How is P-Noy doing at half time?

It is SONA day today, and the President will make a report to Congress and the people, his bosses, on how he has done after 1,173 days in office. With over a thousand more days ahead of him, does P-Noy look like he can make it through with flying colors?

Frankly, I am not too sure. But I still hope and pray I am wrong and P-Noy will surprise us by moving faster and more strategically in the second half of his term in office. He still has the majority support of the people, based on recent surveys. But one needs no survey to feel that even some staunch supporters are starting to be more critical.

In preparing for its coverage of the SONA this afternoon, the folks at the ABS-CBN Newsroom prepared this website, http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/aquinopromises, where P-Noy’s promises and performance are assessed. Those who access the website can also make their personal assessment based on a three point grading scale:  Aprub, Ayos lang and An’yare (what happened?).

The effort is by no means a scientific survey but just an indicator of reader sentiment. The website lists down ten categories by which P-Noy’s performance can be measured. Then there is an overall measure that sums up current attitude towards this administration’s performance.

Overall, P-Noy’s score at halftime is 50 percent aprub, 19 percent ayos lang and 31 percent an’yari? My gut feel tells me this is probably how a typical Pinoy feels today. They still like P-Noy but expect more from him. That 50 percent can go negative unless people are convinced soon that P-Noy really means business.

Here is how it looks on the ten key sectors measured by the ABS-CBN News website as of Thursday afternoon:

Tourism – 61.13 percent aprub; 16.91 percent ayos lang; 21.93 percent an’yari?

Economy – 54.15 percent aprub; 18.77 percent ayos lang; 27.08 an’yari?

 Education – 50.86 percent aprub; 20.25 percent ayos lang; 28.89 an’yari?

Government and ethics – 55.11 percent aprub; 13.64 percent ayos lang; 31.25 percent an’yari?

Health & Environment – 50.36 percent aprub; 21.07 ayos lang; 28.57 percent an’yari?

Justice – 39.34 percent aprub; 19.85 percent ayos lang; 40.81 percent an’yari?

Urban housing – 46.44 percent aprub; 14.92 percent ayos lang; 38.64 percent an’yari?

OFWs/Foreign Affairs – 36.23 percent aprub; 15.94 percent ayos lang; 47.83 percent an’yari?

National Security – 59.89 percent aprub; 14.91 percent ayos lang; 25.2 percent an’yari?

It is interesting to note that the numbers reveal a polarized nation with a thin number of fence sitters. They more or less like P-Noy’s performance thus far or they are unimpressed. But even those who like P-Noy constitute just half or 50 percent.

The worse scores are in OFWs/Foreign Affairs and Justice. Tourism is a top scorer, with National Security a close second. I feel Tourism could have done even better if we had better infrastructure (flights are restricted in NAIA) and peace and order. The problems with China and Taiwan didn’t help tourism but the impact is not as bad as we feared.

Economy is a mixed bag, growing by a faster-than-expected 7.8 percent in the first quarter, continuing the strong 6.8 percent expansion in end-2012. But as the abs-cbnnews website pointed out, this did not prevent unemployment from going up and poverty incidence rates remaining what it had always been.

As the website reported, “the jobless rate stood at 7.5 percent in April, the highest in three years. The National Statistics Office said there were 3.09 million unemployed in April, up from 2.89 million in January… the poverty incidence rate of 27.9 percent in July 2012 was unchanged from 2006 and 2009.”

The Philippines slipped two notches in World Bank and IFC’s Doing Business Survey. The country ranked 138 out of 185, down from its previous 136th position. There is still so much to do to improve the investment climate so jobs can be created.

In education, the big story is the expansion of the basic 10-year education cycle to 12 years and the increase of investments in the education sector. The reform aims to prepare high school graduates for employment. They are also re-introducing technical-vocational education in public high schools, so that students who cannot afford to pay for college will be ready for work after graduation.

The other big achievement in education is the progress in closing the classroom gap by the end of 2013. The only PPP program actually running has to do with the construction of new classrooms to address the 66,800 shortage. P-Noy is also claiming there is no longer a shortage of textbooks.

Just check out the website for the description of the continuing challenges in the other sectors. Suffice it to say that the promises of P-Noy remain in the realm of work in progress. How much of those promises will be fulfilled by 2016 is anyone’s guess.

To accomplish more, a new sense of urgency must be seen among the Cabinet members. P-Noy must isolate the problem departments, change cabinet members if need be, but ride hard on agencies like DOTC to deliver on their mandates.

Daang Matuwid amounts to nothing much if it is flooded, full of potholes and clogged by traffic jams. They can and must do better than the last three years.

Mar and Me

Once upon a time, Mar Roxas and I were good friends. We texted each other and generally respected each other. Then he became DOTC Secretary and I realized I was wrong to have publicly suggested that he take on that job.

I believe Mar remains as honest as I have always thought he is. But he isn’t a manager by a long shot and we need good managers to run the affairs of government. He is just a politician and not a very good one too.

Last Thursday, Mar said a few harsh words about me to one of our reporters. I don’t blame him for feeling bad because I had been relentless in trying to get DOTC to have more sense of urgency in getting key infra projects started, as in actual work on the ground. I am worried about how over half a million lives are endangered everyday by the MRT 3 that is not properly maintained.

Mar complained, “wala namang sinabing positive o fair si Mr. Chanco tungkol sa akin… Ni minsan walang kinilalang tamang trabaho ko.”

I dispute the assertion on my being unfair but plead guilty to the charge that I have not recognized any good work he has done. Indeed, if he has done anything substantial since he became DOTC Secretary, I beg to be informed so I can write about it. Right now, that seems to be in the realm of Mr. Roxas’s imagination or a tightly guarded state secret.

Then again, Mar is wrong because I have praised him in the past, particularly his sponsorship of the law that made prescription drugs affordable here… also his effort to clean up the pre-need industry. For crying out loud… I supported him when he was running for Vice President. It seems his memory is short.

As for the scandal involving his appointee at a DOTC unit, I was just reporting the facts contained in a letter of the Czech Ambassador. Mar is saying that I should have asked Sec Abaya about it and indeed, I did. But Sec Abaya, who usually responds to my text inquiries was “deadma” on this one. He was still “deadma” as of last Thursday evening.

No, Mar I do not deal in innuendo and speculation. I raise questions in public because the public deserves answers and he and the bureaucrats he brought in with him are not responsive. Mar is in no position to teach me “proper journalism” as my work all these years show I do practice that.

To me, it is simple… show me accomplishments and I will write about it. You have problems in implementation, tell me about it and maybe I can help you explain to the public. Ignore my questions and bahala na ang readers to think what they want about you.

Trabaho lang ito, Mar… nothing personal… trabaho lang.

Pinoy joke

When I was lost you were there.

When I was down you were there.

When I as heartbroken you were there.

When I got really sick you were there.

ABA, hindi kaya ikaw ang malas sa buhay ko?

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco