Good news, bad news, and People Power

Good news and bad news came in equal doses as January 2011 came to a close and February began.

The good and cheering news is that the economy in 2010 continued its upward climb, maintaining the redoubtable record of over 40 quarters of GDP growth.

According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the economy in 2010 recorded its highest annual growth since the fall of the Marcos administration, surging by 7.3 percent on the back of a global economic recovery and despite the El Niño and diminished government spending during the second semester. In the fourth quarter, the economy grew by 7.1 percent, exceeding the third quarter growth of 6.3 percent.

According to Dr. Bernardo Villegas of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP), the economy is now taking off. He projects OFW remittances to breach the $20-billion mark this year. Investment-led growth is getting support from the foreign investment community.

This news about the economy is clearly the most cheering development in the country in 2010, exceeded only by the successful holding of national elections last May and the accession to the Presidency of a leader with a strong mandate from the people.

Equally noteworthy is the very positive reaction of the business community of the reappointment of Governor Say Tetangco to the BSP. He, together with Cesar Purisima of finance and Greg Domingo of trade, provides a competent and credible economic team both for the domestic and international community.

Corruption and criminality

Even before we could fully chew the good news, however, we were already being besieged by a series of bad news on the peace and security front and in the struggle against corruption. 

You don’t need a social science degree to realize that corruption and criminality have rapidly emerged as the two biggest challenges to the seven-month-old administration of President Aquino III. Corruption because it was the battle cry of his victorious campaign for the presidency (kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap), and because many hoary tales are showing that not only the bureaucracy, but even the military is gravely infected. Criminality because crimes, big and small, are now in our face every day, mocking the law enforcers and the law.  

Corruption and criminality, of course, have been part and parcel of our public life for generations. But what is being committed now is something of a different magnitude than we have seen before. Corruption hasn’t been as brazen as it is now. And the crimes have become many times more heinous and deadly.

The big headlines about the killings and AFP corruption have provoked widespread public outrage, along with grave concern whether the PNP and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will not be up to the task of stopping it.

The disclosure that DILG undersecretary Rico Puno – the man designated by President Aquino to oversee the PNP – is now in the US taking a crash course in public order and police management, is not reassuring. It raises the question why he was named to the job when he still has to learn the ropes in school. Why did this not come out during the vetting of his credentials prior to his appointment?

The sensational revelations of military corruption in the Senate and House inquiries, this seeming breakdown of public order and security cannot be more unnerving. It could have rippling effects throughout the nation. And if unchecked, this bad news could overturn the good news on the economic front. The international community will no doubt take the measure of the problem, particularly the effects on the armed forces and the national police.

At home, we have to be concerned about how the AFP scandals will affect morale in the AFP, and public support for our men in uniform. If the situation is to be reversed, the administration has to be purposive and focused in addressing the problem.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, who served both as AFP chief of staff and President, has publicly urged President Aquino, as commander-in-chief, to take the lead in bringing closure to the “pabaon” scandal now. FVR is clearly concerned about longer term damage to the AFP and its state of preparedness.  

Given the situation, it plainly will not be enough for Congress to just investigate and for the President to merely say that he will not tolerate these ethical lapses and breakdown of public order.

Civilian control of DND!!!

It is imperative to raise at this point the issue of civilian control over the military, and the need for a civilian to lead the Department of National Defense, which is tasked with overseeing the AFP. We have moved too far away from the time when civilians like Ramon Magsaysay held the post of DND secretary and demonstrated effective civilian leadership over it.

What is true of the need for good oversight over the AFP, it is true as well for the PNP. It should not be a given anymore that only soldiers and policemen are handed the task of managing the armed forces and the police.

Egypt in Extremis

This brings me to a third piece of news that is now roiling the international community. Nothing is more riveting and important than the situation in Egypt today – the explosion of People Power and the riddle whether President Hosni Mubarak will survive and continue his 30 years in power.

Significantly, the Egypt this week mirrors what happened here in our country in another February – February of 1986.

In an op-ed piece, Sen. John Kerry, US Senate foreign relations committee chairman, underscored the extreme importance for the US to handle the situation correctly and influence the future of the Middle East for the better.

Kerry pointed out how US handling of the situation in the Philippines in 1986, helped to midwife a favorable outcome for People Power and for democratic reforms in the Philippines. He contrasted it with mishandling of the situation in Iran.

Egypt is a conundrum for all the world to ponder. It is true the Mubarak government has been a stabilizing influence in the Middle East but its biggest failing has been its stubborn resistance to usher in democratic reforms.

Far as we are from Cairo and Alexandria, it is not amiss for the Philippines to take a keen interest in what is happening in Egypt now. And not just because a few Filipinos are living and working there. The more important reason is that Egypt’s current upheaval mirrors what happened here in our country 25 years ago.

For President Aquino to say a few words about the Egyptian situation and to wish the Egyptian people well, is not irregular. It is the right thing to do for our country and our people, who first gave the world the beneficence of People Power.