Bawal ang Pasaway: Will experts give PNoy's SONA 2012 a passing grade?

In the two years since he was swept into office, has President Benigno Aquino III faithfully kept his promises to the Filipino people, to whom his administration is accountable? How true are the achievements that President Aquino enumerated in his recent State of the Nation address? To help answer these questions, Professor Winnie Monsod invited Secretary Sonny Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, and Vince Lazatin, executive director of the Transparency and Accountability Network, to guest in a recent episode of  GMA News TV news analysis program “Bawal ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie.” On a scale of zero to 10, the guests graded President Aquino’s performance in various areas. Broken or barely-kept promises were given scores between zero and three, while on-track and well-kept promises were given scores between seven and 10. To contextualize her guests’ scores, Monsod compared these to the scores given to President Aquino last year — also on her show – by the Movement for Good Governance (MGG). Here’s how Coloma and Lazatin graded the President: The fight on graft and corruption 2011 Score by MGG: 4.8/10 President Aquino has consistently cited the elimination of corruption as the centerpiece of his administration's agenda. In his 2011 SONA he said, “Tapos na rin po ang panahon kung kailan nagsasampa ang gobyerno ng malalabnaw na kaso. Kapag tayo ang nagsampa, matibay ang ebidensya, malinaw ang testimonya, at siguradong walang lusot ang salarin.”  Has the President been successful against corruption? Sonny Coloma (SC): 8/10 “I'd give him eight out of ten to reflect the latest PulseAsia survey. Of those who responded, 58 approved and 17 disapproved of the President. The respondents were asked to identify the three most important issues to them, and whether they approved or disapproved of the his performance regarding those issues.” Vince Lazatin (VL): 5/10 “There were two major events that happened during his term, namely, ang pagtanggal kay Mercy Gutierrez sa Ombudsman, and we can attribute that to the Office of the President. Second, ang pagtanggal kay CJ Corona. That's something the President has set his sights on, in terms of the fight against corruption.” Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2011 Score by MGG: not given Under his watch, Aquino lobbied to publicize the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of individual government officials. Proposed budgets for different state departments have also been made transparent. But since becoming President, he has been silent on the FOI Bill, an act that would publicize pertinent government transactions and data. SC: 7/10 “Pinasulong na ‘yan ng Pangulo. Nasa kamay na ‘yan ng mga senador at kongresista. It’s part of a constellation of policy measures. Hindi siya nag-iisa, as if it’s the end-all and be-all.” VL: 3/10 “In his inaugural speech and two SONAs he has not mentioned the FOI. And in the fight against corruption, we all know how important FOI is. Right now, it’s stalled sa committee under chairman [Ben] Evardone. PNoy has never mentioned it as a priority bill or mentioned it in any of his speeches. He’s not pushing it as publicly has he pushed his stance against Gutierrez and Corona.” Performance-based appointments 2011 Score by MGG: 5/10 President Aquino lamented the “midnight appointments” of the previous administration and campaigned publicly against their supposed beholden interests, most notably impeached Justice Renato Corona. But how has he fared in terms of installing his own people in important offices? SC: 5/10 “Kung titingnan natin overall, mayroong mga quality appointments po diyan. Mga Magsaysay awardees, at mga may recognition sa kanila from international bodies. [Maganda] ang kanilang academic records. [Ito ang] third time ko na in government, at ngayon ko lang masasabi na binigyan niya po ng laya ang kanyang mga Cabinet secretaries na mag-nominate ng sarili nilang undersecretaries, assistant secretaries at directors. So magiging merit-based talaga.  For certain levels, like presidential appointees, yung Cabinet secretary mismo ang mag-nonominate at validate ng candidates. Mayroon ding Ombudsman clearance and various clearances from different agencies, so hindi siya reckless or mindless process. Next year, may mga performance-based incentives in place para maging engaged sila at lumahok talaga sa proseso namin. Meron tayong key result areas and performance indicators.” VL: 3/10 “Dalawa ang isyu: ‘yung proseso at ang kalidad ng appointments. In key Cabinet positions, maganda naman ang kalidad. Pero ‘yung isa sa mga pangako niya was to have a transparent process of appointment. Bagsak siya diyan. Sa search body under ni Secretary Julia Abad ng Presidential Management Staff, hindi natin alam ang members ng search committee.” Citizens’ monitoring and feedback system 2011 Score by MGG: 5/10 President Aquino famously proclaimed in his first SONA in 2010, “Kayo ang boss ko,” referring to the masses, vowing that his administration would address the concerns raised by ordinary citizens. How has he structurally improved the means by which people approach their government? SC: 7/10 “Malaking bahagi ng populasyon ay nag-eengage through social media tulad ng Facebook at Twitter, lalo na sa kabataan. We should prioritize our front-line services, or “where the rubber hits the road,” ika nga. VL: 7/10 “Marami ang nakikita natin online. Maraming improvements sa websites. But feedback is uneven. MMDA has the best practice na dapat i-adapt ng all agencies.” Strengthening the judiciary 2011 Score by MGG: 2.5 “Buo ang kumpiyansa ko na tinutupad ng Department of Justice ang malaki nilang bahagi upang maipiit ang mga salarin,” President Aquino said in his SONA. Though the panel expressed confidence in current Ombudsman Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, there is a lot of work to be done with the judiciary. SC: 5/10 “Kailangan po siguro suriin ang sistema doon at ang proseso. Baka kulang sa tao, o mabagal talaga mismo ang proseso. Ang ating dapat isaisip ang systemic reform. Maraming sistema sa ating bureaucracy na tila mabagal, so dapat talaga may change of paradigm towards a more efficient and more responsive government. There’s every desire to do it. Kailangan lang po ng ‘extra push’ towards that direction.” VL: 2.5/10 “Hindi rin pasado ang DOJ dahil nga sabi sa dami ng kasong naka-estangkado dahil sa Malacañang.” Areas that deserve more attention from Aquino VL: “Focus on political reform – [sa] first two years wala tayong naririnig dito – at sa electoral reform, [or in areas] like Political Party Reform Act and electoral finance. Without it, tutuloy ang corruption. Ito ang ugat ng ating corruption. [At least] we still have two-thirds of his term left to see kung kaya niyang mag-deliver sa mga pangako niya.”   SC: “Malayo pa tayo sa institutional politics tulad ng magandang nakikita natin sa party systems sa US at UK. Dito talaga, personality-based. Kailangan siguro natin ng pagbabago ng pananaw at isipan na nakikita kong pwede pang mangyari dahil sa dami ng ating mga kabataan. Sila’y mulat at gising at bukas ang kanilang isipan. Nakagisnan nila sa social media yung Arab Spring at mga political reform sa buong mundo. Sa ating henerasyon, sad to say, ay hindi natin nagampanan ang dapat gawin sa personality-based politics. Kung kakausapin natin ngayon si Noynoy [Aquino's nickname], ipupunto niya sa 'yo na meron nalang tayong tatlong taon, labing-isang buwan at labing-tatlong araw. Alam na alam niya kasi binibilang niya only to remind himself of the need na kailangan na po niya ng sense of urgency to do what needs to be done sa maikling panahon." "Bawal ang Pasaway" is a weekly news analysis program hosted by Professor Winnie Monsod. It airs Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM on GMA News TV Channel 11. Follow the program on Twitter and like their page on Facebook. —Job de Leon/PF/VS, GMA News