PRESIDENT Duterte’s State of the Nation addresses (SONAs) are always interesting. He is, of course, a very candid person, and has no qualms talking about where improvements are needed, and where even more improvements will do a world of good. And this is just right, as SONAs are not about everything coming up roses. Rather, they should outline what areas need more action, just as much as they should acknowledge what has been done right.
And the President did just that. For instance, on the same breath of lauding the Bureau of Customs for collecting up to P585 billion in 2018, he also decried how corruption still plagues the agency. Likewise, just as he emphasized that poverty incidence in the country had fallen from 27.6 percent in the first half of 2015 to 21 percent some three years after, he also said that he still needs help lifting some six million Filipinos out of poverty.
Of the many points raised, what was clearest was the President’s desire for things to move faster. He said, “We, in government, talk too much, and act too little and too slow…We are long on rhetoric but short on accomplishments…That is why, I implore those who occupy positions of power and authority, to let your deeds and accomplishments do the talking. Lead by example. Words ring hollow when not followed by positive and prioritized action.”
Indeed, when he says that the second half of his term ought to be a “period of consequence,” we interpret that as a clarion call for even swifter action. If anything, now is the best time to act, as we have already entered the so-called demographic window of opportunity. To echo my father’s summation in his Philippine Policy Statement at the UNESCO in 2011, “societies who have entered the demographic window have proportionally large working-age populations and relatively light dependency burdens, and therefore the demographic potential for high economic growth.”
According to the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), the working age population – those from 15 to 65 years of age – will be 70-million strong by the end of this year. That is a deep and expanding labor force that our country should be supporting. As they become more productive, so will our country prosper.
But just as I wrote before, demography is not destiny. If we are to reap any of the dividends and finally solve some of the country’s chief challenges like poverty, joblessness, and global uncompetitiveness, some very deep reforms will be needed.
Of course, some significant ones have
already been enacted, such as the Free Tuition Law, Free Irrigation Law, and
the Universal Healthcare Act, among many others. These will address the
financial and economic structures that the country needs to support itself and
sustain the growth momentum.
In the recent SONA, the President mentioned a host of measures he wants acted
upon, including the Magna Carta of Barangays; the establishment of Departments
of Overseas Filipinos, Disaster Resilience, and Water Resources; a new Salary
Standardization Law (which will include higher pay for teachers and nurses; the
Government Rightsizing Law; the establishment of a Coconut Farmer’s Trust Fund;
and the National Defense Act. Some like the National Land Use Act, and the
so-called TRABAHO bill or the second of the administration’s tax reform
packages (specifically its component parts on lowering corporate income taxes
and the rationalization of fiscal incentives) have been languishing in Congress
for many years now. Needless to say, Congress has its work cut out for it.
The President is notable for using very colorful speech. In fact, he is well-known for using the “P”-word. With this SONA, however, the President has given us a new set of “P”-words. These are the words that matter, the words that we should talk about, now that we are ushering in the second half of the Duterte administration, and the start of a new decade of Philippine history: Progress, Prosperity, and Peace. Those three words are a challenge that we as a nation should address with the best of our abilities, both as individuals and as a community.
Let us all get back to work, and do the best we can do.
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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 15 years — nine years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 6 as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 200 laws. He recently won another term in the Senate. (Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara)i/PN
