The homestretch

If it’s any comfort to our weepy President, confidence in his governance remains high in the business community and in international circles, going by the sentiments expressed by the official representatives here of several countries and foreign institutions.

In fact a common concern in these circles is whether reforms implemented since President Aquino assumed office will survive the change of leadership in 2016.

Those concerns are based on our nation’s chronic tendency to change policies, reverse contracts and withdraw promised business incentives not only with every change of government but sometimes with a change in the head of an executive department.

Even the crooks in government are unreliable, as both foreign and local businessmen lament. One foreign company that won a big contract gave a generous “broker’s fee” to a guy with a track record for being a highly efficient influence peddler. But when this individual fell out of favor in the halls of power, the contract was suspended and placed under review while a new gang asked for its own “facilitation fee.”

The project is in limbo.

For several years now, a “review” of an approved project or incentive in this country has been whispered with trepidation by investors, who are starting to equate it with money disappearing into a sinkhole.

Even some prominent local businessmen have sighed to me that corruption is not unique to the Philippines, but in other countries, at least they are assured of getting what they pay for, without having to worry that their deals might be reversed several years later, or that they might have to pay different sets of crooks again and again.

When President Aquino assumed power, he and his team acknowledged that among their biggest challenges was restoring trust in the Philippine government.

Despite P-Noy’s personal integrity, which has buoyed business confidence, that trust has not been fully restored.

*      *      *

The blame falls not just on P-Noy and his official family.

Concerns persist about the arbitrary, confusing application of laws, especially by local government units, and the unrestrained involvement of the courts in business matters.

Our business regulatory bodies, apart from being weak, are also emasculated by the fact that every decision they make can be appealed to the courts, which happily wade into any issue brought before them.

This is fine if we didn’t have the best justice that money can buy, and if litigation can be finished quickly. But we all know this is not the case.

Because of the glacial pace of the country’s justice system, investors must contend with the prospect of perpetual litigation.

So the business community is glad when P-Noy takes on so-called hoodlums in robes, and does what he can to clean up a co-equal branch of government.

In other areas, women are happy that he fought for the Reproductive Health Law. And people are glad to have a President who is not beholden to religious groups for his political survival.

Several investors have also pointed out to me that P-Noy’s stimulus program in fact accelerated the implementation of projects that were frozen or moved slowly because bureaucrats, overly mindful of the anti-corruption campaign, had become risk-averse at the start of the daang matuwid administration.

With projects finally moving, increased public spending also contributed to economic growth figures and overall improvement that led all the major credit agencies to give the country its first-ever investment grade – another boon for business.

There’s still a lot of bullishness over the Philippines. Taguig continues to boom, with new offices being opened and residential units being snapped up long before construction is finished. There are numerous mixed-use developments sprouting up elsewhere in Metro Manila and in many other areas across the country.

So there’s a lot to smile about for the President.

*      *      *

Before P-Noy again starts behaving as if he can do no wrong, however, he might be interested to know that another common concern of the business and expat community these days is whether he still has what it takes to deal with urgent problems.

P-Noy must deal decisively with the unreliability of the power supply. He must push his congressional allies to pass his priority bills ASAP, including the economic measures that investors want.

He may have to personally step in soon and untangle Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic gridlock and the mess in Manila’s ports. A report the other day said there are 75,000 shipping containers stuck in the port. Is anyone in charge there?

People also wonder if P-Noy has what it takes to snare friends and allies in his anti-corruption net. The prosecution of the pork barrel cases has not been encouraging in this area.

Also, certain projects have moved slowly not because of risk aversion but apparently still because of corruption and political patronage under his watch.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has released the first part of a special report on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), showing that much of it went to the districts of Liberal Party members and allies, and after the ouster of Renato Corona as chief justice, to districts of the House prosecution panel.

As for accelerating project implementation, the title of the PCIJ story is self-explanatory: “Reality check: The DAP Express: Many projects short on speed, long on confusion.”

It’s also taking P-Noy forever to act on the recommendations of the Department of Justice on the extortion complaint against the resigned chief of the Metro Rail Transit, who happens to be a protégé of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. The department concerned is now headed by the LP president.

Corona had to go, especially after his own testimony. But the DAP as a gift to cooperative lawmakers is something that P-Noy has to let go of and distance himself from if he wants to retain his credibility.

The budget system is broken and needs an overhaul. And P-Noy must institutionalize the reforms before he steps down.

P-Noy is now in a situation that can be accurately described as having so much work to do, and so little time. He must maintain the momentum of reforms and speed up infrastructure development within what’s left of his term.

He needs an additional burst of energy, not self-pity, to make it through the homestretch.