Challenge to Change

Sen. Aagara's speech for the Dumaguete City Host Lions Club
28 July 2007

We're seeing interest rates at record low and lending at the biggest scale. The currency is stable and international reserve is huge. Those are the signs of the growing economy.

However, we know that much still has to be done in order to achieve a better quality of life for the general populace.

In order to sustain our economic gains and transform them into benefits for the individual, there are five areas of concern that in my belief the Senate, other branches of government and the private sector need to address immediately.

One, human resources development and job creation.

We need to look into ways of making the Philippines competitive through educational reassessment on Science, Math and Engineering.

Investing in the youth can have huge payoffs for the future, and yet we are doing very little to educate them. We should expand the opportunities and improve the capabilities of the youth because skilled and educated people have a relatively good chance of obtaining better jobs.

Our country's competitiveness slid down 29 places since 2001. Now we are in the bottom third of the global competitiveness list of 117 countries. That is a serious drop, and one that gravely affects our development as a nation and our attractiveness as an investment venue for employment and income.

Our competitiveness is rapidly slipping because we fail in technological innovation, because we make meager investment in basic science, research and development (R&D), and basic infrastructure.

As much as 73% of Physics teachers in the country are non-majors on the said field. How do we expect our children to have a mastery of the subject if their physics teacher is, for instance, a PE major? Moreover, a study of international trends in Mathematics and Science shows that Filipino students performed poorly compared with students from other countries. We placed at No. 41 and 42 in the math and science exams taken by high school students in 45 countries.

The problem of global competitiveness has tormented us for years. This 14th Congress, the Senate will create the Congressional Commission for Science, Technology and Education (COMSTE), a resolution I have filed in the 13th Congress and which the President has signed into law in February. COMSTE will study the reason for our graduates' waning competitiveness and come up with recommendations that aim to improve our capacity for innovation and help us cope with the changing needs of our time.

Moreover, I would like to underscore the importance of SMEs which create 95% of the jobs in the country. We need to pour in resources to the small-and-medium-scale enterprises through technology-transfer, input support and credit access.

Promoting, supporting, strengthening and encouraging SMEs especially in rural and agricultural areas translate to job creation. This will also enable small and local businesses to take the lead in the country's development-my vision of a stronger Philippines.

We also need to enhance eco-tourism and agri-tourism. Tourism is going to create jobs especially in the rural areas if we boost infrastructure development. The most successful tourist destinations - countries like Italy, Spain and France - capitalize on their history, culture and natural beauty. Tourism alone is a key factor in driving their economies.

In the next five years, the agribusiness, cyber services, tourism including medical, health care services, the mining and aviation industries will generate more than 4 million employments places. In the agribusiness sector alone, more than 2 million jobs will be created from now until 2010.

Our efforts must be geared towards this movement - developing human capital in response to the great changes in the labor market and the demand of the times.

Second, fiscal and financial reforms.

Last Congress, there were several bills under the Committee on banks that were left pending when session adjourned. These bills pertain to the creation of:

• the Credit Information Bureau which will create a comprehensive and centralized credit system;

• the establishment of Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA), a long-term savings plan designed to provide secured retirement to our OFWs;

• the Pre-need Code which aims to protect both the companies and the clients;

• and the Corporate Recovery and Insolvency Act which will provide a clear framework for the insolvency proceedings for ailing companies.

Together, all these reform laws should reinforce the banking and financial sectors, thereby sustain the momentum for rising investment and growth.

Third, action for the poor.

As part of my priority agenda, I filed the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), expanded Senior Citizens' Law and the Loans and Scholarship Programs Act of 2007.

Through CHIP, children of low-income families are entitled to a full range of health services.

There are about 33 million children in the country, and 14 million of them are considered poor. Poor families would usually forego health care, or borrow money at usurious rates, sell the few assets they have, and pull children out of school, just to afford health services when catastrophic illnesses strike. But more often than not, their limited resources go directly to putting food on the table, leaving very little for their health care needs.

The state cannot afford to neglect the health of our country's children, if we hope to raise a strong and productive future generation.

Once passed into law, CHIP will complement the existing PhilHealth, which I authored in 1995. It will provide children with a full range of health services like regular checkups, immunization, prescription drugs, laboratory tests, X-rays, hospital and clinic visits, medical equipment, even dental and eye care.

Under the present PhilHealth Act, all senior citizens, including indigents, are provided with access to health services. But with the proposed CHIP, the country's health services would now also cover children under 18 years of age, one of the most uninsured members of our population.

The Expanded Senior Citizens Law on the other hand will exempt the elderly from the 12 percent E-VAT.

The real intent of the Senior Citizen's Law, which I authored and is even known as the Angara Law, is to grant benefits and special privileges to the Filipino elderly. Under the existing law, senior citizens are entitled to a full 20% discount on the purchase of goods, services, medical and dental services, transport fare, funeral and burial services, among others. With the proposed 34% senior citizen's discount, the negative effect of the 12 percent VAT will be compensated for.

The Loans and Scholarship Programs Act of 2007 will allow students to defer the payment of all education fees until after they have graduated. It will be a Study Now Pay Later program. I also want to expand the GASTPE or Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education, which is currently the biggest private scholarship in the country.

Fourth, political reform.

It is high time that we have genuine political parties rather than mere groupings of politicians.

Our politics of personalities and the lack of a genuine party system have stunted our progress to political maturity and hindered our economic development as well.

Only by focusing more on programs and platform rather than personalities and popularity are we ever going to break this vicious cycle of bad politics and bad government.

Through my proposed Political Party Development Act, it is my aim that political parties will be the selector and trainor of true political leaders.

And finally, the fifth area of concern: we must ensure that we have peace in our country.

The government must resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front. I will urge the Senate to look in this issue in a new perspective so that we can give our people the peace that they deserve and so they can enjoy the blessings of what passes for democracy in our economy. Only then can we bring progress in the south, and plug the millions of pesos we spend for the war in Mindanao.

This is a year of challenge and change. Let us be responsive to the needs of the time. I dare you to be at the forefront of our reform efforts and to spearhead the movement towards a globally competitive nation.

I believe that a society can only attain its full meaning if we commit ourselves to the task. We have to consolidate and face the challenges of pursuing sustainable development. I am sure that if we meet these challenges, we will fully attain the society we deserve.

Thank you very much.