4 out of 16

In our December 30, 2010 column, we raised 16 major concerns the then six months old Aquino government must attend to. As President Aquino is about to complete one year of his term, let’s review his performance on the 16 major concerns.

We see some progress in four areas:

1. Reduction of the national government deficit;

2. Higher rice production;

3. Implementation of the K+12 education reform program ; and

4. Hiring of 10,000 nurses.

There’s no or little progress in 12 other areas:

1. “Corruption continues in many government departments. No big fishes in the GMA administration has been charged.”

No change here. Only medium size fishes Generals Carlos Garcia and Jacinto Ligot have been charged, thanks to Col. George Rabusa. The Aquino anti corruption effort was derailed by the Supreme Court decision junking the Truth Commission and nine months was spent debating the Merceditas Gutierrez impeachment.

2. “Illegal drug problem. The sale of illegal drugs is freely happening in all regions, all major cities and provincial capitals.”

No less than the PDEA has admitted that the number of drug users is on the rise. The illegal drug problem continues to be one of the country’s top three problems. It took President Aquino several months to appoint a new PDEA Chief;

3. “The high incidence of crime, especially kidnappings in Mindanao, gun for hire killings, robberies, rapes and carnappings. A culture of impunity among criminal syndicates must be broken.”

No progress here. In the last six months, about 30 kidnappings have been reported in Cotabato, Maguindanao, Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga City, Lanao del Sur and Metro Manila. It was just a month ago that an anti kidnapping Task Force for Mindanao was formed with AFP and PNP participation. The latest kidnappings: the Comelec officer of Marawi City and Engr. Virgilio Fernandez in Basilan.

Assassinations by gun for hire criminals riding in tandem on a motorcycle is a daily occurrence. Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy, 2 BIR District Directors, bank depositors and dozens of local government and barangay officials have been killed. A bus bombing occurred in Edsa last January, killing four people and wounded 14 others. There is no serious effort to collect loose firearms estimated to be one million.

There’s fear among the population as no one is safe even in one’s home.

4. “Reform and improvement of the Philippine National Police”.

While there have been pronouncements on police reforms, they have been just lip service with so many cases of policemen involved in crime, including four separate cases of policemen raping women inside police stations. We lack 50,000 policemen to achieve the one policeman for every 500 Filipinos ratio prescribed by law;

5. “The Mindanao peace problem must be solved. Armed conflict

With the MILF and the NPA must be ended.” There is no peace in Mindanao. Rogue MILF rebel Commander Umbra Kato still rules Maguindanao. The Abu Sayyaf is still killing, bombing and kidnapping in Basilan and Sulu. The NPAs have conducted many raids and ambushes in Compostela Valley, Surigao del Sur and the Davao provinces. Heavy casualties have been suffered by the government.

The MILF-Phil Peace process is still mired in discussions with no immediate success in sight;

6. “The program to create a million jobs a year must be finalized and adopted.” Latest NSCB/DOLE/SWS reports indicate a big increase in unemployment from 9.9 to 11.3 million persons. Definitely for his first year, no new jobs close to one million has been created. The PPP which is designed to be the main provider of jobs has not taken off. No PPP project has been bidded out to date. The one project under implementation – the SCTEX/TPLEX project was a project of Presidents Estrada and Gloria M. Arroyo. On the contrary, layoffs continue as the GDP growth rate slows down to 4.9% for the 1st quarter of 2011;

7. “The high rate of road accidents must be attended to.” It was only after UP Prof. Lourdes Simbulan was killed last month in another accident on Commonwealth Avenue, QC that Malacañang took note of this deadly problem;

8. “The awarding for contracts for infrastructure projects must now be expedited.” This did not happen. The contrary happened with the Administration going into an underspending, cited by all economists as the main reason for the drop of GDP to 4.9%;

9. “Seriously implement all environmental policies.” The only major initiative here is a moratorium on logging. But illegal logging is continuing and forest rangers are being killed. There’s flooding everywhere due to illegal logging, illegal mining and lately, the widespread destruction of black coral areas;

10. “Provide safe drinking water service to all communities.” Again, slow action here. Recall the many outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera due to unsafe drinking water. Even Metro Manila is not yet fully served with safe drinking water;

11. “All the unfilled government positions must now be appointed.”

Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa has admitted that as of last month, 70% of presidential appointment posts remain unfilled. The government has been hit by resignations lately. The quality of Presidential appointees has been questioned.

12. “Formulate an anti gambling policy.” Clearly, the Aquino administration is continuing the pro gambling policy of GMA with more casinos set to open.

Yes, after one year, half the people are saying “nothing is happening.” The other half is saying the President is slow to act.

Malacañang spokespersons have again promised to work harder and step up spending for the succeeding quarters. Let’s hope they will walk the talk this time around. –Ernesto M. Maceda (The Philippine Star)