P-Noy: Straight path bearing fruit

Manila, Philippines - As he marked his first year in office yesterday, President Aquino told the nation that the government is now reaping the fruits of good governance, or what his administration calls “daang matuwid (straight path).”

“Think about how high we can achieve in the next five years. The Filipino and the rest of the world are witnesses: our taking of the straight path is bearing fruit. Are we going to turn back now?” the President said in a speech delivered before thousands of cheering students who attended the launch of the “Pilipinas Natin (Our Philippines)” campaign in Pasig City.

“I told you before: you are my strength – the strength that comes from the successes that we are reaping now and the upcoming fulfillment of what we have been dreaming of. This will never change: you are still my boss,” Aquino said.

He said that by curbing corruption, the government has started providing the nation with mass housing, rice sufficiency, higher salaries and adequate infrastructure.

“We were not able to dig up the Yamashita treasure to implement all of these. We only ran after the corrupt in government, corrected the use of money and straightened the crooked system,” Aquino said. He said he is aware that many Filipinos are impatient to see the gains of government reforms but that this is understandable because they have experienced a decade of corruption under the Arroyo administration.

“There are some who find it difficult to realize that we need to help each other, to catch one another and contribute to achieve our goals,” he said.

“I know where you are coming from: I myself dreamt that tomorrow or the next day I will wake up with the solutions to all the problems we inherited in place. But I know that you are all aware that hasty but ineffective solutions will do nothing good,” he added.

The Aquino administration has been criticized for slow spending on government projects. The President, however, said the government needs to first lay the foundation for reforms to be sure that the effect would last. “I told you before: there will be no poor if there are no corrupt. Good governance directly benefits the people, especially those who have less in life,” he said.

He noted that changes are now being felt, beginning with more accurate weather forecasting and the steady progress in the Maguindanao massacre case.

Grievances

In his speech, Aquino enumerated the reasons why there is more to be desired in his administration compared to the Arroyo government.

The Arroyo administration, he said, left him with heavy debts. The debt incurred by the National Food Authority, for instance swelled to P177 billion from only P12.9 billion incurred from 1972 to 2000.

“Are we going to allow ourselves to be fooled again by those who want us to doubt, to get confused so they would have room to go back to the old system? I will no longer waste my time bickering with them. I will just thank Mrs. Arroyo for her admission that I am her complete opposite. Finally, we agree,” Aquino said, receiving applause from the crowd.

Aquino also cited the over importation of rice. He said the country is now targeting to achieve rice sufficiency by 2013 and will import only 600,000 metric tons this year.

The funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, he said, were used for political ads instead of the guarantees for government hospitals.

Gains

The Aquino administration prides itself in high government savings, the offshoot of low spending and a policy of austerity.           

Aquino reported that in the Philippine National Construction Corp., the government was able to cut monthly expenses from P22 million to P11 million by getting rid of excessive salaries and benefits for unnecessary positions.

He said they were now exposing irregularities in the government instead of perpetuating them.

Aquino said this way, the government was able to save money and allot them to social projects.