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The Third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the

Phillippines and Its Implications on Philippine Public Policy

By: Jed Dares P. Tonogan

Last July 27, 2012, His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Philippines delivered his

third State of the Nation Address (SONA) in a joint session of Congress (the House of Representatives

and the Senate) as required by the Constitution. His SONA is a bit lengthy and overwhelming. It provided

a picture of how we are before his administration, the current status on the major priorities of the

government, as well as his vision and promises for the Filipino People. Of course, it is inevitable that

critics will question the truthfulness of the numbers and statistics presented during the SONA. In this

discussion, we assume that data presented is correct so that we can directly proceed to identify its

impact with public policies.

Let us take a look at the major highlights of his third SONA and identify and discuss its impact onpolicies of the government.

The third SONA is still anchored on a Good Governance model. Well, this is a good thing to start

with. The Aquino administration has been focusing on a Matuwid na Daan model in administering the

government. He boasts of improving a culture of accountable, transparent, and participatory

governance.

On institutionalized accountability, he speaks of cases filed against top officials before his

administration, focusing on rehabilitating the ARMM from its rotten system, abuses, excesses and

irregularities of some GOCCs like the MWSS and the PAGCOR, anti-corruption campaigns such as

running against tax evaders and smugglers, reforms in the budget process to avoid wastage and channel

funds to priorities, streamlining government functions such as increased adherence to the Anti-Red Tape

Act, computerization in government, a results-based performance bonus and drive towards

performance accountability in LGUs.

What are its implications? It is good that governance is geared towards accountability.

Government officials and employees will have a clearer role as public servants. Public managers might

be beginning to be more responsible already. Transactions with the government will be easier if

accountability measures will be adopted. Corruption will be limited. With this view, policies will be

anchored on institutionalized accountability. For example, when committees or bureaus are created,

oversight bodies are also created. Managers roles and responsibilities are also carefully spelled out.

On transparency, Aquino has also boasted on mandatory budget disclosures of agencies thrubulletin boards and websites, an online portal of the Peoples Budget as well as on the release of funds,

and the PhilGEPS in procurement. However, Aquino failed to mention his stance on the Freedom of

Information (FOI) Bill which is still pending in Congress.

Transparency in government is also one of the characteristics of good governance. Policies

towards transparency are seen as beneficial. Hoping that with the passage of the FOI Act, government

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can be more transparent in its transactions, and people will be more informed of the status of

government.

Another area of governance is enhanced citizen participation. Consultative budget preparation

process with civil society organizations (CSOs) was piloted in 2011 to craft the 2012 Budget, and

subsequently, the 2013 Budget. P250-million Empowerment Fund has been established to assist 609

poor municipalities and cities in undertaking bottom-up budgeting and planning. Monitoring of some

public works projects and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is being done in partnership with a

broad coalition of stakeholders.

This is a good start for citizen participation in government. We will be expecting that future

policies will always provide provisions for civil society participation in governments decision-making,

implementation and monitoring.

Aquino believes that good governance translates to good economics. Thats why he also

bragged about the growing economy of the Philippines.

He cited growth of the GDP, decrease in unemployment, low and stable inflation, and upgradedcredit ratings by the worlds major credit rating agencies. There is also a Positive Investment and

Business Climate as evidenced by increasing foreign investments. Forty-four (44) record highs in the

Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) since June 30, 2010 were also recorded, and the Philippines is one

of the top performing indices in Asia and in the world in 2011. To improve more, he plans to focus more

on agriculture, tourism and infrastructure, building roads and airports. Providing electricity to far-flung

areas and pursuing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are also priorities.

Though many have clamoured that the supposed economic growth is not sustainable, and

cannot be felt by the masses, Aquino has been proud about it. Indeed, governments policies must not

focus only on transparency and accountability in government, but equally, must focus also to economic

policies that will ease the ultimate problem of our country: poverty. Despite the numbers and statistics,why is it that many Filipinos felt the other way around? Why does positive economic growth translate to

higher prices in basic commodities? Why is it that growth has not felt by the masses? The government

must look into that.

He also mentioned on human development and poverty reduction. He talked about the

increasing budget in social services particularly on the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). The

government also has a Student Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation, RA 9994, or the

Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP), and the National

Convergence Initiative (NCI) for Sustainable Rural Development among others. On health, he cited

increased PhilHealth enrolment to improve access to governments health services, Deployed nurses

under the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RNHeals) Program to poor,

remote, unserved and underserved areas, and active combat of Dengue (though DOH data shows

otherwise). On Education, there is sustained budget increase for primary and tertiary education from SY

2010 to 2012, implementation of the K to 12 Program in basic education, reduced backlogs in

classrooms, seats and textbooks, and increased funding for the Government Assistance to Student and

Teachers in Private Education. Aquino also boasted on the creation of Jobs and Improvement of

workers skills through stricter implementation of labor laws, jobs-generating efforts, and increased

assistance to TESDA. He also committed to complete the distribution of arable lands under the CARP. Of

course, he also pushed for responsible parenthood.

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It is very good to see that the government is also focusing on the delivery of social services to

the masses. Such policies are also welcomed for it has direct effects on poverty reduction and

alleviation. Of course, these policies should be long-term and sustainable for combat of poverty is not an

overnight issue. Some of these policies are on their experimental stages, so we must be vigilant in our

observations if such policies will really be effective in the future. We must also be vigilant for these

policies on social services are prone to corruption.

On other issues, he reported that there is an ongoing Upgrading Capabilities to Defend National

Interests such as modernization of the AFP. There are also Pursued counter-insurgency efforts and

continuing Peace Negotiations. For peace and order in the community, Closing the Pistol-to-Police Ratio

Gap and increased police personnel is his solution. He happily reported that crime rates went down

during his administration, which others believe unbelievable. He is also eager to report that we are now

prepared when calamities happen; that there is an ongoing technological project to mitigate disasters

and risks. The government is also on the move for sustainable development, protecting the environment

and combating climate change.

Policies on defense and risk reduction and disaster management are important, so as policies onthe environment. However, government should also balance and prioritize which policies should be

implemented first, and what should be deferred. For example, is there a need to beef up our defense in

expense of infrastructure or social services or education?

SONA is a great exercise of transparency in the government. The president reports his

accomplishments to the people through its representatives in Congress. The president also lays down

and presents policies that should be given importance for the next year or the near future for the

Congress to prioritize in its legislative agenda. Public policy-making is very important in a good

government. That is why Congress should be energetic and productive in creating policies that will

address deeply-rooted problems of the society. On the otherhand, the President, representing the

executive branch of the government should be effective and efficient implementor of these policies, sois the Judiciary, who should interpret these policies with a sense of justice and equity.