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Sunday, February 19, 2012

A reminder for wayward lawyers

EVERYMAN
A reminder for wayward lawyers
By Cecilio T. Arillo

“While we support the ‘Daang Matuwid’ (straight path) policy, there has been some paralysis and it is time the government should get more things done,” President Eduardo V. Francisco said during the induction of the Management Association of the Phiippines’ new set of officers.

He unveiled the MAP’s battle cry for the year, “Execution with Integrity for Progress,” and urged the government to “do what is right and important in moving our country forward/”

Public spending, especially in infrastructure, plummeted last year because of delays in project implementation. Officials said this resulted from the government’s cost reduction and anti-graft reforms.

Public underspending

As of November last year, the government spent only P1.346 trillion, well below the P1.711 trillion allocated for 2011. Infrastructure spending amounted to only P118.2 billion, less than half of the full-year target.

This underspending, along with a dip in exports, has been blamed for last year’s dismal economic performance. Gross domestic product grew 3.7% in 2011, the government reported, missing the 5-6% target and 4.5-5.5% forecast. It was also significantly lower than the 7.6% growth of 2010.

“Things could be better. The growth momentum is slow. The government has had a year to fix their strategy. They should now be ready to move,” Mr. Francisco said at the MAP meeting.

Critics slammed

But Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, who gave the keynote speech at the event, warned that the country would be “cheating itself” if it passed up the “unique opportunity” to control corruption.

“So what if we have one or two good years of growth, but if in the process we sacrifice the chance to transform government, transform how we think, transform how we do business?” he asked.

Mr. Purisima assailed critics of the administration’s showcase public-private partnership (PPP) programs —still to go on stream more than 18 months after launch. Saying critics should look at the “facts,” he cited concrete examples.

‘Know better than that’

“We cannot create a vibrant economy without you putting in your money,” he said. “In the central bank, there’s close to P2 trillion sitting there [in special deposit accounts] not doing the country any good. It’s time that you put your money where your mouth is and vote with confidence by investing and putting your money to more productive use.”

Mr. Purisima also challenged businessmen to support the fight for good governance by paying the right taxes, stopping smuggling and shunning bribery.

“You should know better than that because you run organizations. You should know better than that because you know how hard it is to transform a company, let alone a government,” he lectured.

Hunger grows

Meanwhile, the poor may have become fewer but more of them went hungry, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported in a new survey.

After recently reporting that self-rated poverty had plunged to 45 percent from 52percent in a Dec. 3-7 nationwide poll, the SWS said the same survey found 22.5 percent of the respondents claiming to have experienced having nothing to eat, up slightly from September’s 21.5 percent.

The one-point gain, it said, raised the number of families that experienced involuntary hunger to an estimated 4.5 million, from 4.1 million three months earlier.

Severe hunger

Hunger among self-rated poor families, the SWS said, increased to 33.6 percent from 27.9 percent. Among households rating themselves as food-poor (down to 36 percent from 41 percent), hunger also rose to 38.1 percent from 31.1 percent.

Severe hunger among poor families was higher at 8 percent from 5.5 percent in September, and rose to 9.1 percent from 6.9 percent among the food-poor. Moderate hunger increased to 25.6 percent from 22.4 percent among the poor, and rose to 29 percent from 24.2 percent among the food-poor.

The new moderate hunger rates are higher than their 13-year averages for all areas, the SWS said.

Severe hunger rose in all areas except in Metro Manila, where it fell by 1.3 points to 5 percent.

The latest severe hunger rates were again higher than their 13-year averages in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, but were lower in the Visayas and Mindanao, the SWS said.

It’s jobs, simply

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. said President Aquino had instructed the human development and poverty reduction Cabinet cluster to see what can be done.

“We are checking what policies can be done to address the hunger issue. In our initial findings, we found that if you improve employment generation then you can effectively address hunger— so we are actively promoting tourism and agro-industrial processing, and we are looking for more industries for high labor content,” he said.

Show Mr. Purisima

Mr. Paderanga should explain to Mr. Purisima that delaying the spending of appropriated funds stalled the creation of jobs, which reduced more food on the tables of the hungry poor.

The World Health Organization says some 3.41 million children suffer permanent brain damage yearly, which hampers their capacity to get jobs, which worsens poverty, which reduces food on the table, which worsens hunger, which hampers their capacity to get jobs, which Mr. Purisima can connect the dots of the vicious cycle and draw his own conclusions. Paralysis kills. Poverty kills. Hunger kills.

The author is chief executive of a management consultancy think tank.

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