A Critique on the last Sona

Cebu Daily News
Fernando Fajardo

One of my students in an economics class at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Kay Beverly Go, wrote the following when I ask them to put down their thoughts about PGMA’s last Sona.

From a supporter’s point of view, the President has acted bravely these past eight years. She had the courage to confront her critics, and the determination to hold on to her position and to push through with her envisioned programs despite insistence from the opposition that it was all a means to achieve her own ends. However, through the eyes of a citizen, the President has not been very discreet in her workings, with all the scandals that riddled her administration. Because of these, the Filipino people have waned in their trust of the government.

A major issue tackled in the Sona is the global economic recession. Arroyo insists that the Philippines remains unfazed by the recession. But the truth is, statistical data on unemployment and GDP growth prove close to nothing. If the President focused on the real state of things instead of only graphs and numbers, she would see that a majority of the Filipinos claim to be indifferent to the effects of recession because they already live in standards that mirror the effects of recession, and have simply gotten used to scraping just enough to live by. This majority comprises of uneducated, unskilled, unemployed citizens who live below the poverty line. They do not contribute to internal production, and only consume, feeding themselves and their families, but bringing in zero income.

The program Pantawid Pamilya, which gives cash handouts to the poorest of the poor, is not in keeping with the President’s aim of finding a long-term solution to the aversion of the effects of the crisis on the Philippines. In giving out money just like that, the government is more or less saying that it is all right to be unemployed, as long as one has proof of living far below the poverty line, in which case, one is sure to receive instant money. Instead, more support should be given to the policy of freeing the economy. It would then become easier for budding entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses, decreasing unemployment rate, while also creating more job opportunities. And because entrepreneurs are believed to push the economy along, the Philippine economy will surely be spurred by increased internal investment.

Two other points in the Sona are the CARP and the global environmental problem. Because of the CARP, farmers now own the land they till. Government programs are also geared towards providing the agricultural and aquaculture sectors with modern equipment, with the aim of increasing productivity; but with these modern machineries, the problem now turns to the use of more power, specifically, electricity. Although local resources are now tapped, these are not all encompassing. Some farming villages still rely on the more traditional method of providing electricity through fossil fuels. Not only is this unstable, as the international market of fossil fuels is ever fluctuating, but also environmentally harmful.

Education has been repeatedly endorsed as a panacea to the national economic epidemic, yet many school age children still remain out of school, public school curriculums are still substandard, and the relatively high literacy rate still does nothing for the economic problems. The President’s plan to make mandatory for all school-age children to be in grade school is no doubt the first step toward properly educating the Filipino youth. But just going to school is not enough. What with the low standards of living, even young children are urged by their parents to make money rather than stay in school and spend precious money-making hours studying. The government should first be geared toward encouraging parents and children alike to be on the side of education. As for extending the number of years for university programs that aim for international recognition, it is not so much the time spent in school that is important, but the students’ receiving the same foundation, training, and instruction that professionals from other countries are afforded.

Finally, one forgotten issue in the Sona is the controversial population control. As President, Arroyo should have asserted the massive implementation of family planning and contraceptive policies. She is responsible for doing what is best for the nation, and as a representative of the government, which focuses on the well-being of the state, she should have led discussions and compromised with the Roman Catholic Church, instead of avoiding the issue altogether. If this was done, the people could have been made more aware of the importance of family planning, and could have been presented with the choice of whether or not to use birth control. From an economic perspective, a controlled population is infinitely more beneficial than one that is continuously growing all out of proportion. In a nation with a controlled population, resources are allocated more evenly among the people. Prices for common goods will more or less stabilize because demand remains constant. Citizens are more productive because their needs are adequately satisfied, and services like education and healthcare are available to all. When citizens are productive, the workforce is productive. When the workforce is productive, business establishments are productive. And since a growth in production is an indicator of economic growth, commercial growth generally equates to economic growth.

The President, in her SONA, obviously recognizes the link between all internal and external activities that affect the economic state of a nation. She does well by trying to improve a little bit in all sectors, but has yet to regain the Filipino people’s trust, which can be done by showing her sincerity to serve the nation and the people, and by presenting material proofs of her administration’s achievements.

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