President Rodrigo Roa Duterte became a “Big Winner” in 2016 after his landslide victory with more than 16.6 million votes. No other prev...
The first 12 months of the Duterte administration has been an extraordinary year -- highly audacious, very productive and marked by political will, making the nation the real winner.
Socioeconomic gains
President Duterte is a ‘government worker,’ as he used to say, who silently and steadily works to produce the best results.
As he entered in his second year in office, the President has laid the foundation to sustain current successes and transform the Philippines to a prosperous, predominantly middle class society. He introduced several anti-poverty initiatives, including the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, a blueprint for the country’s development. He has sustained the country’s economic momentum which would uplift the standing of each and every Filipino in the hope of bringing prosperity for all.
The Philippine economy, under the Duterte administration, registered three quarters of economic expansion. Gross domestic product (GDP) posted a 6.4 percent growth in the first quarter of 2017, making the country one of the strongest performers among major emerging economies in Asia. Foreign direct investments (FDI) registered US$1.6-billion net inflows in the first quarter of 2017, 16.6 percent higher than in the same period last year. This signifies investors’ confidence in the country’s leadership.
The Duterte administration, sustaining the country’s growth momentum, launched the Build-Build-Build Infrastructure Plan that could usher the country in a “Golden Age of Infrastructure.” The major infrastructure agencies of the government, such as, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), together with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), are coordinating and working hand in hand for the first time in history to realize the President’s vision for the country.
To cap his first year in office, President Duterte who chairs the NEDA Board, approved 11 infrastructure projects, cumulatively worth some P304-billion, for implementation in its June 27 Cabinet meeting. These include the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) Phase 1; Malolos-Clark Railway Project (PNR North 2); Cavite Industrial Area Flood Risk Management Project; Clark International Airport (CIA) Expansion Project; Education Pathways to Peace in Conflict-Affected Areas of Mindanao (PATHWAYS); Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program - Philippines; New Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project; New Configuration of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 North Extension Project; Change in Scope, Cost, and Financing Arrangements for the Arterial Road Bypass Project Phase II; Change in Financing of the New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam Project; and Project Approval and Change in Financing of Chico River Pump Irrigation Project.
The infrastructure plan of the Duterte administration is not only limited to a network of roads, bridges and highways. The current government launched free wi-fi and high-speed internet services along EDSA last June 12.
Setting the tone of his governance, the President has initiated many firsts in the area of poverty reduction. These include:
free tuition in state universities and colleges for Filipino undergraduate students starting Academic Year 2017-2018;
free irrigation;
free medical assistance in six hospitals that offer the Libreng Gamot Para sa Masa (Lingap) program which benefited some 9,429 indigents (from March to June 9);
microfinancing assistance that gives Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program for the underprivileged Filipino entrepreneurs, with Mindoro, Leyte, and Sarangani as pilot provinces;
additional P600 rice subsidy to each Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) household beneficiary;
strict enforcement of labor laws particularly on security of tenure, which saw the regularization of 45,605 workers (from July 2016 to March 2017);
across-the-board increase in the monthly pension of more than two-million Social Security System (SSS) retirees;
awarding of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to Hacienda Luisita farmers starting with 111 beneficiaries, as of February 2017; and
fast-tracking the rehabilitation of Yolanda-affected areas with the construction of 50,791 housing units and 1,790 new classrooms and the repair of 701 state colleges and universities, 38 airport facilities, and 27 seaport facilities, as of the first quarter of 2017.
Furthermore, the President has increased the rates of combat duty pay and combat incentive pay of the police and the military. His support to the men and women in uniform is unequivocal. No other Commander-in-Chief has visited so many military camps. PRRD made the rounds and went to 28 camps in 2016 and 15 camps at the start of 2017 to boost troops’ confidence and morale. He likewise made use of the presidential plane to transport wounded soldiers.
These social programs, together with the infrastructure investments, will be financed by, among others, the revenues to be generated by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), certified by the President as an urgent piece of legislation. (PCO)
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