Aquino Scores High

MANILA, Philippines — Despite what some consider as “missteps” in the early days of the present administration, President Benigno S. Aquino III continues to enjoy support, particularly among many Filipinos abroad who expressed hope he will take advantage of enormous international goodwill to advance his agenda.

Saying he has so far scored “a good performance”, Filipinos in the United States gave the President a generous rating of between 7 and 8 for his first 100 days in office but said “only time will tell if his administration will be a success or failure.”

Notable achievements
According to Filipinos in the US, among the notable achievements of President Aquino in “such a short period of time” has been in changing the

“tone” of politics as usual. They cited for example his “wang wang” prohibition and the modest and frugal approach to foreign travel, compared to his predecessor.

James Triguero of the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC) said, “Most people feel he is very sincere when it comes to fighting corruption, but he will have to demonstrate a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy with his inner circle in regards to corruption, or he will invite cynicism and he will be diminished in the eyes of the public.”

Ronald Labaguis, who works at the Hotel Sofitel where the President stayed in New York during his first official visit to the United States, on the other hand, said the President’s simplicity has earned him the admiration of many.

However, he added President Aquino must set a concrete example, especially in weeding out corruption in government.

Low point
To many Filipinos in the US, the August 23 Manila hostage crisis that resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong nationals and the hostage-taker

was a low point in President Aquino’s first 100 days that people will be watching if he takes the advice of the IIRC regarding incident.

“This was a low point in his first 100 days and it's important that he shows people will be held accountable for bad decisions that cost the lives of the hostages,” said Triguero.

“Mary Ann,” who has been away from the country for almost 10 years, said it is not the hostage-taking incident that should be looked into, but also the grievances of the hostage-taker and the circumstances that prompted a former police officer to resort to such act.

“I know many in the Philippines are disappointed so far with his performance so far but I don't think 100 days is long enough a period to judge a presidency.

The other members of the FACC Board are very supportive of President

Aquino and optimistic about the reforms he will implement,” said Triguero, adding that the President’s “principled stand” in opposition to the CBCP regarding family planning with the poor is also supported by Filipino-Americans.

“Here in the US, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, though Catholic, is an outspoken advocate for the barbaric practice of “partial-birth” abortion, yet she is not even denied communion by her Archdiocese. Many here found it stunning that a bishop would hint that President Aquino should be excommunicated if he is supportive of birth control and family planning for the urban and rural poor who can barely even care for themselves, yet they keep having more children,” Triguero further said.

Way ahead
To most of those interviewed by the Manila Bulletin, President Aquino, in order to have a successful presidency, will need to make a significant dent in corruption, reduce the poverty rate, encourage and increase direct foreign investments from abroad, increase the GDP growth rate of the Philippines, reduce the reliance of the government on OFW remittances and the need to export workers to some of the most inhospitable places around the world, and stamp out human rights abuses by the police and the military.

They said fortunately, if he is successful in his quest for good governance, the Philippines will hit the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and qualify for the grants. If he can really reduce corruption and encourage investment, more factories and call centers can be built creating more jobs and decreasing the need to send OFWs abroad.

According to some “kababayans” in the US, it is their wish to see the country become progressive so Filipinos do not have go abroad to work in order to give their families a better life. They also expressed hope that a better system for absentee voting will be set up to allow most of them to participate in the electoral process in the Philippines, saying they also want their voice to be heard.

For Triguero, the Philippines also has a huge opportunity to grow in the areas of medical tourism and increase the amounts of tourists from abroad. He said the beaches on Panglao Island, Bohol, are nicer than the beaches in Phuket Thailand, yet Thailand receives many more times the visitors than the Philippines receives.

Tourist infrastructure should be built up and there has to be a concerted effort to make sure foreign tourists and “balikbayans” feel safe when they are visiting.

“The Manila hostage crisis may result in billions of pesos in lost revenue because of the bad publicity. He should make significant changes to the pork barrel system in Congress that is a significant contributor to the corruption problem,” was another remark.

Aquino as AFP commander-in-chief
In regards to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), many Filipinos in the US have expressed hope President Aquino, being the commander-in-chief, will be able to implement significant reforms and modernize our ill-equipped military.

“Hopefully, the AFP will no longer be politicized and the “revolving-door” policy of rewarding AFP generals with Chief of Staff position for just months at time, with no real continuity.”

Triguero, who is with the US Air Force Comptroller Division, said significant changes need to be made in the comptroller system and the procurement of equipment. “I was shocked when I read about the scandal of Gen. Carlos Garcia and how he accumulated millions of US dollars. I have seen people go to jail in the US armed forces for misappropriating only hundreds of dollars and there are numerous controls in place to monitor suspicious financial activity.”

“This is an area where significant reform is needed, especially if it is true that some officers are selling weapons and ammunition to rebels that use them to kill ordinary AFP soldiers, which is disastrous for morale in the field,” he added.

At the same time, kababayans abroad who have been closely monitoring developments in the country said they are hoping the 2009 Maguindanao massacre investigation will yield results in explaining how the Ampatuan political clan acquired such a massive military arsenal, while AFP troops and members of PNP do not even have adequate ammunition to keep up their marksmanship practice.

Elena Aben, Manila Bulletin