LACIERDA BOASTS POSITIVE OUTLOOK, TAKES SWIPE AT
ARROYO RECORDS
[PHOTO
-FORMER PRESIDENT AND NOW REP. GLORIA
ARROYO]
MANILA, JULY 9, 2012 (TRIBUNE)
Written by Fernan J. Angeles - Six months after former President and
now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo schooled her former student and
current political rival on how to steer the country's economy, Malacañang
finally got its turn to show what it claimed as proof that President Aquino, as
a student, is far better than his detained one-time mentor.
At a weekend
press briefing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda cited the series of
economic upgrades earned by the Aquino administration just for the current year
alone even as he claimed that his predecessor never got the country any credit
rating upgrade in her 10 years in office.
He, however, said the former president received two credit outlook upgrades —
"just an outlook, but not an actual upgrade."
"During the GMA (Arroyo's initials) administration, it never received any
credit ratings upgrade but it received two credit outlook upgrades. There were
two positive ratings action (outlook) in 2002, the Standard & Poor's (4
April 2002) — BB+ Negative to BB+ Stable and Moody's (3 February 2002) — Ba1
Negative to Ba1 Stable," Lacierda said.
[PHOTO - NOYNOY'S
SPOKESMAN EDWIN LACIERDA]
Boasting of real economic gains of a government embarking on
transparency and accountability, Lacierda cited the recent S&P credit rating
upgrade as an addition to the administration's proof on its commitment to
alleviate poverty by trimming down corruption in government.
He added
another international financial data institution, Barclays expects the much
anticipated investment grade rating in 12 to 18 months.
"I think, what is
very, very clear from the very start is that policies that were laid out by the
President and economic team and together with Bangko Sentral are to really
provide fiscal space for the administration. It is crucial for us despite the
difficulties that the global economy is experiencing. We have to make sure that
our domestic economy is doing well and that's where growth is happening right
now. Second quarter, we're expecting the agricultural output numbers to go up
and infrastructure spending to also continue to grow up. So we are really
investing and our fiscal policies are designed, again, to make sure that this
administration will have the fiscal space," Lacierda stressed.
He added the investment grade and credit ratings are imperative
especially at a time when the government is hard bent on luring investors on the
basis of a leveled playing field. "…because we'll be allowed to — in one sense,
it will be an opportunity for foreign investors to look into our country and to
see the consistency of our policies; what the President promised before that he
will the level the playing field. And what is important in the end, we are be
able to use this fiscal space to provide social — to expand our social
alleviation program, to provide inclusive and equitable growth," Lacierda
said.
Asked to comment on Arroyo's "positive outlook upgrades," the
Palace official described the Arroyo administration as falling short of
consistencies in governance and fiscal policies.
"I think credit ratings
agencies are looking into the consistent policies both on the side of fiscal
policy and also on the side of governance. It is important — in fact, if you
notice, it goes hand in hand, not only on credit ratings recognized the fiscal
policies laid out by this administration. It also recognized and foreign press
recognized also the governance part of our administration, they see that this
President is free from — is untainted by corruption. They see also the
consistency of the rules being laid out. They see, most especially, the
transparency of the government. These are all consistent with what we refer to
as 'matuwid na daan' (straight path)," he added.
Lacierda, however,
pointed to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima as the one who would be in a better
position to comment on whether Arroyo's nearly 10 years in office has
contributed to the Philippine economy.
"So Secretary Purisima will be in
a better position to comment — whether the Arroyo administration has
contributed… I'm not familiar with the fiscal policies of the past
administration.
But what I can confidently say is that credit ratings
agencies have upgraded… We already had eight upgrades as against none under
her," Lacierda stressed.
FROM MANILA STANDARD
Adhocracy and lap mentality By Pastor Apollo
Quiboloy | Posted on July 09, 2012 | 12:03am | 0 Comments
Good news greeted the week President Aquino marked two years in office.
One raft comes courtesy of the Social Weather Stations which made public the
result of its second quarter survey.
First is that the GNP—Gutom na Pilipino—is down to 18.4 percent of total
number of families from the 23.8 percent recorded in March.
Second, membership in the Tambay Republic has apparently gone down, with the
jobless rate plunging to 26.6 percent from 34.4 percent a quarter ago.
Third, 4 percent of families have updated their status to "poor no more,"
bringing down the number of self-confessed "mahirap" to 51 percent from 54
percent in the first quarter.
On top of this trifecta of good tidings from the pollster are the low
inflation rate of 2.8 percent in June and the one-notch credit rating upgrade by
Standard and Poor's.
On the face of it, this scorecard is already impressive. Palace drumbeaters
don't, however, trust the figures to speak for themselves, so they immediately
went to town amplifying these achievements.
But lost in the din of the thumping of the tomtom drums are the numbers which
should jolt us into pondering the hard work which needs to be done.
Although unemployment is down, the fact is that close to 11 million Filipinos
raring to work cannot land a job.
The "GNP" percentage, when translated to the number of Filipinos, means that
19 million occasionally go on a forced diet.
As to the families who rate themselves poor, their actual number—10.3
million—represents a majority, the pobre millions in this land of many Forbes
billionaires.
These are probably the reasons why in spite of the SWS numbers which may have
warmed the cockles of the hearts of those in power, they did not send the hearts
of the ordinary folks fluttering that the good times are here.
The truth is we have not reached the tipping point. We may be inching our way
there but just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, one quarter of good
performance doesn't mean that we are on a roll.
We hope the slew of positive developments will be sustained and will signal
the start of an irreversible trend.
Otherwise, the latest polls would have merely captured the peak of our
rollercoaster ride only to slide down to the valley of disconcerting numbers the
next time a survey is taken.
But even if the next edition of economic numbers will not be to our liking,
we should not despair. There may be corrections, dips and slippages. The
important thing is that the overall trend is that of a general improvement.
Although I recognize the value of a survey in periodically gauging
performance, my only beef is that it leads those who are being measured to
develop a fixation for stop-gap and short-gestation measures calculated to be
implemented on a fly so they can be captured in the next polling cycle.
Our truncated electoral calendar has already bred a culture of adhocracy. We
are governed by men whose planning horizon does not go beyond the 156 weeks
(three years) that they are in office.
Because they have a job review (election) every three years, they are forced
to resort to gimmickry to bag a contract extension from their bosses (the
electorate.)
Out of this imposed myopia is a type of governance which sets the completion
timeline for projects at 36 months, in time for the proponent to claim bagging
rights when his tenure is about to expire. Like canned sardines, government
programs have "best before" labels.
The result is a preference for retail projects and an aversion for big-ticket
undertakings. It is bad politics to stand for re-election with uncompleted
project hanging over your head.
The rule is that a project must be inaugurated within the term and to deny
your successor the privilege of blessing what you groundbroke.
The result is that our leaders lurch from quarter to quarter, election to
election. This lap mentality, of the refusal to view the long haul, is probably
the reason we are lagging behind in the race for prosperity with our neighbors.
I am making this point to stress the fact that our vision must extend beyond
the next quarter or so, in fact, beyond the next elections. We must plot our
course in generational terms.
For example, by 2020, our basic education enrolment will reach 35.6 million,
14.1 million more than what we have today. This means that in seven years we
must be able to build 352,000 classrooms, the same number of teachers, add 14.1
million chairs and stock up on 70 million books.
I hope the preparation is being done now. Otherwise, when 2020 comes around
and it will be bedlam in schools, our leaders will dissect with 20/20 hindsight
what went wrong when. They could have used their brilliance in preparing for
that predictable future.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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