Experts from the Movement of Good Governance (MGG) filled in President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s virtual report card just days before the latter delivers his second State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA).
The verdict – passed on to a handful of reporters Friday night at Ateneo’s Bernas Law Center in Rockwell, Makati City – was an average rating of 4.69 out of a possible 10.
Chaired by Prof. Solita “Mareng Winnie” Monsod, the MGG said the President’s rating for his rookie year indicates that “there have been accomplishments, but more need to be done.”
The score was justified in 36-page document titled, “A needs assessment study of the country under the Aquino administration.”
The Aquino administration was assessed using a 10-point scorecard that benchmarked the Chief Executive’s performance based on what he promised to do during election campaign against what he has actually accomplished during his first year in office.
Formulated by MGG experts, the ratings system was qualified by seven indicators, namely Corruption, Public Finance, Governance, Environment, Education, Health, and Economy.
Each indicator was further broken down into smaller items, such as “zero-based budgeting” for Corruption and “no new taxes” for Economy in order to facilitate non-subjective grading.
The weighted scores for each item under every indicator were peer-reviewed, often sparking hot debate among themselves, Monsod shared during the hour-long presentation.
“We tried our best to use as much hard data as possible. The ratings are transparent…the analysis is there,” the MGG chair said, referring to the document which can be downloaded from the group’s website.
The results showed that Aquino garnered above-average scores in Public Finance (5.8) and Education (6.25), and while his performance in Health was dismal (3), the President was given barely-passing scores in Corruption, Governance, Environment and Economy (4.8, 4.5, 4.7, 4.4, respectively).
The President was particularly lauded for delivering on his promise of zero-based budgeting and no new taxes, although the MGG panel cased doubt on the latter’s overall positive impact, saying it may have stunted economic growth.
One of the sticking points on Health – the big dampener on Aquino’s overall rating – was the fact that a majority of Filipinos is still outside the health insurance system, with only 42 percent covered.
Dr. Milwida “Nene” Guevera, MGG convener and former undersecretary of the Department of Finance (DoF), stressed that the assessment was done to support Aquino and his government, allowing him to “fill in the gaps,” so to speak.
Among those who graded the president were Monsod, Guevara, former Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan and former DoF secretary Bobby de Ocampo.
Established in 2008, the MGG is a coalition that promotes transparent, participatory and accountable governance.
Meanwhile, a brewing storm east of Mindanao will likely intensify into a cyclone, triggering rains in Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao during President Benigno S. Aquino III’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) Monday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
PAGASA weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said the low pressure area (LPA) embedded along the intertropical convergence zone was estimated 640 kilometers east-northeast of Surigao City on Saturday morning.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
