President Aquino’s inaugural speech, June 30, 2010 YouTube
Two Years on the ‘Tuwid na Daan’ There is no way to fully assess the performance of any leader and his or her administration in one book, let alone one article. Indeed, the written word, even in the millions, can only distill in tales, tallies and testimonies the real measures of any government and nation’s progress: tangible changes in the lives of its citizenry. That is why The CenSEI Report has devoted an entire issue of five sections with the usual 100-plus online links to in-depth studies, news, video and data, to assemble perhaps the most comprehensive assessment of the Aquino administration’s first two years found in a single publication. While the electronic medium offers far greater carrying capacity than print and broadcast, there is no point in flooding readers with material on fleeting and fluffy matters. Rather, the Center for Strategy, Enterprise & Intelligence made sure to focus on the most significant issues and developments since President Benigno Aquino III took his oath of office on June 30, 2010, with the greatest likely impact on the remainder of his term and beyond. The World section focuses on the country’s balancing act between China and America, standing up to the former and shoulder to shoulder with the latter in chronic confrontations in the South China Sea. In Nation, another high-stakes test of wills is spotlighted — the Chief Executive’s tensions with the Chief Justice — but only as culmination and demonstration of Aquino’s amassing of unprecedented presidential clout over 24 months. Two other conflict articles follow, covering the quest for peace with communist and separatist rebels, and the battle against corruption. Business analyzes the economy, of course, going under the headlines on the Asia-pacing 6.4% first-quarter growth and looking into what really counts in the country’s development: boosting competitiveness and eradicating poverty. Technology assesses the state and future of the crucial business process outsourcing sector, probably the biggest jobgenerator for tech-savvy young Filipinos. The Health/Lifestyle section should have expounded on the ambitious plan to provide health insurance to all Filipinos by 2016, no doubt the Aquino program with the greatest potential impact on health. But that’s still stuck in Congress and was just covered in our last issue. So instead, the section recapitulates the Reproductive Health Bill debate, clearly the biggest bone of contention between Church and State in the past two years and one that could literally decide the lives of future Filipinos. Many readers may have notice the yellow background that replaced the usual grey behind The CenSEI Report logo on the Contents page. If that suggests to some that this journal has joined the ranks of the so-called “yellow media,” read on and see that this week’s logo design tweak has not diminished our unrelenting strategic, enterprising, intelligent and constructively critical approach to any subject. That is our own unbending straight and narrow path.