P-Noy declares end of corruption in the Philippines

Manila, Philippines (May 05 2012) - The days of graft and corruption that were nurtured by the past Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration are over, President Benigno C. Aquino III said at the 45th meeting of the ADB Board of Governors at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City that ends today.

There will be no more waste of funds provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as “transparency, accountability, and prudent spending” have enabled the government to maximize its use of resources for the people, President Aquino said.

“Gone are the days when the funds you funnel to our country will end up like water leaking through a broken pail,” Aquino told a gathering of the ADB Board of Governors, whose 45th annual meeting ends today .

“We are prepared to follow through on our commitments, and you are by all means welcome to see if we’re living up to our word,” he said. “Transparency, accountability, and prudent spending also create fiscal space for social and infrastructure investments. This discipline has allowed us to channel resources to investments in our people.”

“Change has set in the Philippines, and we are open for business. It began with a people granting us the trust and opportunity to re-establish a government that truly puts them front and center,” Aquino pointed out.

Of the $761.9 million provided by the ADB, $643.8 million will go to social protection and support projects, agrarian reform, rural infrastructure enhancement, credit for better health care, and irrigation in Mindanao.

“It can only end with a people reaping the benefits of a system where growth is both inclusive and sustained, where progress is felt by all, and where every citizen lives the life of dignity that he truly deserves,” he said.

“We are getting to where we want to be faster because of your assistance. This meeting of your Board of Governors, in fact, reaffirms the newfound confidence that the international community has exhibited towards my nation,” Aquino told ADB officials.

“For this, you have the gratitude of our people, and a commitment from my administration. You will continue to see results; you will continue to see a Philippines that is finally living up to its potential,” he promised.

GMA hit

Aquino also took a swipe at the former Arroyo administration, which he accused of corrupting institutions.

“None of us could have imagined how deeply eroded the foundations of government had become, in the nine and a half years of my predecessor,” he said, referring to detained former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Endemic corruption had sapped the system of its vitality; public funds ceased to be used for the public good, and found themselves in private hands, whom we are now holding accountable,” he said.

“The message, for nine and a half years, was: Nice guys finish last. To finish first, you had to lack conscience, exhibit a certain degree of shamelessness, and be an expert at giving handshakes with one hand, while picking pockets with the other,” he added.

“Politics permeated poverty-alleviation programs: slots on the conditional cash transfer program were handed out in exchange for votes,” he said.

“With too few jobs being generated, our people were trapped in a downward spiral: no education, no work, no chance to improve their lot in life,” he said.

Aquino added that one of his first moves when he took over as president was to institutionalize a zero-based budget approach in which expenditures are rationalized and not simply carried over to the next year.

He said his administration also went after tax evaders aggressively and passed a law that sets a high standard for governance, making government-owned and controlled corporations more efficient and rational.

“And we showed our resolve that no public official, regardless of his or her position, will be beyond the reach of justice and accountability,” he said.

“All of these efforts have allowed us to reclaim our national honor; they have boosted confidence in the country, restored our citizenry’s morale, and are reaping dividends on the economic front,” he added.

Aquino said his reforms have led to six positive ratings in less than two years of his administration, as against the single upgrade and six downgrades in the nine years of the previous administration.

“We have experienced all-time highs in our stock market 27 times in our 22 months in office,” he added.

He also emphasized that government’s social welfare programs are now insulated from politics.

“Now we are confident that the more than three million households in our conditional cash transfer program are actually the neediest families, and not merely the best- connected; now we know that we are actually sponsoring the 5.2 million poorest families through our PhilHealth program,” he said.

Protest

Meanwhile, several farmers rallied outside the PICC to protest ADB’s water and irrigation projects, which they claimed have “pushed farmers to deeper poverty and indebtedness.”

“Instead of improving the lives of our poor farmers, ADB’s water and irrigation projects have destroyed our livelihood and violated people’s basic and fundamental rights to water and food,” said Nestor Diego, secretary-general of the Pambansang Kaisahan ng Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (PKMP).

“These farmers who already have limited access to farm subsidies and are saddled by rising costs of farm inputs and low farm gate prices, have to pay exorbitant water fees under ADB’s model of cost-recovery schemes for irrigation delivery, while government is obliged by the bank to withdraw its subsidies to poor farmers,” said Arze Glipo, lead convenor of Task Force Food Sovereignty.

TFFS is a Philippines-based network of farmers and food security advocates.

The group cited as example the $60-million Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector Project loan from ADB which started in 2000 and was completed only in December 2009.

The project, which targeted 10,000 farm households, involved the development of irrigation and drainage facilities for 18,000 hectares of farmlands in selected provinces in Visayas and Mindanao.

On its website, ADB said that “the project has been physically completed on June 30, 2010 with some remaining minor works to be undertaken by the government after the said date.”

But TFFS said that a field investigation in August 2010 revealed that one of the “completed” projects, specifically the Gibong National Irrigation System (NIS) in Prosperidad and San Francisco towns of Agusan del Sur, was not operating.

“When we visited Gibong, what we saw was not ‘some remaining minor works to be undertaken.’ We found out that the project is far from being complete,” Diego said.

TFFS said ADB should immediately halt its loan programs and projects that are leading to the privatization of water resources and management.

“The strategy of private sector participation, public-private partnership and cost-recovery in water and irrigation should be thoroughly reviewed in the light of the massive failures of these policies to bring sufficient water to the poor population as well as to the increased burden imposed by such strategies on already indebted poor farmers,” Glipo said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police assured the safety of ADB delegates even after the conference.

“After the closure of the ADB meeting, we expect some of the delegates to stay for their personal or official trips. We assure the public and the delegates that security arrangements under Task Force ADB shall remain for the duration of their stay in the country,” PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Generos Cerbo Jr. said.

Cerbo said around 5,000 visitors from some 70 countries have arrived since the start of the ADB meeting on May 2.

More than 3,000 policemen have been deployed as part of security for the ADB meeting. (From Philstar.com)