The cost of incompetence

INCOMPETENCE, like corruption, bears a cost, and in the end it is we the people who must shoulder that expense.

As the Aquino administration enters its 17th month in power, it does so with very little to show by way of solid economic achievements. And now, almost two years into his administration, Mr. Aquino can no longer conveniently blame our difficulties on his predecessor. Any shortcomings and failures are of his own doing.

Away from the noise and rhetoric of Mr. Aquino’s diatribes against the previous administration and the Supreme Court, let’s examine his record to date. Unlike Mr. Aquino’s emotional appeals to the mob, these are hard facts, verifiable to all who would open their eyes to see.

Instead of creating employment as the President promised, this administration has squandered P23 billion on a handout that pays only poor families that do NOT work. Next year, it proposes to squander P39 billion more on the same, unproven program. A subservient Congress has been only too happy to comply.

Instead of creating an environment that is conducive to new investments, this President has fueled uncertainty by canceling government projects that were already covered by legitimate contracts with foreign investors. Instead of fostering confidence in the country’s legal system, this President has undermined it at every opportunity, and even ordered his Justice secretary to defy a direct order from the Supreme Court. And now, he has ordered the hatchet men in his Liberal Party to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona, in a clear warning to all judges that those who would rule against the administration, right or wrong, will suffer the consequences.

Is it any wonder that under Mr. Aquino’s watch, the only remaining European airline to still fly from the continent to Manila has decided it will stop doing so? Also under his watch, the country’s premier airport named after his father was deemed the world’s worst—and fifth most hated. This, too, is a cost of incompetence.

Instead of making citizens and visitors alike feel safe, this administration has allowed criminals to run free, wreaking havoc in broad daylight. Teenage gangs break the law with impunity while carjackers terrorize law-abiding motorists.

Last year, this failure to enforce the law created an international incident with China, arguably the country’s most important neighbor. In the aftermath of the Luneta hostage crisis in which eight Chinese tourists were killed in a botched police rescue, this administration failed to dispense justice and instead shielded those responsible for the fiasco, simply because they were colleagues and associates of the President.

Instead of pursuing infrastructure projects under its vaunted Public Private Partnership program, this administration has nothing to show after 17 months—not a single new project has begun in earnest. This failure to spend public money on programs that can spark economic activity and generate employment has cost the country dearly, resulting in three consecutive quarters or nine months of economic decline. By contrast, our neighbors Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and even Indonesia have done better, under the same difficult global economic conditions that the administration blames for our poor performance. Again, this is not rhetoric. This is fact. The data are readily available from the National Statistical Coordination Board.

Among the many charges this President has raised against the Chief Justice, the one that sticks out is his alleged poor track record. By this token and through his own gross incompetence, the President has certainly proved to be an excellent candidate for impeachment himself.