Arroyo: ‘Hard choices’ paid off for RP
By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:36:00 12/03/2008
Filed Under: world financial crisis, Diplomacy, Foreign affairs & international relations
HONG KONG—The Philippines has been able to weather the effects of the global economic crisis because of the “hard choices” it made in the past to reform its fiscal system, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told the Clinton Global Initiative here.
The President said the “painful reforms” that her administration implemented—such as expanding the coverage of the value-added tax—has provided the country with the “fiscal stability” and the resources needed to weather recent economic storms.
“If we had not made hard choices several years ago to be able to raise the revenue, we would not be able to address that challenge,” she told the forum, an annual charitable conference that former US President Bill Clinton holds for his foundation.
With the increased revenue collection, she said the government was able to provide a steady supply of rice, the main staple, as well as subsidize rice for the poorest citizens and keep transportation costs low as the financial crisis began to bite.
Clinton, who was a college classmate of Ms Arroyo at the Georgetown University in Washington D.C. in the 1960s, said that before they came onstage he had asked Ms Arroyo to explain how the Philippines was doing and how Filipinos were being affected by the global crisis and “what she thinks she can do that’s most effective and whether the same policies would apply in other Asian countries.”
Ms Arroyo said the biggest challenge is not what steps to take but the resources to be able to carry out those steps.
“Certainly, the steps are applicable but the challenge would be, were they able to do their homework beforehand, to be able to have a strong fiscal position to do all of this,” she said.
RP relatively well
The President stressed that the Philippines was “doing relatively well” in the face of the crisis and that the government was trying to soften its impact on the poor.
Ms Arroyo spoke at the opening plenary session Tuesday of the two-day CGI forum, being held abroad for the first time, on the theme “Balancing Growth, Sustainability, and Equity.”
Clinton established the CGI in 2005 as a “nonpartisan catalyst for action that brings together global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues.”
The CGI said its members have made nearly 1,200 commitments valued at $46 billion for causes like access to schooling for eight million children and help 42 million malnourished children.
But this was the last time that Clinton would be holding the meeting overseas as his international business connections pose potential conflicts of interest for his wife, Hillary, who has been nominated US secretary of state. The former president has agreed to stop holding the meetings overseas and to refuse donations from foreign governments.
Clinton asked what role the Philippine business community and civil society—some of whose members have become Ms Arroyo’s fiercest critics—would have in ensuring sustainable growth for the country.
The President answered that they had a “tremendous role” since the government “cannot address all these social and economic challenges alone.”
Philanthropic work
She noted the philanthropic work of the foundations of the Zobel, Zuellig, Aboitiz and Lopez families, some of whose members were participating in the conference.
“They have all been a tremendous help in addressing the needs of the poor. But at the same time, we also expect the business sector not just to be a partner of government in philanthropic activities but also in corporate citizenship, producing goods that are needed by the poor, producing with environmental technology,” she said.
“In other words addressing the triple bottom line, not only financial viability but also social responsibility and environmental sustainability. And we’re very glad to have many business groups in the Philippines that adhere to that mantra ‘doing well while doing good,’” she added.
To which Clinton remarked: “See how she gets so many votes?”
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