Noy: Be vigilant, make changes permanent

MANILA, Philippines - In his fifth year in office, President Aquino is calling on his “bosses” – the people – to be vigilant and continue helping him make changes in the country permanent.

Aquino, in a videotaped message for the New Year, warned that despite his administration’s successes, there would always be groups that would take every opportunity to bring the country back to the old ways.

“To our bosses, let us continue to be critical and vigilant. As our government enters its fifth year in office, I am confident that it is clear to you as to who the real allies of the people are and those who are just trying to pretend,” Aquino said. “Now that we are beginning to reap the fruits of treading the straight path, are we still going to go astray?”

The President said the people can expect to be at a crossroads again in the coming year and he urged them to always choose the path of “concern and reason.”

“Let us be on the side of the right and avoid those who take advantage. What we have started is really beautiful; the goals that we could not even dream of before, we are now reaching one by one,” Aquino said.

The President said it was the people’s trust that brought about the changes and it would be the same trust that would make Filipinos realize their collective dreams.

“With the guidance of the Lord God and the contribution of every Filipino, we can make permanent changes,” Aquino said.

He said his administration had proven its capability to weather challenges from forces opposed to change.

Aquino reiterated he was grateful that Typhoon Ruby did not cause much devastation and thanked all those who helped in the preparations to save people from danger.

He also cited positive developments on the economic front, including 21 positive credit rating upgrades.

“With regard to the Public-Private Partnership program: What used to be avoided is now being pursued,” Aquino said.

From December 2011 to December 2014, eight PPP projects had been awarded and signed by the government amounting to P127 billion.

“In our four years in office, we were able to surpass the six approved solicited PPP projects from three past administrations,” the President said.

In terms of education, Aquino said the K-12 program was implemented and that the backlog in textbooks, chairs and classrooms had been addressed.

The President said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority had trained 672,258 students under the Training-for-Work Scholarship Program from July 2010 to September 2014 and the good news was that 68.5 percent of TESDA graduates were able to land jobs in 2012 in a span of only six months.

The rest of the graduates were being assisted to find jobs as well, Aquino said.

The President added 70.7 percent of TESDA and Business Process Association of the Philippines’ graduates were employed in 2012. In the electronics and semi-conductor industry, almost 96 percent employment rate was registered among TESDA and Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. graduates in 2014.

Last June, the administration also started the expanded conditional cash transfer program with a funding of P12 billion.

“Now, we are supporting beneficiaries in elementary grade until 18 years of age,” the President said.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, for his part, asked Filipinos to learn from lessons of the past year and his fellow workers in the government to continue their “selfless service to our people without thought of reward.”

In his New Year’s message, Binay said that with the year 2015 designated as the “Year of the Poor” and with the country preparing for the visit of Pope Francis from Jan. 15 to 19, everyone should heed the latter’s call for the faithful “to renew our commitment to Christ’s message of love and compassion, especially for the sick and indigent.”

“For those of us in government, this means selfless service to our people, no matter their standing in life, without thought of reward,” Binay said.

“Our time, talents, energy and resources must be focused on rendering effective governance and real service to those whom we have vowed to serve,” he added.

“It is my hope that we make a conscious effort to learn the lessons of the past year, and from there move forward with greater resolve to focus on goals that serve the greater good, and not personal or selfish ends,” he said. – Helen Flores