Issue 2 AY 1112
It has been almost a year since our country held its recent presidential elections. After the 9 years under President Arroyo, the people clamored for change. And with the recent death of Cory Aquino, Noynoy was pushed to the scene and immediately became a favorite and eventually won. With a promise to curb or even eradicate corruption, he was set to begin his term. Now a year has passed since that time when “Cory magic” still captivated the resolve of the people which resulted to another Aquino in the presidency. What has happened since then? Remembering the year makes one picture the hostage crisis, the Filipino drug mules, the RH Bill, Ombudsman resignation, price hikes, the recent Spratly issue and natural calamities to hit the country. And in a few days, the current administration will be celebrating its first year. Is there something to celebrate?
Looking back at his platforms, there are many tenets to examine. The best area to examine is transformational leadership. This was his mantra, what supposedly made him stand out among other candidates. He has vowed not to tolerate corruption and to make those who practiced it accountable and also to possibly give a solution to the problem. The impeachment and eventual resignation of the ombudsman was seen as a good stepping stone to his goal by the public. To make corrupt officials accountable (especially in the past administration), he tried to create EO1 or more commonly known as the Truth Commission, which was later on deemed as unconstitutional. Currently, GMA has yet to answer allegations regarding corruption. She was even criticizing Aquino for how he dealt with the Cotabato flood predicament and even compared her government to Aquino's .
People were also skeptical of his appointments to different positions, creating his own version of KKK(Kaibigan, Kaklase, Kabarilan). He was even accused of failure to discipline them and prevented them from being held accountable on cases of incompetence and illegal acts, contrary to his promise to strengthen institutions. To be fair, his logic behind it was to appoint people whom he was confident that could share his vision and persistence and only a few of these kaibigans, kaklases and kabarilans have been linked to controversies. But what could have been better for him was to immediately sanction or dismiss them out of office when the controversies hounded them.
On improving the situation of the people, there is yet a great progress to be seen. The rise in unemployment remains to be unresolved, as well as poverty, hunger, and housing among many others. The Philippines' dependency on remittances is still large. And these are just some of the economic challenges looming large over the Philippines. The government is taking extensive steps to ensure the even distribution of economic growth within the nation, by promoting overseas and home-bound investments in the Philippine Islands. Regardless of these, the country is facing significant decline in industrial production, gross domestic product, income and employment and sales, but people are still optimistic that things will (hopefully) change for the better.
Suffice to say that one cannot judge him yet, for it is still too early and that there are too many areas to discuss or debate on to grade him. Only a year has passed and P-Noy may or may not be blamed for most of the missteps that has happened. But he has to be accountable. He cannot use the same excuse over and over again of inheriting the problems from the past administration. What must be realized is that there is little room for mistakes with the public eye watching closely and the media ready to publish and report anything, whether good or bad. He has to remain steadfast in achieving his goal. His net satisfaction rating is still very high, compared to other presidents, which is a positive indicator for him. What he has done may be enough for him, but there are still areas for improvement. He has to realize that his duty is never to do just enough, but to exceed his own expectations of others and himself. Another excuse for further incompetence cannot simply go unnoticed. The Filipino people are still hoping for some kind of miracle. He still has 5 years left to try and do something to that extent.
- Chris Erwin Alquizalas, '10A
* Notice to readers: The views expressed in the Weekly Perspective do not necessarily reflect those of the Academic Committee or UP POLITICA.
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