Poe’s camp hopes for the best for RP, but…

As President Arroyo took her oath of office yesterday, the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) expressed hope that the nation would achieve unity and prosperity in the next six years but doubts if the administration will be up to it.

After delivering her inaugural speech at the Quirino Grandstand at Manila’s Rizal Park, Mrs. Arroyo flew to Cebu City where she was officially sworn in. The KNP, in a statement, questioned this break from tradition since past presidents were sworn in in Manila.

"In taking her oath of office in Cebu, (Mrs.) Arroyo missed a chance to show that she would be president of the entire nation and not just of a region where she received, however questionably, the highest number of votes which enabled Congress to proclaim her elected after a properly disputed canvassing process," the KNP said.

The KNP pointed out that in her inaugural speech, the President said the people need to "face the deep divisions of our nation squarely, not only the truth but also the solution" in order to unite the country. "But how could she heal the divisions if in her first act as putative president she breaks the historic tradition of taking the presidential oath in the state capital, symbol of national unity, and particularly in Luneta, which is the hallowed ground of our national heroes?"

It cited that even deposed President Joseph Estrada was sworn in at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, where the first Philippine republic was inaugurated more than 100 years ago.

The KNP added, "We must indeed face the truth, but we should start with the truth about the election of May 10, 2004. However, for the sake of our people, we hope that in the next six years we would indeed achieve unity and prosperity against all odds." The KNP, which fielded film actor Fernando Poe Jr. as its presidential standard-bearer, has yet to concede defeat in the presidential election and accused Mrs. Arroyo’s camp of massive electoral fraud.

Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Manuel Villar expressed support for the President’s 10-point program even as they called for genuine governance and reforms so the country can move forward.

In a statement issued shortly after Mrs. Arroyo spelled out her 10-point agenda for the next six years, Drilon also urged the people to swallow whatever bitter pill the administration will use to solve the nation’s problems.

"We owe our people genuine governance. It is only through the institution of authentic social reforms that we will be able to narrow the gap between the rich and poor, the privileged few and the marginalized masses," he said.

Drilon said he and his colleagues in Congress will do their share of work, and prayed "the Filipino people will join us in our optimism and determination to succeed."

He also called on all public officials — whether elected or appointed — to immediately buckle down to work now that Mrs. Arroyo has begun her term in office.

Drilon noted that the President has to make "many difficult and unpopular decisions" to address the budget deficit problem "and we should prepare ourselves to bite the bullet if we intend to move forward as a nation."

Drilon did not say what those decisions will be, but he was apparently referring to the new taxes that the President’s economic and financial officials are planning to submit to Congress.

One such tax is the planned levy on text messaging, which Drilon’s Senate colleagues vowed to shoot down.

Another proposal would impose an excise tax on soft drinks. Still another is the long-pending plan to index the excise tax rates on so-called "sin" products — those derived from alcohol and tobacco, including beer and cigarettes — based on inflation, which would effectively raise the selling prices of these products since the rates had been fixed years ago.

Then finance secretary Jose Isidro Camacho submitted the proposal on the sin taxes to Congress shortly after Mrs. Arroyo took over from ousted President Joseph Estrada in January 2001. When he quit the Cabinet, Camacho said he felt the President did not push actively for his proposal. Producers of these goods successfully lobbied to have Camacho’s proposal shelved.

Drilon said that aside from balancing the national budget, the government urgently needs to "improve the peace and order situation in the country, establish political stability and show our people that their leaders are capable of working together high above petty political interests."

He also said he will join Mrs. Arroyo in offering reconciliation and unity to the opposition to promote political stability.

"Allow me, however, to reiterate my caution against letting political pragmatism get in the way of the implementation of much-needed political and economic reforms," Drilon said.

Poe, believing that Mrs. Arroyo had robbed him of victory, has spurned Mrs. Arroyo’s efforts at reconciliation.

Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party, believes that with Mrs. Arroyo’s expertise in economics and her three-year experience in leading the country, she "will be able to steer the nation to progress, achieve her targets, and make the economy roar in the coming years."

He urged government officials not to allow politics to impede the country’s progress.

"Let us join hands and buckle down to work. The people are expecting a lot from their officials and they want to see tangible results. There is no time to waste. Let’s hit the ground running," Villar said.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, however, said Mrs. Arroyo’s 10-point program is an empty promise since she has not shown any political will to implement all the programs she had earlier promised.

He cited in particular Malacañang’s failure to act on the anomalous sale of Social Security System shares of stock to Banco de Oro, which is disadvantageous to millions of SSS members.

Sen. Ralph Recto, meanwhile, pointed out that each of Mrs. Arroyo’s programs has a hidden peso sign attached to it.

"Classrooms, roads, jobs, peace with rebels, energy are not manna that will fall from heaven. They will have to be funded by taxes collected from the people," he said.

Recto added that the President was right in saying that there will be no free lunches in the tough times ahead. He said factory workers pay 93 centavos for every peso they should pay, while businessmen pay 30 centavos and corporations — with their army of accountants — 60 centavos for every peso of tax due them.

"If a war against tax cheats was declared today, it was declared against the limousine crowd," he said.

Mixed Feelings

Other groups also expressed mixed feelings over Mrs. Arroyo’s oath-taking yesterday, reflecting the polarization she must fight as she starts her full six-year term.

Mrs. Arroyo’s supporters promised to help her achieve the goals of her 10-point program.

Business executive Jaime Vistar, director-general of the GMA 2010 Movement Vismin, said members of his group "are optimistic that the economy will grow as we are prepared to roll up our sleeves and work hard in producing food and generating jobs for our people."

Vistar urged the movement’s members, most of whom are also businessmen, "to brace up for our historic involvement in making this country become great again."

Militant groups, led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), belittled Mrs. Arroyo’s promise of five million to six million new jobs for Filipinos in the next six years.

KMU chairman Elmer Labog said it is highly improbable for Mrs. Arroyo to fulfill her promise since she failed to create one million jobs in her previous term, which ended at noon yesterday.

"In her three years in office, she promised to create one million jobs but unemployment reached 13.7 percent in April, which is still a very conservative estimate," he said.

Labog noted that the large number of Filipinos leaving each day for jobs abroad is clear proof of the President’s failure to create decent jobs for Filipinos.

He also lamented Mrs. Arroyo’s exclusion of the wage issue in her 10-point policy framework.

"Mrs. Arroyo did not mention anywhere in her speech about the wage issue long demanded by the impoverished workers. Yet, she has the gall to include additional taxes that will adversely affect the workers and poor people," Labog said.

He cited that the President’s inaugural speech was nothing but "a tale of lies and empty promises" and predicted that her call for reconciliation and unity will remain an impossible dream.

Anak ng Bayan reiterated its call for a higher government allocation for education and a moratorium on tuition increases. The group’s president, Apolinario Alvarez, cited that the Arroyo administration’s policies have forced more and more youths to drop out of school due to the rising cost of education.

"Her ‘iskolar ng bawat pamilya’ program will surely benefit a few, but it leaves the bigger number of Filipino youth out of school. This is yet another superficial solution to cover for the government’s failure to resolve the chronic crisis in Philippine education. While it promises to send children from poor families to college, tuition would only be subsidized for the first two years," Alvarez said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo’s long term higher education development plan, which will end in 2010, requires as part of cost-cutting measures a yearly decrease in the education budget. The plan conforms to the standards imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Alvarez pointed out that while the 2003 budget has been reinstated this year, the subsidy for state colleges and universities (SCUs) has been drastically reduced. There is also a continuing decrease in the number of public schools, he said.

"In 1998, we had 265 SCUs. Six years later, only 111 remain. With this trend, we can only expect the eventual abolition of public schools and SCUs nationwide. The responsibility of education will be passed on to students, who will have no choice but to resort to expensive private schooling," Alvarez said, noting that 20 percent of the SCUs were abolished through "merging" schemes since these schools lack the means to survive.

Another group noted the "glaring" lack of commitment to respect, protect and fulfill human rights in Mrs. Arroyo’s speech, warning that this may be "an omen of what may happen in the next six years."

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines executive director Aurora Parong cited yesterday’s dispersal of demonstrators protesting fraud in the elections, the government’s anti-poor policies and human rights violations for lack of a permit.

"Maybe the Arroyo government needs to be reminded that individuals and peoples have the right to peaceful assembly," she said.

Parong noted that while Mrs. Arroyo "welcomed the no-permit rally that was people power II" — which swept her into power in January 2001 — she and her allies no longer allow rallies.

"A supposedly winning president should not be afraid of people who supposedly gave her the mandate to sit as president. One is afraid of one’s shadow if there are skeletons in the closet," she said. — Mayen Jaymalin, Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano