WITH less than six months until the local and national elections in 2016, promises are the currency of the day.
Politicians promise. That is what they do. The ones that are worth voting for are the ones that keep those promises. The rest we should consign to the trash bin.
In a visit to Baybay City in Leyte, Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II said his presidency would bring improvement even to the grassroots.
In particular, Roxas promised local government officials in Baybay an allotment of P1,000 worth of “development credits” for every person in their jurisdiction. This would calibrate the needs of local government units according to their population. The higher the population of an area, the higher its allocation in development credits.
Calling the allotment the “Walang Iwanan” (Nobody Left Behind) Fund, Roxas said residents and their local government units would determine the needs of the area and where the funds should be used.
Setting aside for the moment that such a mechanism would be rife with opportunities for corruption and encourage local governments to pad their population count with large squatter colonies, Roxas’ proposal is just another promise made on the cusp of an election campaign.
The key consideration is the track record of Roxas and his patron, President Benigno Aquino III, in keeping their promises.
Sadly, their record is dismal, if we go by a 2009 document entitled “A Social Contract with the Filipino People” that Aquino and Roxas both stood behind when they were campaigning to be president and vice president, respectively.
Here are some of the promises—directly taken from the Social Contract—that were clearly and indisputably broken by Mr. Aquino and his trusted lieutenants such as Roxas.
“Commitment to transformational leadership:
“1. From a President who tolerates corruption to a President who is the nation’s first and most determined fighter of corruption.”
We have already seen many examples of the selective nature of Mr. Aquino’s anti-corruption efforts that target his political enemies and spare his friends and allies.
“Economy:
“8. From government anti-poverty programs that instill a dole-out mentality to well-considered programs that build capacity and create opportunity among the poor and the marginalized in the country.”
President Aquino took the previous administration’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program from a P10-billion budget in 2010 to P64 billion for 2016, effectively increasing a straight dole to the poor by six times.
“Government Service:
“11. From Presidential appointees chosen mainly out of political accommodation to discerning selection based on integrity, competence and performance in serving the public good.”
Much has been said of Mr. Aquino’s penchant for placing loyalty and friendship above competence, honesty and public service. We have only three words to add to this: Joseph Emilio Abaya. That he remains in office despite his many failures and the anomalies under his watch as Transportation and Communications secretary is living proof of yet another broken promise.
In fact, in a fit of braggadocio, the President promised high school students in Cavite in 2013 that he and Secretary Abaya would allow themselves to be run over by a train if the extension of the LRT from Baclaran to Bacoor were not completed by the end of 2015. With the deadline just eight days away, we can write this off as yet another broken promise.
The sad truth for candidate Roxas is that his patron, his party, and by association, he himself have zero credibility in keeping their promises.
His promise of grassroots growth? File that under “G” for “garbage.”
