Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ de Castro has proposed a five-point strategy to remove the economic and social condition of the country from uncertainty.
Speaking during the Philippine Development Forum (PDF) in Clark, Pampanga last Wednesday, De Castro admitted that “the truth behind the Philippine economic and social condition is not in black and white but in shades of gray”.
Nevertheless, De Castro believed that such dilemma can be resolved by the following measures:
First, De Castro said development planners have to refocus some of the country’s programs away from welfare activities and towards sustainable income generation.
“While welfare-type programs are effective in addressing short-term problems, we could not rely on them to provide the building block for long-run improvement in the living condition of the poor,” he said.
Second, he said mechanisms to address the reality of globalization and its impact on food prices should be instituted.
He explained that in 2007, world prices were up by 75 percent as compared to 2000. Since food is the biggest item in the consumption basket of the poor, he said any increase in food prices will surely affect their standard of living.
Third, De Castro said the country should seal its gains and prevent any backsliding. He noted that in the past PDF, the improvements in the local economic condition were highlighted due to the strong fiscal performance.
He said the series of reform measures aimed at improving revenue generation and limiting government expenditures have been instrumental in promoting macroeconomic stability.
“We have passed the first hurdle. Let us not be lulled into complacency in managing our fiscal sector,” he said.
De Castro also suggested the build up of good practices in governance such as the reforms that encourage accountability and transparency that include the new procurement law and government accounting system.
“They should be adopted by all development agencies,” he said.
Lastly, De Castro called on the development planners to work meaningfully with all sectors to strengthen the commitment to eradicate poverty and pursue genuine development in the country.
Meanwhile, De Castro made a pitch for the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness adopted in 2005.
He specifically highlighted the key words of the declaration namely: ‘Ownership’ by the government of development projects; ‘alignment’ which calls for the use of the country’s systems and procedures, and ‘harmonization’ which advocates that development agencies dovetail all efforts to support the country’s priorities.
“The Philippines has been a strong proponent of the principles of the said Paris Declaration. The Philippine Development Forum clearly proves this. With the Philippine Development Plan as the platform to harmonize and coordinate efforts to address key challenges and support shared priorities among government, development agencies, civil society, and the business sector, we actually see the principles and commitments in the Paris Declaration put into best practice,” he said.