INTrODUCTION “Ang Matuwid na Daan”: this was the clarion call of the administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III or Pnoy. The message was simple; progress and prosperity would be achieved through a government that governs justly and is rid of corruption. This honest style of governance was promised to bring growth, development, security, inclusiveness and prosperity to the country. Now, at the eve of the President’s final SONA, the time has come to assess the fruit of following that promised road. SONAlysis is a concise overview of the true state of the nation, as well as the initiatives undertaken and challenges faced by the current Aquino administration. It will be divided into different key sectors: Economic Growth, Human Development, Infrastructure, Peace and Security, Sustainability and International Relations. Each sector will include key statistic indicators along with the challenges and programs enacted per year, as stated by the President’s past SONA’s.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Aquino administration fostered a period of sustained economic growth, not only breaking past records, but also being one of the top countries in terms of economic growth in the ASEAN. 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
GDP GROWTH RATE (%)
7.6
3.6
6.8
7.2
6.1
5.2 (Q1)
GDP PER CAPITA (IN US DOLLARS)
2135.9
2358.1
2587.6
2765.1
2843.1
--
*TAKEN FROM THE WORLD BANK
These are some indicators of economic growth. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a broad measure of total economic activity, GDP measures the value of all services and goods produced by the country over a certain time period. GDP Per Capita is simply GDP divided by the total population, a means to compare economic health with other states.
as well as improved taxation and increased government spending as a result of more efficient budgeting. In 2010-2011, President Aquino laid down a number of initiatives to that respect:
GDP growth has been spurred primarily by the Services sector (5.5%), followed by the Industry sector (5.6%). Though the Agricultural Sector has grown, its rate is lagging as compared to the former two mentioned (1.6%). (NSCB, 2015). An interesting thing to take note of is that though the country did post high percentages in economic growth, its actual GDP and GDP per Capita is much lower than neighbouring states. This means that though there is a marked improvement, the country still has a long way to go. The agricultural sector, for example, can be much improved by more directed and well managed support to farmers through agricultural infrastructure instead of government subsidies. The government must also follow on its promise to properly distribute land amongst the farmers to empower the industry. CARPER, in particular, must be further investigated and modified to serve the interest of the agricultural community and stakeholders.
In order to further build infrastructure and vital capital, the government, through a bidding process, engaged in partnership projects with firms from the private sector under RA 7718. This has led to various projects like the Daang-Hari SLEX link road and the Mactan Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal.
Nevertheless, the GDP growth was stimulated by a number of different factors, including robust growth in agriculture, industry and services,
PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS
1
PPP’s are beneficial because it encourages more participation from the private sector, which in turn boosts investments and economic activity.
2
PPP’s also allow for a more competitive business environment, where public projects on infrastructure stand to gain the most. (DoF)
3
4
PPP approval though has been a procedure that is prone to delay. Aquino himself has mentioned this in his SONA, though attributed this to being meticulous in engaging into partnerships. It has also been alleged that PPP’s are subtle ways to privatize government services (Lopez, 2012)
ZERO-BASED BUDGETING
YEAR
INFLATION RATE%
An initiative by the Aquino administration to make budgeting more transparent and effective. In the ZBB method, converse to past budgeting schemes, projects are examined first for their effectiveness and department performance before receiving funds; ineffective projects lose funding to give way to efficient ones that may need maintenance or expansion (Department of Budget and Management, 2012)
2010
3.9
2011
4.6
2012
3.2
2013
3.0
2014
4.1
2015
2.05 (Midyear)
1
This scheme proved effective in terms of allocating budgets to deserving projects, as shown by growth in the agricultural, industry and service sectors. The government also partners with institutions liked PIDS to reassess policies and approaches on SUC’s, job generation, agriculture etc. (Toledo, 2014)
*TAKEN FROM PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY
As mentioned, one of the factors that government focused on was changing the business landscape of the country as well as its credit situation, in order to make the country more attractive to investors. Aside from addressing public expenditure and promoting good governance, the monetary policies enacted by the Bangko Sentral also ensured a more-investment friendly environment.
Inflation is the general rate of price increase of goods in an economy. Though it can be a sign of a growing economy bustling with activity, a high inflation rate would cause prices to go up, affecting consumers especially the lower socioeconomic classes. Through sound monetary policy, BSP was able to keep inflation at a manageable rate. The overall economic growth and reforms enacted by the Administration convinced leading credit agencies that the Philippines’ economy was indeed rising. These sovereign credit ratings take into account various social, economic and political factors to assess risk levels of investment in a country’s environment.
PHILIPPINE CREDIT RATINGS
BAA2
BBB-
BBB
Moody’s
Fitch
Standard & Poor
These ratings indicate that the Philippines is in investment-grade level, the highest the country has achieved in its history. This means that the country can pay for its debts adequately and promptly, making it more enticing for investments to enter the landscape. It is of note though, that these rankings are at the lowest tier of investment grade, meaning there is still moderate risk in firms investing in the country.
President Aquino past SONA’s. 1
2
looks
to
continue
this
by
openly
endorsing
legislation
in
his
The Fiscal Responsibility Bill is a transparency measure that ensures that no bill would be passed unless it has a certain source of funding to ensure that such bills are implemented properly. As of 2015 however, such a bill has not yet been made into law. The Anti-Trust Law, which is supposed to safeguard the national scene from monopolistic and collusive behaviours by firms. Economically, this is an ideal law to pass as it ensures competition amongst firms, which would be beneficial for the people. This law has been ratified recently, in the form of the Philippine Competition Act, penned by Senator. Bam Aquino
Despite the economic growth that the Aquino Administration has ushered in however, there still stands the issue of inclusive growth. Prof. Solita Monsod argued that while economic growth has improved, it has yet to “trickle down” to the ordinary Filipinos. SOCIOECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC
% OF INCOME SHARED
First 20%
5.89%
Second 20%
9.4%
Third 20%
13.1%
Fourth 20%
21.15%
Last 20%
49.65%
Gini Coefficient
0.43 (2014)
The table to the left shows the allocation of income to the different socioeconomic levels in the country. The gap of riches between the adjacent levels, and more so the distant ones, are sizable. This is further supported by the Gini Coefficient - a statistical dispersion that measures the income distribution amongst citizens of a country. A Gini of 0 indicated total equality, while a Gini of 1 indicated maximum inequality. These statistics show that though there is economic growth, such growth is not inclusive and does not translate to equitable economic development.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Philippines is the most improved country overall, ranking 52nd from 59th last year. The Philippines was also ranked fifth out the 10 countries in South East Asia and became a part of the Top 5 “Emerging and Developing” countries in Asia. The development of the country seems to be reachable by now, but there are still some points that the government missed. Rising prices erode low incomes that impacted poor families, because of this the inflation rates reached their highest since food consumption accounts for 40%-50% of total expenditure of the country’s low incomes. Poverty is still rising with 20%-30% of Filipinos below the poverty line, which is 25 million Filipinos. Jobs are still scarce; In April 2014, there were 1.7 million additional persons employed that reached a total of 38.7 million employed but this was only in effect for part-time work rather than full-time work, and there was an increase in employed Filipinos who are working without pay that accounted to 4 million people.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Human Development covers all dimensions that involve human capability enhancement and fostering conditions for human development. This includes initiatives in education, health, gender, and poverty.
01
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY A key indicator used to determine progress in this area is the Human Development Index (HDI). It is a composite on achievement in three areas: health and longevity, education and standard of living. In recent years, the Inequality-adjusted HDI takes note of the inequality amongst people in each area. (Range is from 0 (Low Human Development) to 1 (High Human Development) YEAR
2014
HDI
0.660
IHDI
0.554
INEQUALITY DIFFERENCE
18.1% *TAKEN FROM THE UN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
In terms of standard of living, the Aquino administration has managed to slightly decrease the rate of unemployment each year. In terms of poverty incidence in the country though, the results are mixed. 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
EMPLOYMENT RATE (%)
92.7
93.0
93.0
92.7
93.0
93.6
UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE (%)
18.8
19.3
20.0
19.8
18.2
17.8
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (%)
7.3
7.0
7.0
7.3
7.0
6.4
*TAKEN FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
It should be noted that decrease in unemployment is not as swift as the economic growth. NEDA Sec. Arsenio Balisacan attributed this to the lack of jobs to absorb the constantly growing labor force, as well as the disruptions caused by national calamities that have struck the nation. Furthermore, underemployment rate stayed on the same range throughout the administration’s run; this means that there is a sizable amount of the working force that are working in jobs where they are overqualified or where they are forced to have part time work due to the lack of full time jobs. YEAR
2014
2013
POVERTY INCIDENCE (%)
24.6
25.8
POVERTY GAP
5.4
5.1
POVERTY SEVERITY
2.1
2.0
*TAKEN FROM THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY
Poverty incidence is simply the amount of the population that is under the determined national poverty line. Though there has been progress in reducing poverty, this is already a concession of the government to its previous goal of bringing poverty down to below 18% as per the Millennium Development Goals. Furthermore, Poverty Incidence does not
truly measure the gravity of poverty in the country as it does not take into account the degree of being poor. This is much better measured by the Poverty Gap and Poverty Severity, which shows the population that is way below the poverty line. From here, it can be seen that though there were less people who were poor, a margin of the poor became even poorer.
The biggest initiative that the Administration has made to address poverty and inequality is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. The PPPP is an initiative to give cash transfers to selected families in the poverty line to help lift them from such condition. This is done in exchange for fulfilling certain conditions that are conducive to human development like health and enrolment in schools. Another measure to this effect is the DSWD’s National Household Targeting System, which is aimed to systematically determine poor households in the country.
02
EDUCATION Another important facet of human development is education. Education has constantly become the top priority of the state in terms of public expenditure, used to build more infrastructure like classrooms and employing more teachers. 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
DEPED BUDGET (IN PHP BILLIONS)
171
207
238.8
293.3
309.5
367.1
STATE UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES BUDGET
22.4
22.3
22.1
32.7
34.9
43.3
*TAKEN FROM THE PHILIPPINE GAZETTE
It should be noted that the budget for education is constantly increasing, with the SUC budget almost doubling and the basic education budget even more so. According to international standards set by the United Nations though (public expenditure should be at least 6% of the 1
GDP), the budget is still less than half of the ideal. The current state of our education is further elucidated by a report conducted by UNESCO just this year. The “Education for All Review 2015” catalogues the progress of the Philippine education sector under some the following goals:
EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION CATEGORY
2013
2011
NO. OF DAYCARE CENTERS
53,463
51,797
NO. OF DAYCARE CHILDREN
1.78 M
1.70 M
*TAKEN FROM DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE & DEVELOPMENT
Through the Early Years Act of 2013, the range of zero to eight years old was recognized as a vital stage in education development. The ECCD Council was then tasked to craft early education, health and social services for children from the years zero to four, providing a balance of center-based and home based programs. DSWD supported this by creating more day care centers and child development workers. It is to be noted though that less than 25% of these day care centers and workers are quality accredited. 2
ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION CATEGORY
SY 10-11
SY 11-12
SY 12-13
NET ENROLLMENT RATE, KINDERGARTEN (%)
55
74
77
NET ENROLLMENT RATE, PRIMARY (%)
95.52
97.32
95.24
NET ENROLLMENT RATE, SECONDARY (%)
64.30
64.83
64.61
COHORT SURVIVAL RATE, PRIMARY (%)
74.2
73.8
75.38
COHORT SURVIVAL RATE, SECONDARY (%)
79.4
78.8
78.2
The Kindergarten Act, approved in the year 2012, identified Kindergarten as a vital part of the educational cycle, mandating enrolment in the area for better preparation before entering Grade 1. Later on,the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 further solidified the mandate of the administration geared towards education, stating that basic education is compulsory and free. The PPPP Program has also improved enrolment rates, due to cash transfer benefits only being given when certain conditions are met, part of which include sending the children of the beneficiary families to school. Policies like GATSPE and Brigada Eskwela were further strengthened to fund the studies of more scholars and to make more educational capital. Though enrolment has improved, progress in terms of student survival rate tend to be more erratic. This has been attributed to students being withheld from education at a young age, studying only when they are in Grade 1. Because of the lack of preparation from preschool, these children tend to become dropouts. 3
ACHIEVING QUALITY EDUCATION The Aquino Administration entered office with a backlog in various educational infrastructures. With the lion’s share of the annual budget every year, the government proceeded to remove this backlog of facilities.
RESOURCES
BACKLOGS
RESULTS
CLASSROOMS
66,800
66,813 constructed classrooms (Feb 2014)
TEACHERS
145,827
102,623 new items created and 43, 204 kinder volunteers & LGU-hired
TEXTBOOKS
61.7 M
1:1 student to textbook ratio (2012)
SEATS
2.5 M
1:1 student to seat ratio (2012)
135,847
52,590 completed 5,747 on-going construction 70,532 ongoing procurement as of Sep 2013
WATER AND SANITATION
*TAKEN FROM EDUCATION ROADMAP 2016, 2014
Initiatives were also made to improve the quality of teachers like the Teacher Education Development Program – a competency based framework, as well as set of standards named National Competency Based Teaching Standards. One of the concrete ways that quality education and learning in the country is gauged is through the scores of the National Achievement Test, administered to select levels in the Philippine Education System every year. YEAR LEVEL SCORE
SY 10-11
SY 11-12
SY 12-13
MEAN SCORE, GRADE 6 (%)
68.14
66.79
66.88
MEAN SCORE, SECONDARY (%)
47.93
48.90
51.41
The data shows that there has been a slight deterioration in the performance of students in Grade 6. What is more evident however, is the high decrease in the performance of students in the secondary level from the students in primary, despite steadily increasing performance. This establishes a discrepancy that must be fixed in the system to ensure that the learning that students receive in the primary level is sufficient for the secondary level. Overall, these indicate that much more work needs to be done in order for the country to reach its target of 75. To address this, perhaps the hallmark of the Administration’s education reforms was implemented: the K-12 system. The K-12 system is designed to make to “foster a holistically developed Filipino with 21st century skills.” By adding more years to decongest the cramped matter, K-12 hopes to produce highly educated and skilled Filipino graduates.
The policy does not come without it critics though. There are issues that the addition of two years would make the cost of education and even steeper price to pay. Some also argue that the transition to the K-12 system was rushed without proper planning and execution to accommodate integration with other countries.
03
Challenges for the education sector, aside from problems in its structure and implementation also stem from grinding poverty that dissuades children from entering school, geographical barriers that make education inaccessible especially to the indigenous, as well as war and conflict, which stirs an environment that is simply not conducive for learning. HEALTH Health deals with overall health indicators of the country alongside public expenditure on health infrastructure and healthcare policies. 2010
2011
2012
2013
HEALTH EXPENDITURE (% OF GDP)
4
4
4
4
PRIVATE HEALTH EXPENDITURE: PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE
63:37
70:30
70:30
68:32
One thing to be noted is that private health expenditure is almost the double the amount of public health expenditure. Private health expenditure refers to household out of pocket expenses, added with private insurances and direct service payments. Public expenditure covers government insurance programs and spending on public infrastructure. This means that most of the country’s health budget comes from the pockets of the people, implying a limited capability for public health to reach the marginalized who need it. The RNHeals program was launched to partially employ nurses and midwives so that they may be sent to poorer areas for more accessible education. Though there have been plans to employ these workers full time, there still has been no resolution as of current writing. The Children and Infants’ Mandatory Immunization Act was also passed. The act would give free immunization for a number of vaccine-preventable diseases to children below the age of five in all public hospitals and health centers.
In 2012, 85% of Filipinos were registered at PhilHealth, an improvement from the 62% earlier. DOH launched the No Balance Billing Policy. The No Balance Billing Policy is a PhilHealth policy that mandates that no extra fees be charged toPhilHealth members who availed of the 22 specified medical and surgical cases under the case rates package payment scheme. The Z Benefit Package was also launched to PhilHealth members that would provide free treatment for patients with dengue, pneumonia, asthma, breast/prostate cancer, and leukemia. The Responsible Parenthood Act an act, that would provide a wider range of contraceptive options to the poorest Filipinos, was also passed as law.
It was also in the Aquino administration that the Sin Tax Law was passed, which was successful in curbing out a considerable percentage of sin tax consumers because of the increase in price of the products. The policy mostly affected consumers in the lower socioeconomic classes, with the hopes that the increased price will disincentivize them to consume it further. The Law also increased gov’t revenue by 40%, which was used as expense for other health projects and policies.
All in all, the overarching theme of human development in the Philippines is steady progress marred by the challenge of social and economic inequality. Going forward, the government must pursue policy that evens out the huge gaps that Filipinos from varying social classes experience in health and education. Initiatives like the PPPP must continue to be strengthened and increased in coverage, complemented by greater public investment in accessible education and healthcare.
GOOD GOVERNANCE
The main thrust of the Aquino administration is that growth and development stems from a core of good governance and the expulsion of corruption. The administration boasts that more robust business environments, economic growth and structural reform are the results of their prevailing campaign against corruption. 2010
2011
2012
2013
VOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
46.3
47.4
46.9
47.9
POLITICAL STABILITY & ABSENCE OF VIOLENCE
5.2
9.9
14.2
16.6
GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS
55.5
57.8
57.9
56.9
REGULATORY QUALITY
45.0
44.5
51.7
51.7
RULE OF LAW
33.6
35.7
36.5
41.7
CONTROL OF CORRUPTION
22.4
26.1
33.5
43.5
*value by percentile (0 - lowest, 99 - highest)
*TAKEN FROM WORLD GOVERNANCE INDEX, WORLD BANK
It can be seen from this graph that over the years, the Philippines has improved in terms of good governance, especially in the areas of political stability and control of corruption. It cannot be denied that governing reforms enacted in the Aquino administration did leave a positive mark. The following are some of the initiatives from the President’s term: One of the focuses of the administration was is that of public accountability. Over the course of his term, the administration saw the placing of a new Ombudsman (Conchita Carpio Morales). The administration also had Chief Justice Renato Corona replaced over alleged corruption charges. Cases were also filed against some of the highest of officers of the land: one was to Pres. Arroyo for misappropriation of funds with the PCSO, the others were against Sen. Enrile, Estrada and Revilla over the PDAF-Napoles expose. One of the key legislations regarding this is the Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations, which was created in 2012, in an effort to curb excesses in the sector and to ensure that GOCCs are managed in a transparent, responsible, and accountable manner. The government has also advocated for transparency; they have done this by mobilizing the DBM to allow government agencies to release their projects online with their financial reports for public access and scrutiny. It is of note though that measures that will strengthen this, like the Freedom of Information Bill, have not yet been passed. The government also established a performance based bonus for outstanding government employees. Economically, this is a sound policy as it gives employees further incentives to produce excellent work.
The government itself though is not immune to allegations of mismanagement. Cases have been highlighted where executive departments are blasted for their inefficiencies. Prime examples of such are the Department of Transport and Communication in terms of the MRT-3 incidences and the Department of Agriculture in enacting agrarian reform and rice policies. One of the most recent issues that the government has faced in this respect is with the Disbursement Acceleration Program of DBM Secretary Butch Abad. With the purpose to allocate unprogrammed funds to other projects to further improve economic conditions as decided by the president, the mechanism was viewed as a presidential pork barrel. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Supreme Court has deemed the act unconstitutional as it caused overlapping of the executive with other branches of government. This administration disputed this, asserting the rationale and results of the DAP, souring relations between the executive and the judiciary.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure refers to all structures and facilities that are conducive for social development. CATEGORY (IN PHP MILLIONS)
2010
2011
2012
TOTAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, MRT
153.0
159.8
174.5
REVENUES, MRT
1904.2
1956.7
2136.6
TOTAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, LRT
155.9
156.9
170.7
REVENUES, LRT
2228.2
2286.6
2514.0
One of the biggest issues in the country in terms of infrastructure is public transport. There is great congestion, especially in the Metro area, partly because of the large amounts of private vehicles. Public Transport like the MRT and LRT face issues though; more and more people take these, outpacing carriage additions and modernizations, with carriages taking double its maximum capacity daily. This shortage of supply affects the quality of these systems, which has resulted to various mishaps and accidents throughout the administration’s term. Recently, one of the initiatives that the government has undertaken is the MRT/LRT fare hike. The rationale behind this is so that the government may lessen the subsidy that it gives to these lines, which is public-private partnership. This would allow the government some 20 billion pesos to spend on other endeavours. There is a difficulty in this situation since the fare hike will allow the rails to catch up with its annual deficit, but at the same time possibly make it more difficult for some commuters to take public transportation. This is a central debate of whether transportation should be a private or a public good. Accompanying this is the dispute that the procedure to get to the MRT/LRT Fare Hike was not properly conducted. In his SONA’s, Aquino promised a multitude of roads and structures to improve the transportation situation. It is to be noted that the DPWH is second biggest benefactor of the national budget:
2011
2010
INFRASTRUCTURE Proposed plan to build an expressway from Manila to the end of Cagayan Valley. The PPP project called the Central Luzon Expressway or CLEx is estimated to cost P29.14-billion. Construction of the first phase of the road begins in mid-2015 and is predicted to end by 2018. The road will also pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Nueva Vizcaya. Promised to improve the efficacy of the processes for Build-Operate-Transfer projects. Under the leadership of Sec. Domingo, PNoy envisions the process for BOT projects to take six months. Announced that 140 companies are ready to help strengthen the Philippines’ oil and gas resources.
Promised to ensure the construction of various airports. Before the end of his term, the New Bohol Airport in Panglao, New Legaspi Airport in Daraga, and Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental will have been built.
2012
Promised to upgrade various airports such as Mactan’s, Tacloban’s, and Puerto Princesa’s respective airports. Promised to remodel airports in Butuan, Cotabato, Dipolog, Pagadian, Tawi-Tawi, Southern Leyte, and San Vicente in Palawan. Promised to fix structural defects of NAIA 3. Began the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension Project. The DOTC is set to hand over the LRT-1 system to the Light Rail Manila Consortium after winning the bid. Began construction to connect the NLEX and SLEX through 2 elevated roads. Project will be completed in 2015.
2013
Began construction of a cold storage facility in Bataraza. The facility is aimed at helping farmers keep their catch fresh instead of having them dry their fish to prevent spoilage. The project will help farmers earn more for their catch since dried fish goes for much less in the market than fresh fish. Completed a multihazard mapping of vulnerable locations in the country through the Project NOAH of the DOST and Geohazard Mapping. Installed 525 automated water level monitoring stations. Installed automated rain gauges in 18 major river basins in the country. Began construction of the Blumentritt Interceptor Catchment area, which can catch massive amounts of water during heavy rains. The interceptor is aimed end by 2014. However, the project is still ongoing and is “70% complete”. Budget for infrastructure was doubled. Budget for infrastructure has doubled from P200.3 billion in 2011 to P404.3 billion in 2014.
2014
DPWH saved P28 billion due to streamlined and faster bidding processes. DPWH fixed, widened, and constructed a sum total of 12,184 km. Approved appeals to repair lines of Angat Dam and build the Kaliwa Dam Project in Quezon. Approved the Water District Development Sector Project under the Local Water Utilities administration. Near-completion of cadastral survey. After more than 100 years, the Cadastral Survey (a survey which shows legal land boundaries) will be completed in 2015.
Alongside transportation though, another key area of infrastructure is communications. This includes subscription to broadband, internet and the presence of communication lines. The following are some statistics with respect to communication: 2010
2011
2012
FIXED WIRED BROADBAND SUBSCRIBERS (PER 100 PEOPLE)
9.12 (average)
ICT GOODS IMPORTED (IN % OF IMPORTS)
31.6 (average)
ICT GOODS EXPORTED (IN % OF EXPORTS)
23.2 (average)
2013
2014
FIXED-TELEPHONE SUBSCRIPTIONS (PER 100 PEOPLE)
3.09
3.20
3.61
3.74
3.57
MOBILE CELLULAR TELEPHONE SUBSCRIPTIONS PER 100 PEOPLE)
88.98
99.09
105.45
104.5
--
Aside from the country’s mobile cellular phone use, indicators in the communications area are not positive. Fixed-telephone subscriptions are small, and aside from having one of the slowest internet, the country also has low subscriptions in broadband in a global frame that continues to be more and more digitally connected.
SUSTAINABILITY
The following are some of the environmental issues that the Philippines is facing as presented by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF): Overfishing and destructive fishing
Coastal Infrastructure Dev’t
Deforestation
Pollution
In response to this, the Aquino Administration has launched the following initiatives as reported in his previous SONA’s:
2011
Endorsed the National Greening Program, a program that would provide cacao seeds to communities for planting. The program was created to grow more trees to prevent flooding and to provide a means of income for communities. DOST and UP teamed up to create a prototype monorail system, a more “earth friendly” means of transportation.
2012
Government rehabilitated 212,000 hectares of land that resulted in a 15.6% increase in rice production. Expressed wish to have Congress pass a law to ensure that the environment is cared for and that both the public and private sectors benefit from mining. Implementation of the National Greening Program. Under the National Greening Program, the DSWD will coordinate with communities so that in exchange for caring for trees and nurturing the seeds, communities will receive cash.
In conjunction the following statistics are taken from the Department of Energy, featuring the energy sources of the Philippines: 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
OIL BASED
7101
3398
4254
4491
5708
HYDRO
7803
9698
10252
10019
9137
GEOTHERMAL
9929
9942
10250
9605
10308
COAL
23301
25342
28265
32081
33054
OTHER RENEWABLE SOURCES
90
205
259
279
364
NATURAL GAS
19518
20591
19642
18791
18690
It can be seen that though renewable energy is increasing, it still takes a backseat to reliance on nvironmentally harmful resources like Coal. Moving forward, there should be greater focus on finding viable and cost efficient sources of sustainable energy and a reduction of dependence on nonrenewable materials.
SOCIETY, JUSTICE, AND PEACE
The following is taken from the Global Peace Index - an index that comprises internal and external factors of peace and categorizes them under three encompassing themes. The GPI is used to measure peace in relation to different countries around the world. CATEGORY
2015
OVERALL RANKING (OUT OF 162)
141
COSTS OF VIOLENCE CONTAINMENT (% OF GDP)
4
ONGOING DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT DOMAIN (1.00- MOST PEACEFUL; 3.38- LEAST PEACEFUL)
2.5
SOCIETAL SAFETY AND SECURITY (1.20- MOST PEACEFUL; 4.40 - LEAST PEACEFUL)
3.02
MILITARISATION (1.00- MOST PEACEFUL; 3.38- LEAST PEACEFUL)
3.29
*TAKEN FROM THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND PEACE
It is of note that this is a decrease in ranking from the 2014 ranking of the Philippines in GPI, which was 132. Evidently, one of the factors that are involved in this decrease is the prevalence of crime in the country. 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
TOTAL REPORTED CASES
324083
241998
217812
1.03M
1.16M
SOLVED CASE EFFICIENCY (%)
18.64
28.87
36.67
28.56
-
CRIME RATE (PER 100,000 POPULATION)
350
251
256
1053
1004
POLICEMAN TO POPULATION RATIO
1:659
1:658
1:651
-
-
JAIL POPULATION
35937
36295
37251
-
-
INCIDENCE OF ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
725
516
1341
-
-
REPORTED CASES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
15789
13974
17526
25430
-
REPORTED CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
13313
14221
15028
21361
-
*TAKEN FROM PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY
A disclaimer must be given between the years 2012-2013. Crime did not actually rise by almost 500% in between this year. Rather, this was an effect of the PNP showing the actual statistics of crime in the Philippines. This was not done in the past years, where some authorities withhold actual figures to keep the faรงade of a low crime rate. This being said though, it still causes alarm that the efficiency rate of solved crimes in the country is roughly below 30%; this alone is an indicator enough that justice is not served in the country, not taking into account the bureaucracy of the judiciary procedure. Alarming as well is the high cop to people ratio of 1 to roughly 650 people, especially taking into account the lack of modernization in the police force.
MILITARY EXPENDITURE (% OF GDP)
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.1
The following are some of the initiatives of the government with regards to crime as stated in his SONA’s: The government has spent 28 billion pesos in 2012 for the Revised AFP Modernization Program. From that year on, the Philippines has slowly been expanding its inventory, adding more modern (yet relatively outdated) guns, ships, helicopters and other military infrastructure. Oplan Katok was a campaign launched to intercept loose firearms in the country. Operation Lambat, which led to the confiscation of vehicles and firearms. Homiceds per week reduced from 33 to 22, a 29% drop. AFP/PNP housing projects and livelihood programs were also implemented.
The modernization of the military is indeed a much needed reform so that the country may be able to pose a bigger deterrent for malicious forces. More investigation must be looked into though in terms of military management and corruption practices. Incentives must be established to attract more people to the military/police force and crime solving efficiency rate must be improved to provide greater disincentive for the criminals. Aside from crime though, other huge factors that have weakened security and peace. One of the causes is a government that still has a lot of corruption in its midst, albeit reduced. Human rights violations continue to occur in all parts of the country. Worsening this is the prevalence of threats both inside the country, in the form of militant groups and terrorists as well as issues of sovereignty and land with China externally. To counter this, the government has undertaken the following endeavours: Aquino made the Truth Commission, to be headed by Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide to investigate large scale corruption in the Arroyo administration. This was deemed unconstitutional by then Chief Justice Corona. The administration enacted the Whistleblower’s Bill, a law that grants greater protection to whistleblowers so as to entice more to come to the fray. “The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act was signed into law in December 2012. The first of its kind in Asia, the law criminalizes enforced disappearances, institutes preventive measures, and provides a mechanism for reparation and redress. Complementary to this, the President issued Administrative Order No. 35, which creates a high-level Inter-Agency Committee to monitor, investigate and prosecute cases of extra-legal killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other grave violations of human rights.” (Gazette, 2014) “On February 25, 2013, the President signed the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 (RA 10368), recognizing the sacrifices of victims of human
rights violations committed during the Marcos regime and acknowledging the State’s obligation to provide reparation to them and/or their families.” – (Gazette 2014) It is in Aquino’s administration where the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed. This would establish an autonomous Bangsamoro region that is still under the Philippine government, in exchange for the decommissioning of firearms and peace in the region. On one end, government problems include the opt in clause Bangsamoro has on nearby regions and the declaration of some that BBL is unconstitutional. On the side of the MILF, they fear that in the Congress proper, BBL would become watered down and not serve the purpose why it was written in the first place. With the incident involving SAF 44 not too long ago, tensions have once again risen and the idea that Bangsamoro will finally bring peace is called into question. The matter is currently in Congress reading stages. With regards to Chinese occupation of disputed areas in Spratly Islands, the Philippines remains firm in its stand that the land is the country’s, despite continuous land recovery and militarization projects of China on said land.
FINAL WORDS As seen in the report above, the Philippines is a country of duality, marked by growth in the midst of inequality. Past SONA’s have shown the positive benchmarks of the state, but has not done justice to the challenges that still must be overcome. If one thing rings true from the SONAs though, it is that, indeed there is an undeniable connection in all of obstacles that must be hurdled in the different sectors pertaining to the country’s development; such obstacles can only be achieved with the foundation of a clean, fair, efficient and wellmanaged government. As we enter the final SONA of the Aquino administration, let us work collectively to ensure that the government is committed and accountable to the vision that it has promised.