Blaming one another won't solve problems

BLAME GAME: This country will never move forward if our leaders spend their time washing their hands and blaming one another for problems that span a succession of administrations.

Actually, they — and we — are all to blame. No one is free of responsibility. And since we are all in this together, we might as well look for the things that bind us instead of those that divide us. From there, it might be easier working out solutions.

President Noynoy Aquino has to accept the fact that he is now in charge. He knew what he was getting into, what problems awaited him, when he campaigned hard to capture the presidency in 2010.

The President cannot now turn around and point to his predecessors whenever he is called upon to solve a clear and present problem.

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ASK THE COURTS?: Neither does it help build confidence or goodwill to have the President, or his spokesmen, point to other branches of government when asked about a specific problem.

For instance, when the matter of journalists and activists being murdered with impunity was brought up days ago, his spokesman said something jarring that sounded like “Don’t ask us, ask the courts.”

Yes, some of the assassination cases are already in court. But that does not mean that the President is done with his duty to promote an atmosphere untainted by animosity and less prone to violence.

Tucking cases into court dockets is not the end of the President’s continuing responsibility to improve the crime solution and prosecution capabilities of the state as well as his duty to see that justice is done to every man.

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JUDICIARY DEFENDED: Reacting to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda’s blaming the judiciary for the unresolved killing of journalists, former Sandiganbayan Justice Raoul Victorino said that does not give assurance that the government is serious about acting on the problem.

“Nor does it proffer solutions to stop the spate of media killings,” he said. “And worse, it sows animosity towards a coequal branch of government, which is its partner in resolving crimes against journalists and against the public in general.”

“Instead of finding ways with which the judiciary and the executive can work together to put an end to media killings,” Victorino said, “the Palace may just perpetrate distrust, discord and hostility.”

He stressed: “It is not the judiciary but the executive that does the manhunts, arrests, gathering of evidence and filing of cases. The executive is the very branch of government that runs after the criminals and builds the cases against them, and it is the judiciary that, after due process and when warranted by the evidence, decides the cases for acquittal or conviction.”

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AIMLESS DRIFT: Breaking her silence, former president and now Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Arroyo pointed out that the Aquino administration has been drifting aimlessly because it suffers from a leadership vacuum. Malacañang shot back with the usual denial.

Former President Erap Estrada, who lost half of his six-year term when People Power forced him to vacate the presidency in 2001, joined the fray and also blamed the Arroyo administration for problems that he traced to corruption during her watch.

Mr. Estrada said it was his birthday wish (he turned 74 last Monday) to see the Aquino administration succeed in stamping out corruption and making Ms Arroyo pay, he said, for corrupting government agencies and inflicting so much misery on the people.

It is doubtful if the high-level blaming game will improve the situation. Meanwhile, surveys say that more people are losing faith in the capability of their leaders to turn around the situation and improve the quality of their lives, as promised.

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WAGE HIKE: Aiming at the specific economic issue of raising the legal minimum wage, the independent research group IBON said that granting a P40 pay hike as proposed would just bring the real value of workers’ wages to the highest it was under then President Arroyo.

The Arroyo administration granted a P15 wage increase in February 2002 that upped the mandated minimum wage to P280, equivalent to P258 at 2000 prices. It raised the minimum wage eight times with nominal wage hikes ranging from P12 (August 2008) to P22 (July 2010).

IBON said a P40-wage hike today would raise the mandated minimum wage to P444 which would just be equivalent to P258 at 2000 prices.

In effect, a wage increase of less than P40 this year would mean that the Aquino administration is falling short of what the previous administration was able to give, IBON said.

It pointed out that the current minimum wage of P404 is only worth P235 in real terms (deflated with inflation rates until March 2009).

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INFLATION FEARS: The research group debunked claims of some economists that a wage increase at this time would lead to inflation (meaning higher prices or reduced purchasing power of money) and a rise in unemployment.

If employers see the light and accept a reasonable cut in their profits, IBON said, a significant wage hike such as of P125 will not increase prices or lead to layoffs.

It added that prices will not rise if employers do not pass on the raises to consumers in the form of higher prices for their products. There will not be layoffs if employers improve efficiency without having to reduce their workforce.

Some employers, such as the Philippine STAR, have upgraded workers’ wages without waiting for legislated or mandated pay increases.

IBON said an insignificant, ineffectual wage hike would only continue long-held anti-worker tendencies in wage-setting and economic planning bodies in government.

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