Of the President's men

Of President Noynoy Aquino’s men, Florencio “Butch” Abad is a sure favorite. Secretary Abad is head of the powerful Budget and Management Department (DBM). At the media Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel Tuesday, he clearly demonstrated his sincere intention to support his boss’s vision and manage the government’s budget wisely and well.

In the face of a huge national budget deficit and a huge debt, Abad has to see that the funds appropriated by Congress to all government offices and projects and ratified by the President, are spent for the reasons they are intended for. He cited reasons for the delays in the releases for projects being the bureaucracy and politics. “It’s not so much fund releases that are the problem,” he said, “it’s whether the projects are being implemented or not.”  

He was quick to scuttle negative developments, such as foreign countries’ travel advisories on account of serious terrorist threats, to their nationals as not having any basis. Such disincentives for investors like graft and corruption and political instability will become things of the past under President Aquino’s administration, he said.

A plus point for his boss is his having the support of Congress. That House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte is surprised at the good attendance in the House augurs a healthy — not an adversarial — relationship between the executive and legislative departments.

A media colleague commended the government’s continuation of some of the past administration’s projects, for instance, the conditional cash transfers. Butch, a member of Hyatt 10, said the P1,400 cash given to mothers from positively identified 4.6 million indigent households, is not doleout, but is given on certain conditions: that 85 percent of the children must be in school and taken there by their mothers; that P300 is given for every two children; that the preferred beneficiaries are lactating mothers; that they have their children given immunization shots. Butch said positive results have been shown in beneficiaries’ conditions during the past two years.

Butch’s educational and professional backgrounds serve him in good stead in his legislative and executive careers. He has degrees in business administration and law from the Ateneo, and was a fellow at the Edward Mason Program in Public Policy and Management at Harvard’s Kennedy school of Government where he received his master’s in public administration.

He was elected representative of the lone district of Batanes from 1987 to 1990, then for three consecutive terms beginning in 1995. In Congress, he authored vital pieces of legislation on agrarian reform, agriculture and fisheries, and electric power. 

His connection with Malacanang consisted of his being Secretary of Agrarian Reform in the Aquino I Cabinet, then as Secretary of Education in the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

He is credited with helping steer the Liberal Party of the Philippines into its revival as a major reform-oriented political party today. He mentored the young Noynoy Aquino when the latter ran for Congress, and then, for the Senate, upon the request of then Citizen Cory. He, of course, helped run Noynoy’s campaign for the presidency.

If Noynoy chose him to head the DBM, that would not be simply out of gratitude; his capabilities, his experience in governance make him fit for the job. But why would his daughter, Julia, be appointed head of the Presidential Management Staff? Some would say, that’s nepotism. Butch smiled; he is always asked this question. When Julia arrived from studies in the US, Senator Noynoy asked her to be his chief of staff, and after the presidential election, to continue to help him. She must be bright, to be given those jobs. Her work as PMS secretary is important, involving a lot of paper work, technical, legal and administrative work for the Office of the President and government agencies.

There are yet two other Abads in the government, but on their own merit. Butch’s wife Nida is serving her second term as representative of Batanes, and son Luigi, a summa cum laude graduate of Ateneo, is Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima’s chief of staff.

Deedee asked how Butch would compare Cory’s and Noynoy’s governing styles. The answer was quick. “They’re both simple. It’s amazing, they’re both indifferent to power and privilege. They’re stubborn when they believe in something, and they have fiscal discipline.”

I said I was amazed that Noynoy would be so stubborn as to not care what the bishops say about his position on family planning. Butch said, what really convinced Noynoy to adopt his position on reproductive health was when he went around urban communities during his presidential campaign and he saw so many children running around and not going to school, about diseases being prevalent in the poor areas. These made him declare that families should be free to use the family planning method of their choice, not what any group dictates them to use. Noynoy, Butch said, is not in favor of abortion as a family planning method. Which is exactly what the Reproductive Health Bill authors are saying: that reproductive health is for quality life, not abortion.

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As the SM Group of Companies continues to expand, it is also promoting through the SM Foundation, a program to help and give care to the elderly. These are the Felicidad Sy Wellness Centers which were started in 2002. Some of these centers are located in government-run hospitals; others are located in barangay halls like those in Pag-asa, Makati and Novaliches. The make-over involves re-designing the facilities with colorful murals. An annual budget is given the centers, and SM mobile clinics make regular visits to give free medical and dental consultations, provide vitamins, medicines and supplements, and conduct X-rays, CBCs, urinalysis and other laboratory tests.

There are centers in the provinces as well — in Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Quezon, Baguio and Iloilo.

Three new centers were recently opened — one in Barangay Holy Spirit in Commonwealth, Quezon City; another in Angeles, Pampanga, and another in Rosales, Pangasinan.

 In August, Jose Domingo, chair of the Greater Don Antonio Senior Citizens Assn. Inc. (GDASCA), in Barangay Holy Spirit appealed to Connie Angeles, SM Foundation executive director for health and medical service to finish an abandoned center for use of senior citizens. With funds provided by SM Prime Holdings, the Foundation finished the construction of the building, had it refurbished, fitted with toilets and other equipment and landscaped. The center was turned over to Domingo, Lennie Rendon, GDASCA president, and Dr. Rogelio Belleza, by Connie, with former Sen. Juan Flavier as guest of honor.

In Pampang, Angeles City, the senior citizens’ center was inaugurated with representatives of Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, Heidi Patio, Brig. Gen. Joel Marayag of the AFP, Connie Angeles, and Senator Flavier in attendance. The senior citizens use the facility now for monthly meetings. They each contribute P10 for a revolving fund.

The newest center in Pangasinan was inaugurated early this month. It has colorful murals, is fitted with toilets and kitchen sinks and equipped with TV sets, DVDs, electric fans, refrigerators, and living and dining room sets.

With such nice centers, senior citizens should feel good about being old.

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