BSP best performer in gov’t; OVP worst – MBC poll

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Businessmen continued to rank the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as the best performer in government, based on the results of the Makati Business Club (MBC) executive outlook survey for the second semester of 2015, released Thursday, August 13.

The results of the MBC poll, conducted among senior business executives from July 6 to August 7, also showed that businessmen perceive the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to be the worst performer in government.

MBC Executive Director Peter Perfecto said the BSP, with a net score of 90.8 and satisfied score of 95.4, ranked as the top government agency for the fourth straight time since 2011 “owing to its continuing satisfactory work in maintaining the country’s macroeconomic and financial stability, despite external threats from overseas.”

BSP is now closely watching the devaluation of the China yuan against the dollar and its effect to the Philippine peso. On Thursday, the Monetary Board maintained key policy rates and lowers inflation target, citing firm domestic demand. (READ: BSP maintains policy rates, lowers inflation forecast)

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) came next – PEZA obtained a net score of 84.4 and satisfied score of 92.2, and DOT a net sscore of 81.8 and satisfied score of 90.9.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)  were tied at fourth with 78.8 net score and 89.4 satisfied score.

The Department of Finance, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Securities and Exchange Commission, Board of Investments, and the Civil Service Commission round up the rest of the top 10 best performing government agencies, according to the survey.

Top 10 best performing agencies in H2 2015’s Makati Business Club Executive Outlook Survey

Biases

In a statement released Friday, August 14, OVP head of media affairs Joey Salgado said that “will all due respect, the 67 wealthy businessmen in Makati cannot represent the sentiment of our people nationwide. They cannot be expected to give a true and objective assessment of the performance of all government agencies, most especially the OVP.”

He added in Filipino that the OVP serves the poor and not the wealthy members of MBC.

Salgado also said there are MBC members with long-held biases against the Vice President and his family, citing MBC officials like its executive director, Perfecto, who were present at the anointment of Roxas as Aquino’s “chosen one.”

“The MBC are the businessmen who have profited from this administration’s economic policy that embraces the rich and excludes the poor. They want to continue the inequality under an administration that is ‘pro-business,'” Salgado added.

Thus, while it welcomes an honest appraisal of its work, for the OVP, “we are satisfied more by the simple gestures of thanks from those whom we have served,” Salgado added.

Positive ratings

Thirty-eight out of the 64 government agencies and offices included in the survey also received positive net satisfaction ratings; 31 agencies improved on their rankings from 2014.

The most improved agencies based on their 2014 rankings the following:

• Senate (+26)
• House of Representatives (+13)
• DTI (+11)
• Board of Investments (+11)
• Office of the Ombudsman (+11)
• Department of Budget and Management (+11)

The MBC said that during the survey period, among the major developments were the hearings conducted by the Arbitral Tribunal  in The Hague on the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea; the assumption of new Police Director Ricardo Marquez as Philippine National Police chief; President Benigno Aquino III’s final State of the Nation Address; and Aquino’s endorsment of Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II as the administration’s 2016 standard-bearer.

Complete list: H2 2015’s Makati Business Club Executive Outlook Survey

Negative ratings

Twenty-four agencies received negative net satisfaction ratings led by the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which was ranked 64th or last among government agencies – a steep plunge from 33rd place in 2014.

Completing the bottom 5 are the Department of Transportation and Communications (63rd), Bureau of Customs (62nd), Department of Agriculture (61st), and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC, 60th).

The offices that experienced the biggest drops in net satisfaction are the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, OVP, and the Department of Health (DOH).

Binay, a declared presidential aspirant in 2016, is hounded by corruption allegations involving projects in Makati city, where he was mayor for a total of 21 years.  (READ: Binay sues Ombudsman, senators for P200M)

The DOTC has incurred the ire of Metro Manila commuters over the dismal condition of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT3).

The BOC continues to face collection challenges and corruption allegations. It changed guards in April when Commissioner Alberto Lina replaced John Sevilla, who resigned due to alleged “politicking” in the bureau. (READ: Customs chief John Sevilla resigns)

The net performance rankings of 27 government agencies have declined since 2014. according to MBC corporate members.  A total of 67 corporations and other entities participated in the survey, representing 16.6% of MBC’s 404 corporate members.

Making their debut in the survey are the Governance Commission for GOCCs (29th), National Telecommunications Commission (49th), the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (58th), and the ERC.

Vote of confidence

While the OVP lashed out at MBC’s ranking of its office and its achievements, Malacañang on Friday thanked the club for showing “renewed vote of confidence” in the Aquino administration.

“We thank the business community for giving a renewed vote of confidence to the departments and agencies in the economic and financial management sector,” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr said in a statement.

“The survey results mirror and affirm the vote of confidence extended by the international community to the country as reflected in successive upgrades in investment rating, as well as significant improvement in global competitiveness rankings,” the statement read.

Commenting on OVP’s ranking, Coloma said, “it may be reasonable to infer that this represents the negative feedback of the business community on the Vice President’s criticisms against the administration in the aftermath of his resignation from the Cabinet.” – Rappler.com