Kofi Annan to visit the Philippines?

Although there has been agenda planning at other times in the past to make something intelligible of our legislation, Thursday’s conference/workshop was different. Workshop discussions among the congressmen/women, government officials, NGOs were made against the background of the United Nations’ Common Country Assessment (CCA). "CCA analyzes the major challenges that the Government of the Philippines, key stakeholders and the United Nations system have identified as being critical of the Philippines." UN Resident Coordinator Deborah Landey explained. It pursues a broad picture of how a country copes and solves problems within a world structure. But it is not at the sacrifice of a narrower, albeit equally important and more immediate concern of how the Philippines, itself, tackles the problems that have been identified. The task is to identify lines of cooperation between the two levels: the Philippine medium term development plan and the principles and goals arising from United Nations conventions and global conferences, particularly those of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium development. At the center of the CCA are key issues which, must be addressed effectively to bear on the lives of the poor and the vulnera

It also gives a basis for the UN development assistance. With a close working partnership between the country managers, the UN system is then able to decide how best to support the government and people of the Philippines address these issues, Landey said. The Common Country Assessment is an integral part of the reform agenda of the Secretary General himself. Because this partnership is succeeding, she will recommend that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan come to Manila and see things for himself. She sees the cooperation of the UN system and RP government as a model that the UN could use with other countries. The working partnership promotes and preserves the basic rights outlined in the UN Charter for peace, security and development.

At the same time it must be said there is concern that without concerted intensified action, the Philippines will fall short of achieving the Millennium development goals by 2015. The report cited ‘glaring inequalities in Philippine society are unsustainable and reflect core issues of ownership and access to resources, capital, information and power.’ The CCA argues that the poor and vulnerable groups must be at the core of the development agenda. That includes the rural and urban poor; child workers; children without primary caregivers; abused/trafficked women; displaced persons; children caught in armed conflicts; and indigenous persons. These are the most marginalized groups in Philippine society. The causes of poverty and exclusion are inequitable economic growth, unequal access to opportunities and basic social services, inadequate economic and social infrastructure, unregulated trade liberalization, gender inequities and high fertility rates, the report adds.

CCA reports that although the challenges in the Philippines are great, the potential for progress is high. But there is a caveat. This can only be achieved if all development partners – including national and local governments, the private sector, NGOs/CSOs work together. The academic community, media, as well as donors have to be committed to responsible governance, mobilize new resources and outline priorities. It stresses that even augmented efforts will fail unless inequities are minimized

At the Saudi National Day reception later Ms. Landey told me she was pleased as well as surprised at how much support the UN Millennium Goals were getting from the Philippines. Indeed, as she said before a capacity filled Diosdado Macapagal Hall at the Landbank Building off Roxas Boulevard, the Philippines was the first country to turn in its report on CCA.

President GMA’s speech declaring support for Speaker JDV 10-point wealth creation proposal is a step in the right direction. It will enhance party politics and encourage party members to act as one to fulfill a program. A cohesive party structure can be achieved through a program. It will help deliver the goods, as it were. Instead of working at cross purposes Lakas party members from up down should be made aware that this 12 point program is what binds them together. President GMA and Speaker JDV co-chair the Lakas -CMD party. If they work together, we can have a better partnership between the legislative and executive. This in turn will encourage the lower rungs of the party from municipal mayors up to the Senate, where some of those elected to the Senate were part of the Lakas coalition.

JDV’s proposals are intended to revive the mining industry, implement major reclamation and reforestation projects and create special zones within Subic and Clark to attract long term investments. Mrs. Arroyo said De Venecia’s proposals will be incorporated into the government’s medium term development plan.

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PNOC. It is good to see President Gloria taking a close look at GOCC’s. It speaks of a non-nonsense President with a hands-on approach to important issues. But it would be more sophisticated to distinguish between GOCCs that have contributed immensely to the economy, from those that have been and will continue to be a burden. It is not good to lump them all in one sorry package. Take PNOC. It has been contributing billions through dividends to the national treasury. In fact, dividends in cold cash have far outstripped paid-in capital. The Malampaya gas field is just beginning to show how wise it was to have invested years ago. And its privatization, together with that of the property company, if handled properly, will pay even more than dividends. A dictum that may be useful to consider is "to reinforce success", not the contrary.

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What happens if Senator Santiago’s accusations against former President Fidel Ramos are proven untrue. What redress is there for the former president and for that matter all other victims of reckless accusations in the guise of privileged speeches? Is the Senate above all institutions that it can hurl unproved accusations with impunity? The most important tool for solving a crime is to know the motive. Santiago’s motive is clear. It is to exact revenge for her election defeat in 1992 which is more than a decade ago. The privilege speeches of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, entitled ‘Anak ng Amari’ delivered on August 16, 2004 and ‘Unmasking a Character Assassin’ delivered on August 24, 2004 are clearly not intended in aid of legislation. What a waste of time and money. Are senators so privileged they are above the law? All they have to say is they want to investigate in aid of legislation. The dictum that privileged speeches must be responsible has been obviously compromised in Santiago vs. Ramos.

More worrying is that with the way the Senate is behaving, I cannot see how we can have a fiscal plan in place to avoid a crisis.

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