Stay the course

Last month, just before President Aquino delivered his State of the Nation Address, the Philippine Business Groups and Joint Foreign Chambers (PBG-JFC) again sent a letter to him encouraging his administration to “cement its reform agenda and showcase its success story to the global community” by focusing on some recommendations. I share now some of these recommendations, as stated in our letter:

“The PBG-JFC is cognizant that your administration’s drive to stamp out corruption has indeed borne fruit and contributed to the country’s
better-than-expected economic performance and competitiveness rankings. We must continue to push the campaign for good governance. It is imperative that public officials, both past and present, who are proven to have been involved in the misuse of public funds be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law at the soonest time and without fear or favor.

“Despite your administration’s best efforts to safeguard the allocation and use of public funds, recent developments demonstrate that corruption still rears its ugly head in the hidden nooks and crannies of the bureaucracy and government transactions. We believe that this greatly highlights the need and value of an engaged citizenry serving as government’s partner in guarding against corruption. Thus, we take note of your commitment during the Daylight Dialogues to pass the Freedom of Information Act before the end of your term and are looking forward to its enactment.

“Connected to this, we also welcome your pronouncement during the same Dialogue regarding the issuance of an executive order seeking to institutionalize a mechanism for public-private cooperation in instilling integrity in governance. On this note, as what was done by the Department of Public Works and Highways, we would like to encourage other government agencies to insist that companies wishing to bid for government contracts should sign the Integrity Pledge and submit themselves to doing clean and ethical business. Finally, we encourage the Executive to closely coordinate with the Judiciary and the Legislative branch to address issues of competence, efficiency, and integrity in the justice system.

“Despite our stellar economic growth, we note that the agriculture sector continues to underperform. Given that this sector employs close to a third of our population, particularly in the provinces, we urge your administration to immediately formulate and implement roadmaps for specific subsectors in agriculture, similar to what has been done for certain industries by the Department of Trade and Industry. Furthermore, these roadmaps must be supported by adequate investments to increase agricultural productivity and to improve the welfare of our farmers and fisherfolk.

“We also reiterate our position that responsible mining holds the potential not only to bring in more foreign investments, but also to increase incomes in rural communities as well. Therefore, we call for the retention of the existing Philippine Mining Act, as we hold that this is an effective piece of legislation if properly implemented. As a complement, we should ensure that we have an internationally competitive fiscal regime for mining, which gives the government a fair share of net mining revenues, as well as ensures an equitable and reasonable return for investors. Furthermore, in deciding on the mapping of ‘no-go’ zones, we reemphasize our position that the value of potential mineral projects should be balanced and weighed against agricultural, tourism, and other considerations.

“The business community is united in the belief that opening up the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) to amendments will result in an unstable regulatory framework and thus may cause the deferment or cancellation of pending and much-needed investments in the power sector. It is our common position that what is needed is the full and proper implementation of Epira.

“Also, we call on the government to ensure that growth targets will be supported by the needed energy investments. As such, a roadmap toward energy security and electricity price competitiveness, which takes into account all the elements of the energy sector from generation to distribution, must be formulated at the soonest time and likewise made available to the public. Furthermore, moving forward, we call on the government to augment the Department of Energy and Energy Regulatory Commission with capable, proactive, and visionary staff, shifting the pertinent agencies away from a reactionary stance regarding energy issues.

“In a forum with business organizations, the Customs Commissioner stated that the value of smuggled merchandise in 2011 alone was estimated to be between P350 billion [and] P1.4 trillion. This hole must be plugged.

“We are aware that the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and various measures on anti-smuggling are moving in both chambers of Congress. It is our fervent hope that, consistent with our goal to eliminate illicit trade and our commitment to the Revised Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, these necessary measures will be immediately enacted and enforced.”

Concerned that some in government may be getting distracted by the scandal involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund, the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program, corruption charges and countercharges, Charter change for term extension, calls for impeachment of the President (and possibly even the Vice President), I am making an urgent plea for the government, private sector and civil society to stay the course toward good governance, inclusive growth and global competitiveness.

Peter Angelo V. Perfecto is executive director of the Makati Business Club.