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Philippine Business Magazine:
Volume 8 No.1 - Cover
The Arroyo Agenda
No policy surprises, but higher moral standards
and effective implementation
By Nonette C. Climaco
The country's economic performance under the Estrada
presidency was unimpressive - minus 0.6% in 1998, 3.3% in 1999,
and 3.9% in 2000. But people were not surprised. Anyway, they really
expected the least from a national leader whose claim to power was
his successful stint as a town mayor and who did not have the educational
nor professional background to deal with complex national issues,
much more global ones. But under the new Arroyo Administration,
expectations run high, and people will not settle for "so-so"
economic growth.
The high expectations stem from the fact that President
Arroyo is one whose upbringing and training make for an ideal national
leader. To start with, she knows the workings of the presidency,
being the daughter of a former president. Her previous affiliations
as Undersecretary of Trade and Executive Director of the Garments
and Textile Export Board gave her more than enough exposure to the
demands of a globalizing environment; while her educational background
in the field of economics will arm her with the appropriate tools
for managing a national economy.
President Arroyo was also a two-term Senator (1992-1995
and 1995-1998). In the Senate where she was Chairman of the Committee
on Economic Affairs, she worked for the GATT ratification plus a
host of other measures aimed at enhancing the country's competitiveness.
She also authored the creation of the Legislative-Executive Development
Advisory Council (LEDAC), a body she herself as a president would
later put to full use to facilitate coordination between the two
branches of government.
But her most recent training for the presidency was
as Vice President of then-President Estrada. Concurrent to this
post, she held the leadership of the Department of Social Welfare
and Development - a position most people thought would be a good
stepping stone to win her votes in the 2004 presidential elections.
Little did she, nor the people, know that she did not have to wait
that long.
Attacking The Agenda
In the years that she was still Vice President, Arroyo - and the
business community could not agree less - knew what ailed the economy.
It was a crisis of confidence that made the country unpalatable
for investors and pushed ordinary people deeper into poverty. Understanding
the situation, Arroyo crafted her gameplan which she announced even
before she assumed the presidency on 20 January 2001.
President Arroyo repeatedly calls the public's attention to the
four core beliefs that will guide her administration. First, poverty
has been an unfinished business from the past and remains a serious
problem to this day. During the Aquino Administration, poverty incidence
fell from 40.2% in 1988 to 39.9% in 1991. President Ramos built
on the achievement recorded by reducing incidence further to 35.5%
in 1994 and 31.8% in 1997. However, President Arroyo has to work
doubly hard in this area because by 1998, poverty incidence deteriorated
to 40.6% - back to the level 12 years ago.
President Arroyo believes that the ultimate solution
to poverty has both a political and an economic aspect. Politics
and political power as traditionally practiced and used in the Philippines
are among the roots of the social and economic inequities that characterize
the country's national problems. Thus, in achieving true reforms,
she says the country needs to outgrow its traditional brand of politics
based on patronage and personality.
Second, there is a need to improve moral standards
in government and in society to serve as the foundation for good
governance. Providing teeth to this belief, President Arroyo's first
Administrative Order prohibits all public officers and employees
from entering into official transactions related to contracts, supplies,
and appointments to positions with the President's and her husband's
relatives.
President Arroyo's third core belief is related to
her fight against poverty, that of replacing politics of personality
and patronage with a new politics of party programs and process
of consultations in order to provide a foundation for true reforms.
For her, traditional politics is the politics of the status quo
which is a structural part of the problem. She sees wisdom a multi-party
and party list system, in politically active people's organizations,
and in the provisions for sectoral involvement at the local government
level.
The last, but not the least, of her core beliefs is
that leaders should lead by example. This is an area she confidently
says will differentiate her administration from her predecessor's.
Hit The Road Running
In institutionalizing the process of consultations, President Arroyo
has spelled out her own mechanisms for consultation - something
she says is a proof of her leadership by example.
To tackle the inherited problem of a large fiscal
deficit - expected to reach P225 billion in 2001 but targetted at
P146 billion by the new administration - President Arroyo created
a top notch economic team composed of the Finance, Trade, Budget,
and Socioeconomic Planning secretaries. Together, they will establish
fiscal prudence in the short term yet generate enough economic activity
to push growth in the long term.
Another cabinet cluster that was recently created
was on ICT - Information and Communications Technology. The president
anchors the economy's growth on this sector which draws strength
in human resources. She sees the country's large pool of knowledge
workers as its competitive advantage that should further be developed.
To this end, President Arroyo plans to expand the ITECC (IT and
E-Commerce Council) to cover not only commerce but also look at
the overall ICT environment.
To fast track the implementation of economic and development
measures, the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council
(LEDAC) was reconvened. During the Ramos Administration, the Council
was an effective vehicle in forging policy concensus and program
coordination between the two branches of government. President Arroyo
also abolished the Economic Coordinating Council, explaining that
it replicated the regular functions and activities of NEDA and the
executive agencies.
Refreshing Elements
Apart from the emphasis on ICT, President Arroyo lists the items
that will characterize her administration: transparency in governance,
a strong emphasis on delivering results, and the political empowerment
of the people. As Trade Secretary Roxas explained in a recent conference,
there are no policy surprises in this government but the difference
will be in the implementation. After all, what the country needs
now is action to put it back on the growth path.
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