One hundred days are not really enough to determine if President

Benigno Aquino III is true to his words; however, there’s no better time for
his administration to follow through its mandate of national development
than this so-called honeymoon period. And a huge chunk of his to-do list has
something to do with implementing sound economic policies to offset the
continuing national dilemma. And like the ever-vigilant people here at
Bantay Presidente, many concerned citizens and institutions took upon
themselves to watch every sign of progress (or lack thereof) that lends itself
to the fulfilment of the president’s promises. Among others, ABS-CBN
(http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/aquino-promises/economy) and The Philippine
Online Chronicles (http://www.thepoc.net/blogwatch-features/8152-promises-
of-noynoy-aquino.html) listed each promise and from this list, the nation can
deduce whether PCOS (President Cory’s Only Son) has been following
through his promises of a “daang matuwid”. Let’s hope that as an Economics
graduate of the Ateneo (and as Gloria Arroyo’s student in what is now known
as Eco102), he has sufficient understanding of the right things to do to turn
this country’s economy around.

And the numbers are on President Aquino’s side as of this moment.

The past few months showed improvements in the general business
environment. Even before his term started, there were expectations that the
business community’s trust in his new administration would boost foreign
investment. Such trust is founded on Aquino’s apparent determination to
fight corruption. And such trust manifested its positive effects so far, as the
Business Confidence Index (the overall indicator of how optimistic the
business sector is on economic matters, in correlation to the country’s
general affairs) in the third quarter rose from last year’s 18% to this year’s
45%, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Furthermore, Philippine economic growth rate was at 7.9% in the 2 nd

quarter of 2010 and is expected to grow so much that the Asian
Development Bank and the government’s chief economic handlers had to
revise the Philippine growth rate forecast to 6.2%, which is higher than the
originally projected 5% for the year 2010. The Aquino Administration was
also a beneficiary of significant gains from both the Philippine Peso – Dollar
exchange rate and the Philippine Stock Exchange. The value of the peso
grew from 46.31 in June 2010 to 43.90 in September 2010. The comparative
index grew from 3372.71 points in June 2010 to 4100.07 points in September
2010. These figures of growth, according to Albay Governor Joey Salceda are
the highest under any post-Marcos president’s first 100 days in office. A
comparative table is given below:
 A portion of this growth can be attributed to the sale of a billion dollars’
worth of Philippine Peso global bonds which attracted more investors to the
country and enhanced short-term monetary supply. Also among the factors
for this growth is the global economic recovery, especially in Asian nations
where growth rates are higher than anywhere else. But aside from these
changes involving market forces quite beyond the government’s
responsibility, the Aquino administration also has its hand on this growth,
especially in trying to implement changes in the bureaucracy. Tax evasion
drives have been put in place and a zero-based budgeting has been adopted,
among other measures compliant with President Aquino’s vision of a “daang
matuwid”. In other words, President Aquino’s policies which aim at
revamping government processes and transactions seem to be effective in
encouraging more business confidence and, consequently, activity and
growth.

Among other policies, Aquino set his eyes on scrapping former

Professor/President Arroyo’s flagship programs. Reviews of the past
administration’s projects have indeed started. This promise is linked to the
zero-budgeting scheme President Aquino also plans to employ. He also
promised to “streamline government approval processes… to foster service
to the public instead of making citizens jump through hoops. This
improvement, he claimed, is “not only for setting up new businesses but also
in the regular day-to-day transactions with government, such as the
payment of taxes.” His administration also assured the public that it will
“create jobs at home, [and] reject overseas employment as development
strategy.” Aquino has also promised his best to not increase nor impose new
taxes, in the premise that it’s better to increase efficiency in tax collection
measures in both the BIR and the Bureau of Customs. But recent
developments like the repeated attempts to increase SLEX toll rates and levy
taxes on ukay-ukay items seem to nullify this promise. “He told members of
the Makati Business Club that he would pursue the rationalization of fiscal
incentives given to investors as part of efforts to plug revenue leaks and
lower the budget deficit,” according to the Philippine Online Chronicles. One
of the ways he can achieve this is by punishing tax evaders and smugglers
more “severely”, as manifested by a number of high-profile tax evasion
cases submitted cumulatively amounting to Php 10 billion.

In retrospect, we clearly see a government driven by a desire to

revamp systems to boost investors’ confidence and encourage growth of
overall investment in the country. Coupled by global economic recovery and
despite bumps on the road such as the Quirino hostage crisis and allegations
of jueteng, among other matters, the Aquino Administration is blessed to
have a good economic headstart at his disposal. But any economist worth his
dough would note that there is a huge difference between growth and
development. Now that we see growth (no matter how nominal it may seem
as of this moment), President Aquino has to turn these gains into
development, and furthermore, into the change this country hopes for.