MANILA, July 3– President Benigno Aquino III’s administration has brought a government that is ‘open, transparent and accountable’, a Palace official said in a press briefing Thursday.
“Masipag, maagap, at masinop ang gobyerno sa pagtuon sa pangangailangan ng mga mamamayan,” Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma said during the regular press briefing in Malacanang.
Giving several examples, Coloma said the government has put in place measures that would help ensure the people’s safety when calamities strike.
“Di ba’t ngayon, bago pa dumating ang malakas na bagyo ganap na ang kahandaan ng mga gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng NDRRMC para harapin ang panganib ng kalamidad upang matamo ang layuning ‘zero casualties’ katuwang ang mga local disaster risk reduction councils,” Coloma said.
Coloma also reported the progress in disaster response under the current administration such as the accuracy of weather forecasts and the establishment of Project NOAH.
He further said that because of the government’s prudent spending, the Department of Public Works and Highways has saved P49 billion in the construction of major infrastructure projects.
“Bukod sa pagiging masipag, maagap at masinop, ang pamahalaang Aquino ay nag-ukol ng pinakamataas na prayoridad sa pagpapaangat ng antas ng kabuhayan ng mga mamamayan,” he said.
He also mentioned benefits of the administration’s socio-economic programs that address the needs of the poor.
Coloma said the government allotted 37% of the 2015 national budget for social development and poverty reduction in line with President Aquino’s budget message, “no one especially the poor and the vulnerable should be left behind.”
Under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and Conditional Cash Transfer, and the Department of Education’s K to 12 program, poor families are given financial aid in exchange for sending their children to school.
Implementation of these programs brought about a decrease of out-of-school children aged 5 to 13, from 11.7% to 5.2 percent. There was also an increase in enrollment of pre-primary students from 35% to 48%, with most children coming from poor families.
Recent surveys have shown the positive results of these initiatives, he said, citing a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) last May that noted a decrease of 800,000 families experiencing involuntary hunger.
“The survey found 13.5% or an estimated 3.0 million families experiencing involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. This is 3.7 points below the 17.2% (est. 3.8 million families) in December 2014, and the lowest in 10 years since May 2005, when it was at 12.0%,” the SWS report cited.
In terms of employment, Coloma said the country’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 percent in January 2015 from 7.5 percent in 2014. The number of overseas Filipino workers also decreased from 10 million to 8.4 million, he added.
“Sa darating na 12 buwan, higit pang pag-iibayuhin ang tapat na paglilingkod upang tiyakin ang pagpapatuloy ng reporma at pagiging matatag na mga pampublikong institusyon,” Coloma added.(MACV/PRBC/Earl Jed Roque-Intern, PIA)
