Tracking the promises and claims of the Aquino administration

1. "Expand the reach of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)"

The 4Ps, originally called Pantawid Pamilya when former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched it in 2008, is a cash-based incentive system targeting the poorest of Filipinos. Under the condition that the poorest households send their children to school and pregnant women submit to regular health checks, the government provides P500 monthly to families that comply. In 2008, the program covered 160 cities and municipalities in 28 provinces in the country. As of last year, it has expanded to 1,627 cities and municipalities in 79 provinces. In 2010, the year when Aquino assumed office, the Pantawid Pamilya had 700,000 household beneficiaries. In 2014, it expects to cover 4.31 million households with a P62.6-billion budget.

2. "Our goal is to raise the quality of learning that our children undertake"

The Department of Education (DepEd) has seen a rise in its budget allocation from 2010 to the present. From a P232.6-billion budget in 2010, the DepEd has a P336.9-billion budget this year, making it the state agency with the lion's share in the general appropriations. In 2010, there was a shortage of 66,800 classrooms, which was reduced to 34,673 in Jan. 31, 2013. The government programmed 17,939 more classrooms for 2013, and Aquino promised to completely erase the backlog by this year. The president also signed into law in 2013 the K+12 or the  the Enhanced Basic Education Act, which by adding two more years in the basic education curriculum, aims to give students sufficient time in undrestanding and learning concepts and skills and to help them in employment and entrepreneurship.

3. "Strengthening of our agricultural sector"

In 2010, the National Food Authority imported over 2 million metric tons of rice. This was reduced to 350,000 MT in 2013. Aquino promised to achieve rice self-sufficiency in 2013, but it failed. From 350,000 MT of rice imports last year, the country's minimum rice import volume jumped to 805,000 MT this year. However, rice output has jumped from 9.46 million metric tons in 2010 to 11.3 million MT in 2013.

4. "We have long tasked the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resource, Land Registration Authority and Land Bank to develop a framework for speeding up the parceling out of land"

In July 2012, DAR completed the screening and identification of about 6,200 beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita. By 2013, the land distribution was completed.

5. "Goal to extend PhilHealth coverage to more of our countrymen"

About 62 percent of Filipinos were enrolled in the government's health insurance program in 2010. In 2013, coverage rose to 81 percent, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. came up in September last year with the implementing rules and regulations of amended Republic Act 7875, which provides for mandatory PhilHealth enrollment of all Filipinos.

6. "Develop mechanisms to protect the Filipino people from natural calamities"

In July 2012, the government launched Project NOAH under the Department of Science and Technology to conduct a geohazard mapping and assessment program for the country. About 28 vulnerable locations were mapped in 2012, and geohazard maps for 496 cities and municipalities were also completed. The government promised to complete the geohazard mapping for Greater Metro Manila by 2014, and to finish the remaining 1,138 remaining areas in the country by 2015. The government also installed 525 automated water level monitoring stations and automated rain gauges have in 18 major river basins throughout the country, along with Doppler radars, tsunami detectors and alerting sirens. A total of P6.2 billion was also allocated to prevent flooding in the metro. After the extremely destructive typhoon Yolanda struck in November 2013, the government appointed Secretary Panfilo Lacson, who was named the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery.

7. "We need a system that fulfills our civic obligations to our policemen and armed forces"

In 2012, P54.48 billion was spent on soldiers’ and policemen’s pensions. In 2013, it rose to P61.29 billion and the government vows to increase the number to P80.64 billion by 2016. In 2012, 21,800 housing units for policemen and soldiers were built, and 31,200 units were added in 2013.

8. "Secure and fair elections"

From 112 armed groups in the 2010 general elections, the midterm poll in 2013 saw a 63-percent reduction to 41 armed groups. There were also 189 incidences of election-related violence in 2010, which went down to 77 in the most recent election.

9. "Peace is also within reach in a region that has long been torn apart by conflict"

In October 2012, the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which ended decades of conflict in Mindanao. The government is currently working with Congress on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will pave the way to a new Muslim sub-state in Mindanao. Aquino said he hopes the law will be passed by 2014, so that a new Bangsamoro government will be elected in 2016.

10. "Let us amend the Cabotage Law in order to foster greater competition and to lower the cost of transportation for our agricultural sector and other industries. Let us likewise enact the Fiscal Incentives Rationalization Bill, so that the incentives we provide to businesses become even clearer and more accountable. We also have to focus on the Land Administration Reform Bill, given the need for convergence among agencies tasked to oversee our land holdings, and thus ensuring that they can fulfill their collective mandate with increased efficiency."

As of 2014, all measures have yet to be passed into laws.

11. "It is only reasonable for us to move the fares of the MRT and LRT closer to the fares of air-conditioned buses, so that the government subsidy for the MRT and LRT can be used for other social services"

The Department of Transportation and Communications slated consultations on the fare hike December last year, but the discussions ended without any concensus. Groups opposed the fare hike, calling it unjust and anti-commuter.

12. "We do not have the funds, let us partner with one another to build the necessary infrastructure”

Out of the 57 public-private partnership (PPP) projects conceptualized by the Aquino administration, only seven have been completed: the Daang Hari-SLEX Link Road Project, the PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phase 1, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway Project, the PPP for School Infrastructure Phase II, the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, the Automatic Fare Collection System and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building.

13. "A stronger tourism sector will generate more job opportunities"

For the first five months of 2014, international arrival to the Philippines reached 2.06 million, an improvement from the 1.44 million posted during the same period in 2010, before Aquino became president. The amount tourists spent in the country during the period also improved, from P48.91 billion in 2010 to P91.4 billion in 2014. Domestically, the Department of Tourism's 2016 target of 35.5 million tourists was surpassed by 37.5 million as early as 2011, which prompted the government to set a 56.1-million domestic target by the end of 2016.

14. "In tandem with the increased confidence in our good governance is the continued resurgence of our economy"

The Philippine economy under the Aquino administration reached its highest gross domestic product growth in the second quarter of 2013, with a 7.9-percent expansion of the economy. Quarterly, since Aquino assumed office, the Philippine economy expanded as such:

• Q3 2010 - 7.3
• Q4 2010 - 7.1
• Q1 2011 - 4.9
• Q2 2011 - 3.4
• Q3 2011 - 3.2
• Q4 2011 - 3.7
• Q1 2012 - 6.4
• Q2 2012 - 6.3
• Q3 2012 - 7.3
• Q4 2012 - 7.2
• Q1 2013 - 7.7
• Q2 2013 - 7.9
• Q3 2013 - 7
• Q4 2013 - 6.3
• Q1 2014 - 5.7

The government has also made strides in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index, where it currently ranks 59th out of 148 economies. The country has also been awarded an investment grade rating by all three major credit rating agencies after Moody's gave a Baa3 rating on October 2013.

15. "When we denounced the 'wang-wang' culture, we did not just dismantle the sirens of those who lord it over the streets; we also uprooted the culture of corruption that seemed firmly entrenched in our public institutions"

Among the biggest achievements of Aquino in his so-called fight against corruption are the arrests of Arroyo in 2011 and 2012 over electoral fraud and plunder and the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2011. During his term, the P10-billion pork barrel scam was also uncovered, which led to the arrests of three senators- Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile. Currently, the president is in hot water for his use of funds under the Disbursement Acceleration Program, which the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional in 2014.