Experts see the Philippines joining ‘tiger
economies’ under Aquino leadership
A new book, tracking the progress of developing
countries, sees the Philippines joining an elite group of “tiger economies” in
the world as a result of reforms and strong leadership of President S. Benigno
Aquino III.
The book “Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the
Next Economic Miracles” written by Ruchir Sharma, assessed the Philippines as
one of the strongest emerging economies in the future where enhanced economic
activities are to take place.
"Now at long last, the Philippines looks
poised to resume a period of strong growth. The new president, Benigno ‘Noynoy’
Aquino III, probably has enough support, and looks likely to generate just
enough reform momentum, to get the job done. The Aquino name is still virtually
synonymous with the promise of change," Sharma wrote.
Sharma, one of the world's largest investors in
emerging markets for Morgan Stanley, said Filipinos saw President Aquino as an
honest figure who could deliver on the Aquino mandate for change and that the
public was desperate after nine years of drift and decay under former president
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Aquino won the presidency at a time when it
seemed that the whole country was in disrepair, he said. The President is
delegating power to competent technocrats and seems to understand what needs to
be done to get the country move forward, he said.
In a recent Wall Street Journal report, the
publication sees the Philippines having clear signs of being seen as one of the
most resilient economies in a troubled global economy particularly as a result
of the European crisis.
In a supplement entitled "Asia’s Euro Risk:
How Asia Will Fare if Europe Cracks?" the Wall Street Journal said only
four economies were projected to have the strength to weather a European
economic and financial crisis, namely Australia, China, Indonesia and the
Philippines.
While other countries bear the brunt of the
European fall out, these countries have deep government pockets that provide a
buffer to economic shocks, the publication said.
"The Philippines is better prepared than in
the past to withstand a downturn with a stronger government balance sheet and a
robust domestic economy. Foreign reserves are high enough to fight capital
flight,” according to WSJ’s brief assessment of the Philippines.
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are
among the Southeast Asian countries affected by a euro meltdown because of
their high dependencies on European trade and greater exposure to European
banks, WSJ said.
The Philippines had the second highest per
capita income in Asia during the 1960s, next only to Japan. In the 1970s, South
Korea and Taiwan overtook the Philippines in terms of per capita income. Other
Asian neighbors like Malaysia, Thailand, China and Indonesia followed during
the succeeding decades. (as/6:24pm)
Aquino declares July 23 a special non-working
day in the City of Gingoog, Misamis Oriental province
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared
July 23, which falls on a Monday, as a special (non-working) day in Gingoog City
in the province of Misamis Oriental in celebration of its 52nd Charter Day.
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 398 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on June 6 to give the people of Gingoog City the full opportunity to celebrate
and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
In June 1960, Gingoog became a chartered city by
virtue of Republic Act No. 2668. (js)
President Aquino marks second year continuing
work on bringing meaningful change to the country
As he marks his second year in office today,
President Benigno S. Aquino III has succeeded in creating a genuine and
meaningful change to chart the country to a higher economic growth trajectory.
"These two years have been marked by genuine,
meaningful change in the way government is run, in the way our country is
viewed by the international community, and in the way we aspire and view our
own futures," Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a
statement during an interview aired over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on
Saturday.
"No longer is the Filipino mired in
paralysis and despair; he has seen the seemingly difficult tasks achieved, and
is one with the government in creating a society that is truly just, prosperous,
and equitably progressive," Valte said.
Valte said the President remains grateful to the
Filipinos who have given him the confidence to implement reforms.
The Filipino people remains the President's
fount of strength, and the focus of each program and policy advanced by his
administration, according to Valte.
The Chief Executive, who intends to sustain a
clean and transparent bureaucracy, was able to build on the gains of the
anti-corruption campaign, and reduce poverty in 2012.
He also made good progress in practical fiscal
management, job creation, and higher rice production, among others. His
government’s initiative to achieve national transformation succeeded in
bringing reforms needed to revitalize the country.
"While much has been achieved, much remains
to be done. The Aquino administration continues to build on the momentum we
have already gained," she said.
"With everyone’s commitment, we are sure to
lengthen our strides along the straight and righteous path. The message remains
the same --- honest and accountable governance is the anvil upon which our
people can forge better futures for themselves," Valte stressed. (js)
Palace expects more effective anti-poverty fight
as it widens coverage of conditional cash transfer
The Aquino administration is planning to widen
the coverage of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to assist the poor
and achieved a long-term impact on the government’s fight against poverty, a
Palace official said on Saturday.
In a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan,
Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte asked the public to give the CCT
program a little more time for it to take effect.
The government is being criticized for not
effectively addressing poverty despite the aggressive implementation of the CCT
program.
“Give it a little more time. And also if you
really want to look at the success of the CCT program, ‘yung mga beneficiaries
ang tanungin kung papaano nakakatulong sa kanilang buhay ang pagiging parte ng
4Ps program,” Valte said referring to the CCT and recent surveys about
self-rated poverty.
“Kaya nga this year, we are looking to cover
more in the CCT program, from 3.1 million families, we’re looking to cover 3.8
million for the following year,” Valte added.
Recent survey figures are very volatile in the
short term, according to Valte and the two years of the Aquino administration
being in power is not something to be equated overnight in terms of fighting
poverty.
Two years isn’t "long term," Valte
said, noting that the administration may do some adjustment in carrying the
anti-poverty initiative.
Surveys are randomly sampled and do not cover
CCT beneficiaries, Valte said. The Palace spokesperson also suggested that if
the survey firms really want to measure the impact of the CCT on fighting
poverty they should conduct abd survey on CCT beneficiaries.
“Kung gusto nating tingnan ‘yung nagiging epekto
nung CCT, ‘yung mga beneficiaries ang tingnan natin and not just based on
surveys with sample sizes of 1,200. Recently, we were asked for reaction dahil
naglabas din ng most recent self-rated poverty survey ang SWS and contrary to
the last, bumaba naman ‘yung self-rated poverty figures,” she said.
The Palace official also said that the campaign
against poverty isn’t just about the CCT program adding that the initiative has
additional support programs such as livelihood training, cash-for-work program
and housing for the poor. (as/1:51pm)
Aquino government considers changing mindset of
people as greatest achievement in two years
The Aquino government considers effectively
changing the people’s mindset and attitude in the past two years as its biggest
achievement so far, a Palace official said on Saturday.
“What is the biggest achievement so far? It’s
the change in the mindset of the people, of our people,” Deputy Presidential
spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan
on Saturday.
“Mas open na doon sa mga isinusulong na reporma
ng pamahalaan; mas engaged po ang ating mga kababayan, not just online but
nakikita natin ’yung several levels of engagement which shows that there is a
renewed… there is now a shift in attitude towards government as a partner and
not as an oppressor,” she added.
The Palace official was asked by reporters what
the Aquino administration considers as its major accomplishment as it marks its
second year in power.
With regards to fighting corruption in
government, Valte said there are a lot of things that needs to be done. The
Aquino administration’s goal is not just to lessen corruption or to take it out
completely but to make reforms systemic, she said.
“We want to make it to be a systemic change...
Now, nakikita natin that we are part of the open governance project, ang budget
natin ay very transparent,” Valte said adding that the fight against corruption
will be beyond the President’s term in office.
The public has greater trust and confidence on
the government especially on how government money is allocated and spent, she
said.
Asked by reporters if the President is satisfied
by the present anti-corruption campaign, Valte said that while the administration
was able to achieve a lot of accomplishments there are so many things that has
yet to be done. (as/2:16pm)
Palace says National Grid Corporation has
sufficient power supply to sustain needs of consumers
The Aquino administration allayed fears of
possible brownouts in Luzon this July saying that the private power grid
operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has sufficient
power supply to sustain the needs of electricity consumers.
In an interview aired over government-run dzRB
Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said
the government, through the Department of Energy (DOE), has started
implementing measures to cushion the possible power shortage.
"We don’t agree na may nakaambang power
outages. In fact, nagsabi na po ang NGCP na they successfully hurdled the
yellow alert," Valte said.
Last June 21, the NGCP went on yellow alert as
the power reserves of Luzon fell below 647 megawatts (MW). The NGCP defines a
“yellow alert” as a system condition where the total of all reserves is less
than the capacity of the largest plant online, which for the Luzon grid, was
647 MW.
Upon the instruction of President Benigno S.
Aquino III, the DOE has been in constant communication with several
power-generating companies to ensure a sufficient supply of power.
The Chief Executive earlier instructed the DOE
to coordinate with the NGCP and dominant electricity distributor, Manila
Electric Co. (Meralco), to thresh out contingency measures aimed at preventing
brownouts, according to Valte.
"And because of the tight monitoring and
coordination, hindi nagkaroon ng mga blackout as feared by some," Valte
said.
Reports said the ERC has approved Meralco's
petition for a maximum average price (MAP) of P1.6303 per kilowatt-hour (kwh)
for distribution, supply and metering charges to different customer classes.
"We will leave it up to the ERC to answer
kung ano po ‘yung basis nila for saying that there should be a hike for the
customers, for the clients of this particular distributor," she said. (js)
