President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III Photo taken via WikipediaPresident Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the House of Representatives in a joint Senate and House session of Congress in Quezon City, last Monday.
In his 11-page transcript that I've read, President Aquino showcased many of his achievements for his first year in presidency and gave a glimpse about his upcoming plans for the country in front of thousands of attendees. Although Aquino's State of the Nation Address was focused primarily on his success for his first year in office and his future endeavors for the country, president Noynoy also shared his thoughts regarding the "wang-wang" (corrupt/corruption) from the past administration. The president revealed some of his exploits in eradicating corruption in the government which I'll talk about later. Meanwhile, I'll first let you know the country's conditions after president Aquino was in office since last June 2010, of course this is according to him.
First Year Achievements
According to him in his SONA, the Philippines' population rate in hunger has decreased from 20.5% just last March to 15.1% last June. The value of the decreased percentage equals to 1 million Filipino families who can now eat three meals in a day (which is the basic necessity of Juan Dela Cruz).
In the field of business, the president also mentioned that the country has just surpassed its "all-time-high stock market ratings" for seven times beginning last year. He added that the previously 4000 index that the government thought was just a “castle in the air” is now an ordinary thing to achieve. Even surpassing the targeted index was already natural now. Not only this, the Philippines’ credit ratings also increased. According to the Moody's, Standard and Poors, Fitch and Japan Credit Ratings Agency, the country's rank was boosted. The president sees these improvements as the result of using the country’s funds and budget in a correct and effective way. According to him, the higher the ratings, the lower will the interest rates be. The equivalent interests that the country has just saved because of this were more than 23 billion pesos! Such massive amount of money can be used to improve further the country's economy. And because of this, Noynoy added that his targeted number of 2,300,000 beneficiaries of CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) program for the end of the year is now a big possibility. Aquino compared this upgrade from the last nine and a half years of the Arroyo administration. Boasting that in Arroyo’s time, the country only received one time upgrade and six times it was downgraded.
In the country’s energy sector, Aquino mentioned that because there are no more corruptions in the DOE, there is good news for the Philippines. A number of 140 companies according to him are assessing the country for investments. In the field of oil and natural gas exploration, and the new Power Plant in Luzon he just recently signed, will definitely boost up the country’s energy sector by 2014.
Eliminating Corruption
President Aquino has great confidence in his principles that in order to uplift the country’s economy, corruption must first be eliminated. The old and wrong way or system of governance must be made correct and straight in order to achieve the country’s goal, to be progressive. According to him, by blotting out programs funded by the government that doesn’t give much benefits or productivity to the country will eliminate the chance for those who like to take another bite of the budget. Some useless programs that the previous administration never considered that Aquino now stopped were the 12 million cubic meters of dredging in the Laguna Lake and the Food-for-School program. Aquino said that the debt for the Laguna Lake dredging has reached a massive 18.7 billion pesos! Crippling and nailing the country in debt.
In his one year stay, the president also shared about the corrupt system happening in DPWH. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is the sector in-charge for developments of infrastructures like roads, and bridges in the country. Billions of pesos were invested every year for developments of roads and highways, but because of corruption, the budget for certain projects were overpriced. And because of this, the president made an order that before the budget could be given there must first be a work program. And that work program will undergo scrutiny in order to make sure that the budget issued is enough for that project. By doing such procedures, the country according to Noynoy, will save 2.5 to 7 billion pesos per year!
Another government sector that the president mentioned in his SONA is the BIR. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is the government agency in-charge of collecting taxes from business establishments to individual employees of the country. All the money collected by the BIR will be used by the government for funding projects, developments, and for investment. With this in mind, the BIR is commonly known by most Filipinos as one of the breeding ground for corruption. Billions of pesos are lost because of tax evasions. Aquino even convicted those people who are doing such acts. They are not only stealing from the government but also, stealing and making the lives of other unfortunate Filipinos worse by not paying their taxes honestly.
Other Achievements
In his first speech last June, President Aquino mentioned again in his recent SONA about the country’s betterment in terms of rice production. Before, the Philippines is importing 1.3 million metric tons of rice per year. Now, only 660,000 metric tons is needed. According to him, this was achieved by planting good quality grains of rice and by planning sharply its irrigation system. 1,911 hectares of agricultural land were now given good irrigation. And the results were seen. An increase of 15.6% in rice production was achieved.
With regards to unemployment ratings of the country, Aquino gave good numbers of the percentage of unemployed Filipinos. From 8% unemployment rate last April 2010 to 7.2% rate just last April 2011. These are good signs because every year, millions of Filipino students in the country graduate.
Future Plans
Before President Aquino ended his SONA, it is impossible for him not to reveal his upcoming plans to the public. Since two of the major problems in the country today are unemployment and poverty, Aquino wanted to invest in the people. In his “Pantawid Pamilya Pinoy Program”, 1,600,000 families registered in that program will receive financial benefits or livelihood support. Aquino foresees to reach 3 million families would be supported by the end of 2012.
In the field of health, Aquino came up with a program called the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR). Its goal is to give 5,200,000 families PhilHealth benefits.
Aquino also planned a solution regarding the ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim and Mindanao) elections to be synchronized with the national elections. The reason for synchronization is that the politicians who are in office will be prevented in rendering their remaining 2 years in campaigning before the next ARMM elections. This act according to Noynoy only shows inefficiency of public officials.
There are many more agendas in President Benigno Aquino’s list that are too much to be explained in this article. I’ll just summarize the remaining items for easy evaluation. The following programs/plans are:
a.) Utilizing the people living in mountainous area to plant trees and tend those trees until in grows maturely. This program will help lessen poverty and at the same time restored the ecosystem of that mountain. Landslides and floods can also be prevented.
b.) Compensations for victims of Martial Law.
c.) Good system in providing pensions to Filipino soldiers.
In the end, Aquino said to the public that he won’t stop eliminating corruption in the Philippines. Cases like tax evasions, drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, graft and corruption and extra judicial killings will be finished if each one will do their part. Aquino still ended his SONA by reminding the public they are his bosses.
"www.abs-cbnnews.com" To see transcript of President Noynoy's SONA, just click here.
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Very nice SONA. A good year indeed for PNOY! Keep up the good work Mr. President!
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