Aquino gov’t hits back: ‘Arroyo’s political patronage put us in huge mess’

MANILA, Philippines – “Hello? We don’t live in the same neighborhood.’’

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad issued this retort, on Sunday, as he joined the fray over former President Macapagal-Arroyo’s scathing criticism of what she called President Aquino’s “nobody home’’ style of leadership.

Abad said it was “amusing’’ and “galling’’ for the now Pampanga lawmaker to lecture Mr. Aquino about building the gains of her administration.

“The first question that comes to mind is what gains? The people’s gains, or her gains?” he said in a statement. “Prudent expenditure took a back seat to political survival and political patronage during the previous administration,” he said.

Abad cited the case of the National Food Authority, whose loans skyrocketed to a staggering P176.8 billion when she left in June 2010 from P18 billion when she assumed the presidency in 2001.

“P123 billion of that was incurred in just two and a half years, from 2008 to 2010. In those years, we overbought way beyond what we needed and at prices way above world prices,’’ he said.

Arroyo had warned of a danger for the economy because of the kind of leadership displayed by Mr. Aquino which she said had been characterized by a columnist as “nobody home.’’

She said the Aquino administration should build on the gains of the previous administration as she had done with the gains left to her by previous administrations.

To stop the hemorrhage in the NFA, Mr. Aquino has introduced a food self-sufficiency program, posted a bumber rice harvest in the first quarter and substantially cut rice imports to 860,000 metric tons, Abad said.

Responding to Arroyo’s claim of economic sustainability, Abad said that by the time Mr. Aquino took over the presidency in July last year, more than 60 percent of the P1.541-trillion national budget had been disbursed by the Arroyo administration.

“The previous administration left us with our largest projected fiscal deficit to date of P325-billion or 3.9 percent of gross domestic product. Is she saying that is sustainable?” he said.

Worse, the previous administration authorized the “obligation of P16.5 billion of P67.98 billion in Congressional insertions’’ in the 2010 budget, he added.

On top of this, the Arroyo administration consumed more than 70 percent of the P2-billion calamity fund in the first half. Of this, P105 million was allotted for Arroyo’s second district, he said.

“With prudent spending the Aquino administration reduced the deficit to 3.5 percent of GDP at the end of 2010, even registering surpluses in August and November, while able to adequately provide for basic services like increasing the conditional cash transfer beneficiaries to a million and augmenting the calamity fund by P1.75 billion,” he said.

“Nobody home? Of course! We’ve left the old neighborhood. We live in a new neighboRhood now—where decency, transparency and accountability reign,” Abad said.

Communications Secretary Ramon Carandang said Mr. Aquino was not “annoyed’’ by Arroyo’s criticism.

“[He was] just surprised at the nerve of GMA. She’s clearly scared that she may be made accountable and is trying to muddle the issues,’’ Carandang told reporters in a text message.

The initial exchange prompted by Arroyo’s remarks has set off an “online cat fight’’ between deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte and Arroyo ally, Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan II, however, observed that the “taunting’’ contributed nothing to public debate say on the row over Spratly islands, much less to the good of the Filipinos.

“This has always ended in a senseless taunting. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy, the whole country waits for the government’s assurance that is in charge, it has clear objectives, and has plans, and that the government and all sectors are organized to implement these plans,’’ he said over dzBB. “This is counter-productive.’’

But contrary to some perception, Honasan believed that “somebody is home,’’ and said, in a manner of speaking: “There is light; there is power.’’

Meanwhile, Valte tried to downplay her exchanges of tweets with Magsaysay for close three hours Saturday afternoon over Arroyo’s stinging comment of the President.

She said this was a mere exchange of opinions, and both she and the lawmaker agreed on this.

“We only had a discussion. It’s not like we had a showbiz fight. Nothing of that sort happened,’’ Valte said in an interview over government-run Radyo ng Bayan. “We’re both ladies and we’re mature.’’

It was all a matter of presenting the two sides of an issue, and this did not entail trading of insults, she said.

“Yes, [all’s well that ends well],’’ she said.