Good driving thus far
“Keeping the economy robust is among the unassailable achievements of the Marcos administration, yet the counterbalance is the surging prices of commodities.
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Daily Tribune“Keeping the economy robust is among the unassailable achievements of the Marcos administration, yet the counterbalance is the surging prices of commodities.
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Many described the first State of the Nation Address (SoNA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as having taken on directly the problems that hound the nation that were topped by the weak agricultural sector, the threat to the national territory, and the digitalization shift in government.
Proof that the problems tackled in his first meeting with members of the legislature were daunting is that the hindrances remain two years later.
In his first chance to address the people and the members of Congress, the President devoted most of his concern to providing the blueprint for a medium-term action plan that relied on having a united front within Congress to achieve.
Thus, Marcos pounded repeatedly on the requirement of unity to put things in order.
He enumerated 19 priority bills that sought to provide the basis for maintaining the strong economic momentum.
When he assumed power, the pandemic had subsided and the global economy was expected to make a strong recovery. Many nations had their eyes directed at Southeast Asia which was among the world’s growth engines before the worldwide health emergency.
Keeping the economy robust is among the unassailable achievements of the Marcos administration, yet the counterbalance is the surging prices of commodities.
According to Speaker Martin Romualdez, most of the priority measures in the maiden SoNA are now laws, but reform measures must continue such as revisions to the tax reform program and the laws that guard against dirty money which the powerful Financial Action Task Force on money laundering has required to remove the country from the gray list of illicit money havens.
The recent Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) scandal showed how vulnerable the country is as a transit point for criminal money as the gaming hubs are suspected of laundering hot funds.
In the energy sector, the President must urge Congress to focus on the creation of the Philippine Nuclear Regulatory Commission which is a required step in the landmark agreement with the United States on nuclear cooperation.
The President also proposed in his first SoNA to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to strengthen the capability of the government to prevent powerful interests in the electricity generation and fuel sectors from imposing their will on regulators.
Another yet-to-be-acted on vow of the President is the passing of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) bill making military training mandatory for senior high school students.
The geopolitical realities have made it necessary to prepare the youth for worst-case scenarios.
Also given focus during the inaugural address to Congress was the commitment to fully implement the provisions of the Universal Health Care Act, including the protection of healthcare workers and the expansion of community-level medical services to remote areas.
A great deal of the speech was devoted to the game plan to strengthen the Build, Build, Build program of the Duterte administration, which was transformed into Build, Better, More with an emphasis on spreading development throughout the country.
Senator Sonny Angara had said Congress would support Marcos’ legislative agenda.
This was also when the Chief Executive made his promise “not to give up even a square inch of Philippine territory.”
On external defense, President Marcos proved to have his highest passing mark since even military personnel acknowledged that the defense of the country’s sovereignty was now at its peak.
Protecting the livelihood of fishermen in the West Philippine Sea was exemplary during his term.
What has been somewhat disappointing was the slow pace of the digital shift in government despite the strong efforts to ramp up the process.
The reluctance to digitalization is rooted in the ingrained corruption in government which resists a process where grafters are denied access to poor individuals who seek to transact with government.
Thus, e-Governance which has been a battlecry of the Marcos administration remains stuck in the limbo of bureaucracy.
Remove red tape and a good part of the corrupt practices will end.
