A speck of soot, a walk to the finish line

It is going to be the fifth and penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the country’s 15th president will be delivering on Monday next week.

Embattled as he is these days after what many considered as foolishly chastising the Supreme Court for ruling not in favor of his office’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), expect a large part of his speech to focus on the many reasons why the High Court should consider changing its decision.

If there is something good that may come of this, it is the big possibility that his report to the nation on what his administration has achieved over the last four years will be condensed in a shorter time. Being concise, it could be easier to understand.

And perhaps, the direction of governance that he will outline on Monday will be straight to the point: deretso, walang liko-liko.

Because too much time will have been spent on trying to salvage and polish his tarnished image after verbally abusing the Supreme Court justices and the whole judiciary, we should hear a clearer call to action, something that had been difficult to decipher in his past SONA speeches.

Moral ascendancy

It is understandable why P-Noy has turned all antsy about the recent challenge to DAP’s legitimacy. Even before he took on the mantle of the presidency, P-Noy had promised governance that would uncompromisingly toe the daang matuwid path.

To be derogatorily labeled as a trapo (traditional politician) who exploits the trappings of power (read: pork barrel in its many names) to manipulate political power, P-Noy would become no different from those big names that his term has expelled (or will expel) from office.

He definitely will dread being equated to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who is on hospital arrest on plunder charges; or former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona who was impeached from office; or Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla who are being accused of pocketing commissions with regards to their pork barrel use.

Not to be misunderstood, this moral centerpiece of the current administration has truly been a vital key to sustained economic growth during the past four years.

But you and I know very well what they say about the pot calling the kettle black. If the administration’s moral ascendancy posture should continue till 2016, even a speck of soot found on the pot could mean irreparable damage to the current administration’s credibility as well as to its chances of choosing its successor in the next presidential elections.

Four years’ work

In the meantime, let me give a brief but pointed assessment of how P-Noy’s presidency has fared since Day One. He didn’t really start the first year running, a reflection perhaps of his surprise at having actually won the polls despite all the money and political savvy of his opponents.

After declaring that he would rely on public-private partnerships (PPP) to deliver much-needed infrastructure projects such as roads, air and seaports, bridges, and new power plants, things started moving on the third and fourth years, largely in joint venture with local conglomerates.

Despite successive ratings upgrades by international agencies to –finally! –investment grade, and the bullish statements of global financial analysts on the brilliant prospect of doing business in the Philippines, potential foreign investors have continued to be cautious.

Tax collections continued to perform below target but with noticeable improvement (especially on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s side) with the adoption of tighter collection systems and new revenue measures including the reform on the alcohol and tobacco taxation structure.

No inclusive growth

What has not been done? Plenty.

Job creation continues to flounder even as the ranks of unemployment and underemployment swells year after year. Our farmers and fishermen are still bewildered by the changing trading patterns that are being influenced by liberalization and the one-ASEAN deadline.

In fact, one can barely glimpse the shadow of a plan that will tackle how the government plans to absorb new graduates and those who reach employable age but are unprepared to become productive citizens of the country.

As to our agriculture sector, we may perhaps be witnesses to the extinction of Filipino farmers, fishermen and livestock entrepreneurs as domestic farming, fishing, and livestock raising are becoming uneconomically feasible with the barrage of cheaper imports of rice, meats, and fish. 

Consequently, any pledge for inclusive growth is a hollow promise. Rather, our productive countrymen will look at job opportunities abroad so that they will be able to send their young dependents to school, provide shelter for their ageing parents, and ensure everyone will not go hungry.

Being a migrant economy has its appeal because malls are assured of a stream of customers, real estate developers can continue building homes, roads will have more vehicles as the motoring industry’s sales figures rev up, and there will be food always on the table. Let’s just hope that the job opportunities abroad don’t die on us.

Going forward

So what can we look forward to in the next 24 months?

A friend who knows P-Noy quite well had inveigled me to vote for the current administration after candidly giving an assessment of this Ateneo graduate: “He can do the job that you ask him to do.” That, and an image of being incorruptible, had won the day.

The country earned a doer. P-Noy may not go down in our history books as a visionary and leader that had led the country to the straight path of economic emancipation and sustainable growth. But he helped keep the journey from going off-tangent with his relentless (some may say, selective) drive against corruption in the ranks of governance.

We will be seeing a few more big projects awarded to private partners going to the last months of the administration, and perhaps see better revenue collections as the drive to make the BIR and the Bureau of Customs more transparent and less susceptible to bribery and ineptitude.

If P-Noy does manage to weather the brewing DAP crisis, even with election maneuverings shaping up in earnest, we can expect the current administration to continue its placid walk to the finish line.

Borrowing from the title of the old Lino Brocka movie, “Tinimbang ka nguni’t kulang,” there’s a sense of being shortchanged somewhere. Still, it was four years that you could live with.

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