PRIORITY LEGISLATION:
• Bangsamoro Basic Law
• General Appropriations Act
• Fiscal Incentives Rationalization Act
• Unified Uniformed Personnel Pension Reform Law
• Anti-dynasty law
MANILA, Philippines - Addressing Congress and the nation for the last time yesterday, President Aquino called on the people and the next leadership to nurture daang matuwid or the straight path, which he said has been the cornerstone of his administration’s achievements in the past five years.
In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), Aquino said his administration’s adherence to good governance and reforms restored investor confidence and kept the country on the growth path.
He sought “understanding” for the mistakes of his administration in the last five years, but did not mention specifics, stressing that compared to the previous administration, the Philippines is much better off.
The two-hour SONA – Aquino’s longest ever – elicited 146 rounds of applause from the audience.
“This is just the beginning, and we are being challenged by history to nurture the transformation so this will bear more opportunities for the next generation,” Aquino said.
“You have seen what we have achieved. You heard the story of our fellow Filipinos who proved what we could reach using our own strength, cooperation, avoiding competition but rather contributing to the fulfillment of our collective goals,” he said.
“Now, we face the world with our heads held high saying: Kaya ko. Kaya ng Pilipino. Simula pa lang ito (I can do it, the Filipino can do it, this is just the beginning),” he said.
The President said his administration shows the nation would not bow down to difficulties but would instead be an example in standing up for its principles before the world.
“This is just the beginning of the relief brought about by freedom from irregularities. This is just the beginning of a society where every Filipino, if they work hard, if they do what is right, will progress,” the President said.
“This is just the beginning. We are just in the first chapter of the great story of the Filipino nation. With the guidance of God Almighty and our continuously treading the straight path, we can fulfill bigger dreams… Our direction is in your hands,” Aquino said.
To stress his point and to give his last address a modern touch in the age of the Internet and social media, he showed video clips of success stories from several individuals.
Makati Business Club executive director Peter Perfecto was shown on a video clip lauding reforms implemented during the Aquino administration.
“What this administration did to reverse the corruption trends under the previous administration was very important,” Perfecto said.
“If there is no rule of law, those corporations that have no qualms about giving bribes or not paying the right taxes are given competitive advantage over the others,” he said.
“With rule of law and good governance established under this administration, foreign direct investment rose from $2 billion to $6.2 billion,” he added.
The MBC official also said the government’s anti-corruption agenda helped improve the country’s ranking in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report by 33 notches.
With the daang matuwid as its guiding principle, the administration was able to steer the country to its first investment-grade rating and improved ranking in the global competitive index.
“Its message to investors is very clear: investing in the Philippines is worth it, the risk of doing business here is lesser,” he said in Filipino in his speech shown live on TV.
“Now, the interest rate is low and longer loan repayment is encouraging businesses to invest more in the Philippines,” he said.
Fitch Ratings gave the Philippines its long-coveted investment grade rating in 2013, followed by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. Foreign direct investment, he pointed out, has grown sharply under his administration from $1.07 billion in 2010 to $6.2 billion in 2014.
“The Philippines is now being called ‘Asia’s Rising Tiger,’ ‘Asia’s Rising Star,’ ‘Asia’s Bright Spot,’” he said.
He added that domestic investments also grew to P2.09 trillion in the third quarter of 2010 to 2014 from only P1.24 trillion in the period of 2003 to 2010.
The President thanked the Filipinos for not making him feel alone. He promised not to fade away as long as his service is needed.
“You can see, if we are not going to be derailed, if the straight path will continue, within one generation, we will become First World.”
He said going back to a crooked system would shatter all the gains achieved by the country under his administration.
“What we have planted is very beautiful and we have exerted much effort and sacrifice to nurture this. Who in their right mind will cut the tree abruptly when it is beginning to bear fruits?
“With this view, the next elections will be a referendum for the straight path. You will be the ones to decide if the changes we are experiencing now will be permanent or will be seen as a product of luck or a temporary rise from the long history of falling,” Aquino said.
Right path?
The President said he will always be on hand to guide the people even after he steps down, and that he can be depended upon for help.
“You will never be alone as well,” he said. “I will be with you, I will stay beside you and link arms with you as we trudge the straight path.”
The President said never once did he imagine himself to be perfect and that he did fail them at times, especially when some people in his government failed to deliver on their promises.
In times of doubt, Aquino said they probably did not find and share the information they had been asked for and he sought understanding for these shortcomings.
But 10 months away from his last day in office, President Aquino still couldn’t help but blame his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the mess the country is in, five years after he assumed the reins of government.
“When we came into office, we found a citizenry that had grown desensitized to the many allegations of lying, cheating and stealing in government,” he said.
“Those in power boasted of the country having enough classrooms. In truth: classes had to be held in four shifts. Students went to school while it was still dark, and others would go home long after the dark of night had well and truly fallen,” he added.
“All of them were left in the dark because they were not accorded sufficient time in the classroom for learning,” he said.
“Our predecessor took pride in ‘uninterrupted growth’ during her last SONA. Scrutinize what she said, however, and you would realize that a significant portion of this growth was fueled by remittances from Filipinos who had lost hope in our country,” he said.
“As they say: People were voting with their feet. If I were to imitate that style of governance, I would be loath to claim a success borne of forcing my countrymen to escape our shores,” Aquino pointed out.
He made a litany of the anomalies the nine-year Arroyo administration committed, from the P728-million fertilizer scam, the $29-million NBN/ZTE scam, the “Hello Garci” scandal, the bogus Jose Pidal multibillion-peso bank accounts;
The constitutional assembly that could have provided the template for Arroyo’s perpetuation in power, Executive Order 464 that deliberately blocked the truth in legislative inquiries, the midnight appointments;
The calibrated pre-emptive response aimed at muzzling dissent, the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre where 58 journalists were killed, the fat bonuses of MWSS officials, the P1-billion Pagcor coffee, among many others.
These have been daily fare for newspapers where anomalies made headlines, he recalled.
“As the 2004 elections approached, more than P700 million was allegedly used to buy fertilizer that was not suitable for crops, the endeavor was costly and, in many instances, the farmers who should have received the farming supplements never saw it,” he said.
“We ask: Who was nourished by such fertilizers? Definitely neither the farmers nor their crops. Perhaps you also remember the NBN-ZTE scandal,” he said.
“We investigated this in the Senate; someone said there was an attempt to bribe him,” Aquino said, apparently referring to a former economic planning secretary.
“When we undertook an inquiry, this person did not want to testify; he claimed executive privilege. Of course, we couldn’t summon the sitting President – hence, the only one we could question was her henchman accused of bribery. Naturally, he denied the accusation,” he said.
“During those times, even children became familiar with the word ‘scam.’ You might also remember ‘Hello Garci,’ to which the answer was a mere ‘I am sorry.’”
“The genuine bank accounts of the nonexistent Jose Pidal. The attempt to convene a Constitutional Assembly so that they could stay in power for the rest of their lives. There was Executive Order 464, which tried to stifle the truth,” he said.
He also cited the declaration of a state of emergency in order to do away with the checks and balances for martial law as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.
“There were also midnight appointments,” he added. – Delon Porcalla