Aquino: Good governance brings food on the table

On his third State of the Nation Address today, President Benigno S. Aquino III said good governance has led the country's charge toward social reforms and economic growth in the first two years of his six-year term.

"There have always been people who have questioned our guiding principle, 'If there is no corruption, there is no poverty.' They ask if good governance can put food on the table. Quite simply: Yes," Aquino said.

With a clear and consistent rules and level playing field, he said, business confidence in the country is growing. "Investments are pouring in, jobs are being created, and a virtuous cycle has begun—where empowered consumers buy more products, and businesses hire more people so they can expand to keep up with the growing demand."

Aquino said in his 1 hour and 30-minute speech that because of good governance and eliminated corruption, food production had increased, prices did not fluctuate, wages were stable and our economy was stronger.

"A resilient and dynamic economy resting on the foundations of good governance is the best defense against global uncertainty. We have been dismantling the obstacles to progress for two years, and now, our success can only be limited by how hard we are willing to work for it," Aquino said.

What was once a sick man in Asia, the Philippines, Aquino said, might be "Asia's Next Tiger," posting a Gross Domestic Product growth of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012, much higher than projected, the highest growth in the Southeast Asian region, and the second only to China in the whole of Asia.

The President also emphasized that good governance in his administration made way for human development reforms and brought basic social services closer to the people.

President Aquino cited several reforms in various sectors such as health care, education, employment, poverty, transportation and communications, infrastructure, tourism, infrastructure, peace and security.

Aquino's SONA reported 3.1 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the government's conditional cash transfer program and the government's tool in fighting poverty.

Aquino also pushed for "true, universal and holistic health care," especially in maternal health. He said that during his term, 23.31 more Filipinos have access to PhilHealth's benefits and services, a service which enables its members to seek treatment in any government hospital without having to shell out a single centavo.

In the education sector, Aquino said, his administration built 66,800 classrooms needed to fill up the shortage, which they aim to address before 2012 ends. The education department also seeks to eradicate the 61.7 million backlog in text books to achieve one-to-one ratio of books to students.

Aquino also said "responsible parenthood" will help address the yearly increase in student population that leads to lack of school facilities.

The President also said the government has proposed a 43.61 percent increase in the budget of state universities and colleges, ensuring that students who qualify for admission in these learning institutions are of "top caliber." Department of Education's budget also increased from P177 million in 2010 to a P292.7-million target for 2013.

Aquino also lauded the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority's efforts in training 434, 676 individuals under the Training for Work Scholarship Program. He said each of the 5,240 certified Specialistas are now earning P562 a day or P11,240 a month, which is higher than the minimum wage.

Almost 3.1 million jobs have also been produced in the past two years, pulling unemployment rates down to 7.2 percent in 2011 from eight percent in 2010, Aquino said. Business process outsourcing also played a big role in this growth, injecting $11 billion to our economy in 2011.

Improvements in the country's international and domestic airports are now also underway, together with upgrades in major roads, expressways and thoroughfares, he said.

Aquino said that 1,569 kilometers out of the 7,239 kilometers of unrepaired national roads were already fixed, aiming to complete the remaining before his term ends.

The president also lauded the successful "It's more fun in the Philippines," campaign of the Department of Tourism, bringing in 2.1 million tourist arrivals in the first half of 2012, with a target of 4.6 million tourists at the end of the year, from the 3.1 million arrivals in 2010.

Aquino's tourism administration also aims for a 10-million tourist arrivals by 2016, competing with Malaysia's 24.7 million and Thailand's 17 million tourist arrivals.

The President said, annual rice shortage was reduced by 1.3 million metric tons to just 860,000 metric tons. This year, it is down to 500,000 MT.

The government is doing everything in its power to ensure that farmers can claim lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program before 2016, he said.

In terms of peace and security, the present administration aims to provide officers of the Philippine National Police with 74,600 guns "so that they may better serve and protect the nation, our communities, and themselves."

The government has also allocated P28 billion for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Aquino said the Armed Forces is canvassing equipment such as cannons, personnel carriers, frigates, helicopters, aircrafts, radio and communication equipment and diagnostic laboratories.

"Before long, the BRPRamon Alcaraz, our second Hamilton class cutter, will drop anchor, to partner with the BRP Gregorio del Pilar. We are not sending paper boats out to sea. Now, our 36,000 kilometers of coastline will be patrolled by more modern ships," he said. - PIA — ARA