but planned. National Food Authority, however, still continues to exist, when it shouldn’t, 3 points).

8. Eventually quit his habit of smoking (Not yet, 0).

Total points: 36 out of 80.

He also promised:

1. A zero-based budget approach—setting the budget on actual necessity rather than adjusting it through annual increments (Submitted his 1st budget

to Congress on zero-based approach, 10 points)

2. Aggressively hunt and prosecute smugglers and tax evaders (BIR and BOC announcing cases every few days, 7 points)

3. Focus on, and resolution of extra-legal killings (Still trying to resolve the extrajudicial killings that occurred within administration, 4 points).

4. Creation of the Truth Commission (Done it, it’s led by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. who is tasked to look into the anomalies and atrocities committed

by the Arroyo administration, 10 points).

5. Encouragement of public-private partnership (Specific projects and approach to be announced in November, 6 points).

6. Streamlining of bureaucratic practices (The Department of Trade and Industry has reduced business registration to one day and six signatures but others are yet to follow, 7 points).

7. Reinforcement of the education system (12 years and an 18.3 percent higher budget so that 13,147 classrooms can be built and 10,000 teachers hired, 9 points).

8. Implementation of National Household Targeting System for Philhealth (800,000 families listed in national household targeting system will receive Philhealth cards, 10 points).

9. Peace process through renegotiation with MILF and CPP-NPA (Revived it — but long way to go it needs an economic solution, not a political one.

Give young men a job, they don’t fight, 10 points).

Total points: 73 out of 90.

So overall he gets 109 out of 170 or 64%.

And with the recent development with the issue on reproductive health, he’s shown that he is a President who will stick to decisions he believes in and will not cave in to others, even if they have (supposedly) vast influence, by doing so he’s shown he’s a leader of all Filipinos, not just of certain selfish sectors.

Still, on the hostage crisis, here the President failed. I agree with the Inquirer editorial’s analysis of it. The IIRC report was exhaustively done, its recommendations should have been followed. How sad that they weren’t. I hope he doesn’t cave in to Church pressure on the reproductive health bill too. If he does, his leadership is fatally compromised.

For now, President Aquino has got lots of goodwill. People want him to succeed (after the pain of Arroyo), and are willing to help. What he now has to do, as he once said, is prove that these days are different and that people could truly start dreaming again. –Peter Wallace, Manila Standard Today