MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised that successful economic reform will cure social divisions and injustice in the Philippines in her annual "State of the Nation" address yesterday as thousands rallied against her.
“I am not here to talk about politics, I am here to talk about what people want,” she said in a speech in Congress.
She said the government now has funds to address social inequity, economic disparity, and to combat terrorism and crime.
Presenting achievers, including the first three Filipinos who climbed Mt. Everest recently and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, Arroyo urged her countrymen to rally around her economic prosperity program.
“Join hands in the biggest challenge of all where we win or we lose — the battle for survival and progress of our one and only country,” she said.
“Finally, we have the funds not only to pay interest but to spend for education, better roads and bridges, provide good health services, and create more jobs in the country,” she said.
Arroyo said she was ready to embark on a gargantuan capital investment program for the government after putting in place fiscal reforms two years ago and focusing on providing better social services since last year.
Outside Congress, up to 16,000 police and soldiers faced about 10,000 protesters led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr.. The protesters denounced Arroyo and calling for her ouster. They smashed an effigy of her with a Hitler moustache under steady rain fuelled by typhoon Florita (Kaemi); they later dispersed peacefully.
In her speech interrupted dozens of times by thunderous applause from her supporters, Arroyo condemned unsolved killings of hundreds of people, mostly left-wing activists, but devoted most of her speech to establishing economic “super-regions” to spur development.
Arroyo announced the creation of four “mega regions” to link affinities in natural resources and tourism, as well as a technology corridor running from north to south.
She vowed to make food more affordable, reduce the cost of electricity, slash red tape at state agencies to cut business costs and modernize the transportation of goods and people.
Arroyo also asked Congress for a supplemental budget for this year after lawmakers failed to pass the government’s 2006 spending plan, likely forcing a roll-over from last year.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya later said the government was seeking up to 53 billion pesos ($1 billion) in extra funding this year and would propose a 2007 budget of 1.136 trillion pesos.
Arroyo, an economist, aims to balance the government’s budget by 2008 and wants the Philippines to achieve first-world status in the next two decades.
“We have achieved record revenue collections, we are lining up corrupt officials to face the consequences of their misdeeds,” she said, adding the Philippines has “finally earned the respect of the international community as a serious and viable state for our fiscal discipline and billions of pesos in annual interest savings that are now going into necessary public investments,” she said.
‘True Friends’
While she ignored lingering questions about the legitimacy of her rule in her sixth state of the nation address since she came to power, Arroyo was very open in her gratitude to people and institutions that stood by her in her most serious political crisis.
She called her supporters in Congress the “true friends of the Filipino people.”
She also thanked the “greater majority of soldiers and policemen who were loyal to the flag and Constitution.”
“The huge and deep core of your loyalty has earned the nation’s accolade. The few mutineers have been condemned by the people. They and their partisan cohorts and funders are being brought to justice,” the president said.
Arroyo's broad support in the House of Representatives prevented impeachment complaints against her last year on charges of allegations of vote-rigging in the 2004 election from prospering.
She also survived attempts to overthrow her in February when she invoked a brief state of emergency.
Arroyo also thanked the Filipino people “who have resisted persistent, if not pathetic, calls for despair ... for anarchy instead of harmony.”
Now, analysts see Arroyo’s position as generally secure until her term ends in 2010 because of her majority in the lower house of Congress and divisions among her opponents.
But that could change if the congressional elections next year do not go her way.
Graft accusations linger and regular rumors of coup plots continue to spook investors. The influential Roman Catholic church has opposed her. She also faces obstacles over moves to revive the important mining sector and change the constitution to shift to a parliamentary system.
A recent poll suggested Arroyo remains the Philippines’ least popular leader, with almost half of those questioned dissatisfied with her performance. Another survey showed about a quarter of those polled didn’t believe Arroyo would be truthful in her speech.
Message of Hope?
The president’s allies were all praises with her speech yesterday.
Majority Floor Leader Prospero Nograles said the speech provided the correct economic directions and a clear message to move forward and stop political bickering. “At least we have now a concrete plan of detailed action. Less talk, less debate but more action and more implementation,” he said.
Rep. Hadjiri Salapuddin of Basilan, House deputy speaker for the southern region of Mindanao, said Arroyo earned more admiration and respect after demonstrating what “competent and courageous leadership” means.
“A blue print for the country is always better than soaring oratory with her focus on infrastructure. We are probably seeing the dawn of the hardhat presidency,” Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra said.
Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano advised the opposition to give up its impeachment bid against Arroyo.
“The opposition should read well the signs of the times and follow the dictum of life which is to be with the lucky one, which is the president. There is no way their new impeachment bid will succeed,” he pointed out.
'Just Another PR Speech'
Critics of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had a field day yesterday panning her address as everything from a “PR (public relations) speech” to barely disguise marching orders to continue a murderous rampage against leftist groups and other dissenters.
“The devil is in the details,” said Gilbert Remulla, an opposition congressman. “How are we going to fund all of this?”
Commenting on Arroyo’s overall speech, Remulla said: “In essence, what she was saying is ‘look at my plans, look at my achievements, so it’s OK that I cheat, steal, and lie just don’t ask about it anymore.’ We can’t agree to that.”
“To dream costs nothing and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope her dreams come true because it is a bigger sin to let people hope on nothing,” House Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero, who did not listen to the speech, said in a text message.
University of the Philippines economist Benjamin Diokno shared Escudero’s doubts about the government’s ability to carry out the massive public spending program laid out by the president.
“This will cost a lot of money — half a trillion pesos ($9.58 billion) at least,” he told local television, noting that Congress had yet to pass the 2006 national budget.
“It was a great PR speech. Like a campaign speech with lots of names mentioned,” said Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, Arroyo’s former top aide, describing it as “a speech on what she plans to do in the coming years but...not...about the present state of the nation — what have been accomplished against the targets.”
It was an observation shared by Pangasinan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who called Arroyo’s speech a “great public relations speech and good for a ‘Wish Ko Lang’ (a GMA7 television show) episode,” he said.
Cruz added that the speech made for a “good geography lesson.”
Tarlac Rep. Benigno Aquino III, son of former President Corazon Aquino, said the sincerity of Arroyo’s call for reconciliation can only be proven if she calls for snap elections. He said the president should set aside her political ambitions for the good of the common people and the country.
Party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño called the speech “one gigantic bribe meant to overwhelm us, to forget the crisis of legitimacy and blind us with promises of projects.”
‘A House Divided’
Former President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in massive protests in 2001 and is being tried for corruption, delivered his own taped address yesterday, saying, “the true state of the nation is a house divided, corrupted and in complete disarray.”
He also accused the Arroyo government of failing to protect Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), citing the case of more than 30,000 mostly maids trapped in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.
Arroyo’s government began evacuating Filipinos from the troubled Mideastern nation only after some workers went on international television and pleaded to “please rescue us!”
Estrada’s speech was delivered through his son, Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, as the former president was not allowed any media interviews before or after Arroyo’s afternoon speech.
Estrada, jailed since his arrest in 2001, likewise said that the nation’s true state was the continuous deterioration of the economic condition of Filipinos.
“The true state of the nation is the continuous exodus of Filipinos for better opportunities abroad,” Estrada said.
He added that the administration was perpetuating lies despite the shortage of basic services to the people like classrooms and school buildings, public school teachers, government-run hospitals and equipment and livelihood opportunities.
In his prepared statement to a news agency, the former president said “we will again be forced to believe a big lie that the country is in great condition.” (With reports from the Inquirer News Service & Agencies)
