The Philippine Online Chronicles

“IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUDENT!” This is the title of ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s article that she has written from October to December of last year “…on and off in my spare time during my during my house recuperation, re-hospitalization and hospital detention.” Very similar to the famous “It’s the Economy, Stupid” phrase which was boldly used by Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign against George Bush way back in 1992, this essay points out the reasons why our present economy has drastically fallen since the start of the presidency of President Benigno Aquino III, GMA’s former economics student at the Ateneo de Manila, which also explains the audacious title. It was read yesterday by one of her professors at the University of the Philippines, Dr. Gonzalo Jurado, at the Sampaguita Room of the Manila Hotel.

The Crux

This paper has unveiled a lot of truth regarding the current Administration and its failure to improve our country’s economic growth. GMA believes that the “vacuum of leadership, vision, energy and execution in managing our economic affairs” prevents the betterment of our nation. This has nullified the advances and achievements of former presidents and we, the citizens, are coerced to suffer the unfavorable end result that is felt through alarmingly increasing crime-rate, economic depression, and the growing gap between the rich and the poor to further support corruption and other nimieties of the President and his inner circle such as expensive cars and precarious inclination to guns.

The Condemned

“We spread division rather than unity; when we put ego above country and sensationalism above rationality; when we make everyday politics replace long-term vision in our country‘s hour of need,” this was stated by the former President on her well-versed essay. Although the Administration has made a lot of promises to meliorate our country, one might ponder why President Aquino has not yet carried out these plans that have assured many people into living a better life under his leadership that will and can supposedly protect the citizens, improve our laws, and mend our dangerously sinking nation. Is this some sort of false propaganda to blanket whatever selfish agenda they may have?

We have all seen the government’s lack of actions to improve our country’s economy, strengthen citizen welfare, and protect our environment. Instead of doing something to secure and fix the uprise of our nation’s issues, the Administration began to “vilify” other people, particularly GMA, who was fulminated on her questionable actions she has done during her term. This results to pointing out fingers on who’s to blame rather than concentrating on the things that can solve these problems making the current government all the more inefficient.

The Dying Legacies

It is a well-known fact that all leaders will always leave their hard-earned achievements to their predecessors to continue and further strengthen it so the country will continuously improve and become better. Our long-term problem has always been poverty and as GMA quoted her father, the late Diosdado Macapagal, also a former President, “The Presidency of the Philippines is a tough and killing job that demands a sense of sacrifice.” This practically means being the leader of the country, “you must work harder than everyone else.” Think ahead of time so you can minimize future problems and not aggravate the current issues. I must agree on this one since this is the only way you can make things happen.

The procrastination of the President certainly does not coincide to this sacred and important rule that many previous presidents have fought long and hard for. We are aware about the significant economic and fiscal growth that GMA has done for this country but how come the current Administration did not continue the already well-made strategy that can save us from poverty and economic destruction? Rather than improving the governing laws, action plans, and accomplishments that have salvaged us from the recession that has severely threatened us during GMA’s tenure, PNoy excoriated these actions by tearing down his successor’s achievements so he could re-create it all over again, much to his advantage. These action plans that have already been done by GMA include:

• The Promotion of the BPO Industry. Also known as the Sunshine Industries, these are outsourced jobs that have effectively decreased our unemployment rate despite of the ongoing recession. The world of Information Technology has suddenly boomed during GMA’s residency giving us work through call center companies. Today, the competition has increased and it is imperative that we stay on top of our game, which the current government has yet again, failed to do.

• Edifices and Infrastructure. The termination of a lot of planned infrastructure such as flood control projects and constant maintenance of our facilities (e.g. airport and hotels) did nothing to mend our country’s already diminishing foreign investors and tourists. PNoy’s sudden interests to improve our infrastructure certainly brought us some hope but are his intentions genuine or is he merely getting ready for the upcoming election?

• The Land. GMA pointed out that the President has made an assumption that by 2013, we could achieve “rice self-sufficiency.” Although we have a lot of rich soils to nurture our rice farms, our geographical location that causes our country to weather a lot of storms stops us from maximizing our produce, hence making it quite a challenge to attain this goal. Does our Administration have another solution to further promote our agribusiness?

• Poverty. This is a grievous and extremely delicate issue that one must take seriously. Don’t you agree that the government must focus on creating well-planned solutions instead of announcing half-baked agendas that can only have short-term results? Like GMA stated on her essay, stop with the “empty slogans” and begin establishing methods that can effectively decrease the immiseration of the people by helping them to get better through education, health coverage, and beneficial social security policies.

• Our Ecology. Our changing environment has caused a lot of catastrophes that have weakened and injured our nation drastically. These natural calamities may not be avoided but the government can do something to minimize the tragedies that we have sadly seen over the past years. By managing our wastes and preserving our natural resources, we can and will endure these disasters. Sad to say, our President seemed to have forgotten this resulting to a broken country that is continuously devastated by violent weather conditions.

I am inclined to believe that these are the key factors that can make our nation rise up from our miserable state of economic depression. GMA has clearly gotten her message across which only speaks of truth about our government and its lack of initiative to make our country a better place to live in. It is about dedication and commitment in improving our economy after all, not blaming people, nor promoting insignificant issues that can only be described as ludicrous and superfluous to the growing concerns of our country.

GMA’s veritable outcry is quite appealing, and there is truth to most of what she said, but it leaves a lot of people to wonder the reason behind this action. Is this one of her political ploys, an attempt to redeem her reviled reputation? Is she really concerned about us not getting what we truly deserve from our President? Are her intentions sincere or is this another tactic to support her own motives? I quote GMA’s spokesperson, Elena Horn, during the Q&A, “Ok lang na habulin nyo ako, pero patakbuhin nyo naman ang gobyerno.”

Whatever it is, it’s a wake-up call for our President.

Photos by Creativoices. Some rights reserved.