— As a matter of fact

(Part 2)

Apopular TV personality said yesterday that things have become better. Is the country betteroff two years after Mr. Duterte was elected?

Let us continue to look at the facts.

Agenda No. 3. Competitiveness and ease of doing business. The passage of RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act is a major achievement of the Duterte administration. Streamlining and simplifying processes for obtaining business permits can reduce red tape and prevent corruption. With the policies in place, the administration faces the daunting task of implementing them well. A tall order indeed considering that the Philippines slipped from 99 to 113 among 190 economies with respect to ease in conducting business. The ranking shows how far a country is from the frontier score (1) or the best practice. A score of 1 means that a government has the least number of steps in obtaining a permit, as practiced in New Zealand.

A drop in ranking was similarly experienced in the World Competitiveness Index. The Philippines dropped in rank in all the indicators: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Out of 63 countries, the Philippines was assessed at 50 in 2017, sliding from 41 in 2016.

But the most surprising was the country’s downward slide in the Global Peace Index. Out of 163 countries, the Philippines is now 138th with respect to safety and security, domestic conflict and militarization.The country now ranks second to the last in the Asia Pacific region with respect to peace. opment Assistance and taxation. Government explained that these alternative modes would provide lower costs of money, faster and more efficient project completion. However, PPPs have distinct advantages. PPPs mobilize private capital and leverage private sector expertise. Costs are lower under PPP arrangements. V. Montes cites that the governmentadministered Subic-Clark expressway took 7 years to complete and costs twice as much as its approved budget. The cost per kilometer, is more than five times higher than TarlacPangasinan-La Union-(TPLEX) (1341 million vs. 161 million.) Compared to raising taxes, charging users for the costs of toll roads, airports, and other forms of infrastructure, is more efficient and transparent. The burden is exclusive to the users instead of being shouldered by all.

Agenda No. 5. Security of land tenure. Among the promises that President Duterte did not fulfil was to discontinue land reform. In his meeting with the Makati Business Club on April 27, 2016, he said that land reform “... has not done anything for the Filipinos .... ”. In a complete turnaround, the President said that his government remains committed to pursuing the agrarian reform program. He has been distributing CLOAs to land reform beneficiaries. He said that he will declare the whole of Mindanao as a land reform area and that Boracay will be used for agricultural purposes. This is an unfulfilled promise that turned to be positive.

Agenda No. 6. Invest in health and education. The gains in the health program been sidelined by the Dengvaxia politics. Plus, the provision of better health care has been buffeted by irregularities in spending and inability of government to build more barangay health stations and staff them with doctors.

An assessment of basic education cannot be made due to the lack of current statistics. The results of the National Achievement tests for the last two years have not been released.

The continuation of the K-12 program of the past administration is to the credit of the administration. But its quality is continuously hamstrung by the lack of instructional materials and classrooms. The failure of 20% or 300,000 students from grade 11 to finish grade 12 is a cause for alarm. More alarming are the difficulties of students to read well. There are nonand frustrated readers even among grade six students.

When he was campaigning, Mr. Duterte almost promised the moon to the electorate. In 6 months he said that he will do these things: suppress crime, stop corruption, dismantle the rice cartel and end contractualization “immediately.” Facts do not lie. mguevara@synergeia.org.ph