Aquino allies ‘fact-check’ Ejercito contra-SONA

MANILA, Philippines – Opposition Senator JV Ejercito sought to verify the claims of President Benigno Aquino III but the President’s allies came prepared with their own facts to show gains under his leadership.

Ejercito delivered on Monday, August 11, a privilege speech known as “contra-SONA” or a response to Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28. It turned out to be Ejercito’s own address, not the stand of the Senate minority as initially planned. 

In the senator’s own words, the speech was “constructive and non-combative” but highlighted the need for inclusive growth, and pointed to problems in sectors like power and agriculture, and what he called a lack of a master plan and long-term vision. (READ the full speech here: Ang Makatotohanang State of the Nation ng mga Pilipino.)

Yet in their interpellation of Ejercito, administration allies Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Cynthia Villar sought to show that Aquino is making efforts to improve economy and governance. The 3 are all neophyte senators.

The speech and the interpellation were done in a sober manner, without the usual name-calling and catfight that marked many previous Senate speeches. 

“Unemployment and poverty are severe,” Ejercito said in his speech. “Our unemployment at 7.25% is the highest in Southeast Asia. We also have the lowest foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the ASEAN region.”

Angara though chose to compare the data with the numbers from past administrations. He said he just wanted to “put on record” that under the Aquino administration, FDI reached $3.9 billion in 2013, and $3.2 billion in 2012.

The former Aurora representative said the Philippines only reached $2 billion in FDI thrice in the past years and “never close to almost $4 billion now.” 

On unemployment, Angara again compared this to figures from past administrations, noting that it reached 10% in 1998, 11.8% in 2004 and 7.4% in 2010. Under Aquino, the senator said the figure was lower at 7% to 7.2%.

“Would the gentleman agree that there is at least some effort on the part of the government?”

Ejercito answered in the affirmative but reiterated that the Philippines lagged behind other Southeast Asian nations. He added that countries like Indonesia and Thailand were able to significantly bring down unemployment in the past 4 years.

Ejercito also expressed concern that companies such as Intel and Colgate moved their manufacturing operations to other countries in Southeast Asia, calling it an “exodus.”

Angara again had numbers ready on manufacturing, this time citing the United Nations Industrial Development Organization or UNIDO, which Aquino also mentioned in his SONA.

“The growth in manufacturing between 2010 and 2013 was more than the average growth rate in ASEAN and almost doubled the growth in the global manufacturing sector,” Angara said. “The 200 countries in the world grew in the same period by 2.17%. The 10 ASEAN countries grew 4.97% and the Philippines grew 5.77%.”

“While we are far from China, Malaysia and Thailand with their established sectors, I think under President Noynoy Aquino, we’ve done the initial steps to improve the manufacturing sector,” he added.

Ejercito commended the growth in manufacturing but said this will be undermined if the government fails to find a solution to the power crisis, a point Angara did not contest.

‘Yolanda claim huge insult’

In his speech, Ejercito criticized Aquino’s claim of a speedy government response to Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), a topic aid groups also questioned. (READ: Sona Fact Check: Half-truths about Yolanda)

Ejercito said a check on Yolanda-devastated areas shows that the pace of rehabilitation remains slow 9 months later, with almost 2,000 families still living in tent cities in Tacloban and over 5,000 who need to be relocated from so-called “no build zones.”

“I’m sorry, Mr President, but it seems [what the President said] is far from the truth, and it’s a big insult for those who died in the disaster!”

The chairperson of the Senate agriculture committee, Villar later pointed out that she was with the Department of Agriculture in visiting the typhoon-hit provinces.

“We went to 41 towns. I saw that they gave livestock, fishing and crop aid. I saw it with my own eyes and I also brought aid for the farmers.”

Villar also responded to Ejercito’s criticism of the government’s “lack of urgency” in preparing for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and regional integration in 2015.

“We have a sugar industry fund protecting the farmers. It will be brought to the [Senate] plenary to help them. We are trying to solve the high cost of capital. We’re calling on the Land Bank to explain what it can do to bring down the cost of capital so our farmers will be competitive in 2015,” Villar said.

No gains from CCT, anti-corruption?

In resuming his interprellation, Angara questioned Ejercito’s statements on the effectiveness of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, the government’s flagship anti-poverty program.

The CCT involves giving poor families cash in exchange for the commitment of parents to ensure that their children attend school and get access to medical services. 

“This should also be complemented by cash-for-work and job generation programs. From whatever angle you look at it, CCT is a dole-out program, a temporary solution in the widening spread of poverty,” Ejercito said in his speech.

In response, Angara cited studies from the World Bank and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) showing that CCT led to higher enrollment in schools and the use of preventive services like pre-natal care and immunization for children.

On Aquino’s anti-corruption campaign, Ejercito criticized the supposed “selective justice” in the investigation into the pork barrel corruption scandal and Aquino’s alleged refusal to heed a Supreme Court ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Angara though pointed out that compared to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Aquino does not invoke an executive order barring his Cabinet secretaries from attending congressional investigations like that on DAP last month.

The senator also noted the “very underrated legacy” of Aquino of giving more than double the budget for social services like education and health.

Angara closed his interpellation by echoing the President, and by raising a question.

“Hindi aksidente ito. Ito ay dulot, bunga ng mabuting pamamahala. Ang tanong na lang siguro na madalas marinig natin: paano ito ipagpapatuloy ng mga susunod na pangulo? But that debate is beyond us.” 

(This is not an accident. This is a result of good governance. The question we often hear now is: how will the next presidents continue this?) – Rappler.com