ON A scale of one to 10, Senator Cynthia Villar on Thursday gave the administration of President Benigno Aquino III an overall performance rating of “fair seven.”
Villar said in a weekly forum at the Senate that Aquino was able to perform his duties and push his programs that will benefit all the Filipinos despite the challenges that he is facing as the president of the country.
“If you look back and look at his accomplishments, we could remember those,” Villar said.
“It’s really difficult to be a president. It’s so easy to say you are lazy (and) you are indecisive (but) to move the bureaucracy, it is really hard,” she said.
Villar noted that one of the President’s accomplishments is the passage of a law granting health insurance for Filipinos in 2013, which is funded through proceeds from sin taxes.
She said it is important that the universal health care was passed into law, helping around 15 million poor families.
The senator also cited the enactment of K to 12 Program Law, which will add two additional years in high school.
She, however, said the program's success has yet to be seen as it will be implemented in 2016.
Villar also stressed the good performance of Aquino’s Cabinet officials in terms of infrastructure, state weather bureau modernization, and trade promotion and monitoring.
Villar lauded Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson for improving country’s infrastructure and fighting corruption in the department.
She cited the improvement in the weather forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), which is under Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo.
“They have improved Pagasa. We have to give that to DOST. Their prediction if there will be a typhoon or none becomes more accurate. It is very important for the Philippines because we are the most disaster-prone country in the world,” she said.
The senator likewise said the price control of the Department of Trade Industry is there to ensure consumers would not suffer from exorbitant prices.
While she lauded the country’s improving economy, Villar said the administration was not able to alleviate poverty.
Based on the 2014 Annual Poverty Indicators survey, poverty incidence among Filipinos in the first semester of 2014 was estimated at 25.8 percent.
“When (the administration) starts (to serve the country), 25 percent of our population is living below poverty line and now, it is still 25 percent. There is an economic growth but it’s not really trickling down to the poor,” she said.
Earlier, Villar's colleague Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave a "poor six" rating to the administration, noting the President's "lackluster" Cabinet performance.
Marcos, chairman of Senate committee on public works, cited the deterioration of the country's transport infrastructure system as proof of the government's inability to deliver basic services and the lack of a long-term plan for the country's development.
"What any Cabinet should do is plan not only for what we need today but also for what we would need in the future," he said. (Sunnex)