Key Senate ally says Aquino gov’t’s learning phase over

MANILA, Philippines – Travelling through the straight and narrow shouldn’t mean doing it at a turtle’s pace.

This was the message a key political ally of President Benigno S. Aquino wanted to convey, when queried on how the first year of the President went.

“It’s been a challenging year for the President, and I’m inclined to give him a grade of 88 percent,” Senator Ralph Recto said in a statement on Wednesday.

Recto has been a strong supporter of the Aquino Presidency in the Philippine Senate.

“The ‘moving forward,’ however, should be accelerated. “Sabi nga nila: ang daang matuwid ay hindi kailangang mabagal (“As they say, the straight road need not be slow”),” he advised.

Recto noted that during the past year, the Aquino government has been cautious in using the  people’s money, a direct contrast with the controversial, but decidedly more aggressive economic pump-priming efforts of the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But the Senator pointed out that  “sometimes, one must be aggressive in spending in order to hit some goals.”

Recto then took pains to repudiate the alleged penchant of the past administration to forge questionable contracts, appealing instead for “fairness” and “prudent discernment.”

“The groom need not return a brand new rice cooker as wedding gift just because the giver happens to be his bride’s ex-flame,” he illustrated.

Recto, however, praised the government’s zero tax strategy during the past year, saying it affirmed that there was no need for new taxes to grow.

“We could do more with less,” he acknowledged.

But Recto advised the Aquino government to “find its own answers to the problems of the country”, instead of putting the blame to the past administration.

He said the government must also be able to address the anxieties of the working class, which constantly yearns for stable jobs, decent salaries, cheap consumer goods and lesser debt.

More enterprises should likewise be encouraged to start up, or grow, “ Recto said.  He explained  that new, growing businesses would need a bigger workforce,  hence more jobs, bigger profits, and ultimately, more people and businesses who would be inclined to pay the right taxes.”

“The second year is a make or break deal for the President,” the senator said.

“It is in the second year that the building blocks for a grand  national  take-off are strategically laid out,” he said.

“Simply put, the Aquino administration should start hitting the right numbers by the second year or it loses ‘immunity’ from blame,” Recto warned.