Missing the target

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III is facing a new set of lawmakers in today’s joint opening session of the 16th Congress. All roads lead to the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City, including the militant groups staging their usual protest rallies. Again, the anti-SONA rallies are limited only up to Commonwealth Avenue.

Midway in his six-year term of office, President Aquino is facing anew the Filipino nation with his report card on how his administration has so far delivered its commitments and promises since his first SONA in July 2010. As in his past three SONAs, the Palace has prepared video walls to show the tables and numbers where the “inclusive growth” economic slogan of P-Noy will take our country in the next three to five years.

For this year’s SONA, the Chief Executive is riding high on the 6.8 percent economic growth posted as of the first quarter this year. Instead of “inclusive growth” though, we are seeing a “jobless growth” where the rising unemployment rate is outpacing economic growth.

Thus, the rising joblessness negates the economic gains. As of April this year, unemployment rate stood at 7.5 percent, or about 3.09 million Filipinos are jobless. According to data culled from the National Statistics Office, this unemployment rate is the highest in three years.

Former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno, interviewed in a TV talk show program at ANC last Saturday, said he is giving the Aquino administration a “3.0.” grade for the work it has done in the past three years. Diokno, who went back to being economics professor at the University of the Philippines (UP), gave P-Noy this rating equivalent to a “pasang awa” mark in college.

Incidentally, P-Noy is an economics graduate from Ateneo de Manila where he had his immediate predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as professor in one economics subject.

Despite breaching economic targets, Diokno noted the Aquino administration has yet to make a dent in reducing poverty incidence in the country. To reverse this trend, Diokno reiterated the need for the government to intensify job creation as the chief economic driver to reducing poverty.

In this year’s SONA, we expect P-Noy to spell out his administration’s legislative priorities to be submitted to the new leaders and members of the 16th Congress. Of course, on top of this wish list is the proposed 2014 budget bill that P-Noy and his Cabinet reviewed on two separate marathon meetings they had at 11-hours each at the Palace.

At the end of these two meetings of the President and the Cabinet, a total of 51 proposed legislative bills were produced for submission to Congress, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) secretary Manuel Mamba disclosed. Interviewed on DzRH radio over the weekend, Mamba said the 51 proposed bills are still going to be pruned down to a more manageable number under a common legislative agenda that President Aquino will present to leaders and members of the new Congress.

Based on experience during the 15th Congress, Mamba cited only 15 out of 35 administration bills endorsed and certified as urgent legislative measures by the President were passed into law. So it’s a barely 50 percent success rate. And I thought President Aquino is a good marksman, that is, in terms of his shooting skills in the firing range.

There are still two more of these administration bills approved by the 15th Congress that are still at the Office of the President for approval and signing into law. Mamba declined to give details.

Mamba conceded so much Congress-approved legislative efforts in the last three years were wasted after P-Noy vetoed a total of 72 bills for various reasons. These included controversial bills like the proposed Magna Carta for the Poor; Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Act; the removal of height requirement for new policemen. Per record of the PLLO, Mamba noted 60 of these 72 vetoed bills were all local bills.

“The President was hurt in having to veto these bills. He does not want to approve bills just for legislative accommodations. All he wanted are bills that are passable, doable, fundable, and implementable,” Mamba pointed out.

“I think all of us have learned our experience well. I’m sure the President has delivered this strong message to all,” he stressed.

From the records of the DBM, Mamba pointed to some P146.1 billion of “unfunded” bills that were passed into law since 1991 so they remained unimplemented up to now. The PLLO chief though expressed optimism the new leaders of the 16th Congress would be more supportive of the presidential priority legislative agenda.

Although he did not say it, Mamba obviously refers to the fact that P-Noy’s Liberal Party (LP) coalition controls the majority in both chambers of Congress. Mamba was earlier blamed for much of the high incidence of bills being vetoed by the President due to his differences with erstwhile Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile over local politics in their common home province of Cagayan.

Mamba made no mention whether President Aquino intends to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), also a creation of a Congress-approved law. As mandated by the LEDAC Law, the President shall meet this body at least once every quarter but may be convened to “special meetings as may be necessary.” The LEDAC provides the mechanism through which the two branches of government can coordinate with each other on a common legislative agenda.

If memory serves, President Aquino has only convened the LEDAC twice in his almost three years in office. Out of respect to a coequal branch of government, the President cited, he has not been convening LEDAC regularly. P-Noy served for three consecutive terms as congressman from Tarlac and three years as senator. So he knows whereof he speaks.

So for the remaining 1,000 days left of his administration, President Aquino has adjusted his targets, economic targets that is. P-Noy must make sure his administration will be right on target to achieve his “inclusive growth” for all Filipinos. At this stage of his administration, P-Noy should not also hesitate to fire his people who fail to hit their self-imposed targets.