A tale of two presidents: The big difference

Last of two parts

ARE there in fact similarities between Arroyo and Aquino? PNoy has certainly continued several major programs of his predecessor. Thanks to her tax 2005 tax reforms, his administration has reaped the gains with continued growth and this year, credit rating upgrades.

Aquino has more than doubled the size of Arroyo’s conditional cash transfer program. And in promising rice sufficiency in 2013, PNoy is merely echoing the target of Arroyo’s 2008 FIELDS initiative, aimed at supplying the country’s entire palay needs within five years.

On politics, Aquino has adopted a tactic he once deplored as an oppositionist: using pork barrel to win Congress votes. But with the Judiciary, he and Arroyo part ways. The latter always showed respect and deferrence, never publicly commenting court rulings.

For his part, PNoy intervened in the Oakwood Mutiny and Morong 43 trials, and openly attacked unfavorable high court decisions. He showed public disdain toward Chief Justice Renato Corona even before assuming the presidency. And under both leaders, the Solicitor General took actions favoring some politically connected convicts or suspects: former Mindoro Occidental governor Jose Villarosa under Arroyo, and in PNoy’s first year, Hubert Webb and Senator Panfilo Lacson.

But perhaps all that Aquino meant is that he and Arroyo are opposites in matters of corruption. After all, Arroyo has been widely accused of anomalies, but with no solid evidence presented so far. On the other hand, Aquino likes hurling graft charges without showing proof; so do some of his top officials.

Latest to put media accusations before court action is Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chairperson Margaret Juico. She has claimed that certain top media personalities supposedly favored by Arroyo, got kickbacks from PCSO ad placements.

Juico also named seven bishops who purportedly got SUVs from PCSO. Several bishops have clarified that the vehicles they got were for social work, not personal use. Clearly, the two adminstra-tions treat the Church and the media differently.

In sum, there are stark contrasts between Arroyo and Aquino, especially in work ethic, management style, handling of crises, close associates, the courts and the Church. But there are similarities too, especially in certain policies and tactics.

However, the biggest and perhaps most crucial difference between the former professor and her former economics student lies in strategic thinking. In dealing with any issue or problem, Arroyo was always keen to formulate and pursue a sound strategy which addressed fundamental aspects of the matter at hand, even at the cost of public opposition. Aquino, by contrast, has yet to enunciate his plans for the nation, as even his ally Congressman Erin Tañada has urged him to do.

In fact, President Aquino had tasked Cabinet clusters to draw up strategic plans (see April 27 column). He wants a five-year anti-poverty program (ordered nine months ago), an energy plan to cope with oil supply and price problems due to Middle East turmoil (instructed early this year), and the Philippine Development Plan for 2011-2016 (on the National Economic and Development Authority website at last after more than eight months of consultations). PNoy also inherited an education reform plan and a disaster response and risk reduction plan from Arroyo. And he chairs the Climate Change Commission, also due to come up with initiatives to cope with global warming.

Since Arroyo was a strategy-driven leader, would Aquino be the exact opposite? For the sake of the country, let’s hope that at least in this crucial imperative of long-term planning for development, PNoy would follow the example not only of Gloria Arroyo, but of Fidel Ramos too.

His mother Corazon Aquino set her mind to be as different as possible from her corrupt, dictatorial predecessor Ferdinand Marcos, and that led to some big policy mistakes. She refused to activate graft-tainted the Bataan nuclear power plant, but failed to build generating facilities in its place, leading the country to long brownouts. In eschewing strongman ways, Cory treated coup plotters with kid gloves, encouraging putschists who eventually torpedoed investor confidence.
Today, her son is also aiming to be drastically different from the leader he succeeded, refusing to even acknowledge the economic momentum and fiscal foundation his regime now enjoys, thanks to the Arroyo Administration. Sadly, that intense drive to be the exact opposite of the past, may demonstrate a political perspective that undermines the wisdom of building on past lessons and gains.

Indeed, isn’t that wisdom the very admonition preached by the most famous Filipino proverb: Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi maka-rarating sa paroroonan. If Aquino’s Tuwid na Daan (Straight Path) is to move the nation forward, it cannot but begin where Arroyo’s BEAT THE ODDS ended. –RICARDO SALUDO, Manila Times

Ricardo Saludo heads the Center for Strategy, Enterprise & Intelligence (ric.saludo@censeisolutions.com), publishing The CenSEI Report, which provides analytic research on national, business and global issues.