GMA Administration Failed to Meet Most Medium Term Development Plan (MTPDP) Targets

While the Administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can point to some accomplishments, most of the targets it laid for itself in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2004-2010 have been missed.  Significant key targets were attained only in the macro-economic program, particularly the moderate economic growth averaging around 5 percent per year since 2001, and in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development – only 2 of the 17 assessment themes of a recent Assessment of the MTPDP conducted by 27 civil society organizations (CSOs).  GMA left office with many more of the MTPDP targets remaining unfulfilled promises.

In summary, the CSO assessment shows that, after 5 years of implementation (2004-2009), the MTPDP has not resulted to reduced inequality and poverty, a sustainable economy and people empowerment and democratization.  The GMA Administration’s MTPDP failed on these three development goals.  Attaining these goals would be an important challenge for the administration of President-elect Noynoy Aquino, asserts Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), one of the convenors of the CSO Assessment.

Poverty incidence has increased even as economic growth benefited the richer 40% of Filipinos, and the poor still have limited access to productive resources (farm land, fishing waters, etc) and basic social services.

The government targeted in the MTPDP to reduce poverty incidence to 20 percent or lower by 2010. However, despite economic growth in recent years, poverty incidence increased from 30.0 percent of the population in 2003 to 32.9 percent in 2006 and the number of poor people from 23.8 million in 2003 to 27.6 million in 2006.  The next official poverty data will be for 2009 and is expected to come out only in early 2011, but with the rice and oil price increases, global financial crisis and the disastrous typhoons in 2008 and 2009, poverty incidence has likely increased.

Data on employment in the agriculture sector from the National Statistics Office (NSO) show that from January 2004 to January 2009, the employment in the agriculture sector grew by only 679,268 jobs compared to the MTPDP target of 2 million jobs.

The government – thanks largely to the strong advocacy campaign by various groups supporting agrarian reform – delivered on its commitment to pass the law extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP, but the administration missed its target of distributing 100,000 hectares of private agricultural lands (PALs) per year and failed to complete the land acquisition and distribution component of CARP by June 2008. There is still a balance of 1 million hectares of PALs to be distributed.

The MTPDP targeted to complete the delineation of municipal waters, which would be reserved for small fisherfolk. But the Assessment showed that as of 2009, while the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) reported that it had completed mapping and delineating 918 municipalities in 66 coastal provinces, only 31 of the LGUs have passed the required ordinances stipulating its municipal waters.

Decent housing for the poor also remains a major problem.  Against the original MTPDP targets, the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) and Presidential Proclamations (covering government land to be distributed to the urban poor) did poorly, attaining only 54 percent (52,689 households) and 44 percent (93,233 households) of their targets respectively by June 2009.

In her State of the Nation Address in July 2009, President Macapagal-Arroyo claimed 86 percent nationwide PhilHealth coverage, effectively achieving universal coverage as the government defines it (85 percent), but the Assessment found that PhilHealth coverage is most likely overestimated. The 2008 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey showed that only 37 percent of households were headed by PhilHealth members.  Also, the support value (the amount that PhilHealth shoulders from the total bill of the patient) remains way below the 70 percent target at 25-40 percent for hospital ward rates.

Economic growth has not produced enough jobs and savings and investment rates remain low, which are all fundamental requirements for sustainable economic growth, the assessment found. Also, bio-diversity and environmental sustainability are damaged by MTPDP strategies such as the promotion of mining and large-scale agri-business.

Investment rate, targeted in the MTPDP to increase to 28 percent of GDP by 2010, has instead gone down from 17 percent in 2004 to 14-15 percent in 2005 to 2008.  Savings-to-GDP is also far below the target of 30 percent, averaging at 18.5 percent in the past five years.

The MTPDP targeted a balanced national government budget in six years.  It was almost able to achieve this, ending 2008 with a small deficit of P68 billion.  However, as a result of the global financial crisis, the budget
 deficit again went up in 2009 to P298 billion and is estimated to reach more than P300 billion this year.

Arguably however, it is in government transparency and accountability that the GMA Administration has the lowest mark.  The CSO assessment showed that the record of the Ombudsman on lifestyle checks is unclear.  The lifestyle check efforts were dealt a serious blow when the Office of the Ombudsman restricted public access to the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) that it has in its possession thru its Memorandum Circular 01 dated June 16, 2009.  High profile procurement controversies were numerous. The most visible of these were the attempted procurement of a US$ 329 million national broadband network and the “fertilizer scam”.

In addition to the non-attainment of most of the key MTPDP targets, the CSO assessment found the plan itself wanting, particularly in its lack of emphasis on asset reforms despite the historical problem of income and resource inequality, its lack of consideration for environmental sustainability and its narrow view of certain concerns, particularly tourism and information and communication technology.

The convenors of the CSO Assessment of the MTPDP are 27 CSOs, including development NGOs, peasant, indigenous peoples, urban poor organizations, and networks and coalitions.  The convenors worked with six assessment advisers – Prof.  Leonor Briones, former National Treasurer, Dr. Cielito Habito, former Socio-Economic Planning Secretary, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, Mr. Alberto Lim, former Executive Director of the Makati Business Club (MBC) and now newly appointed Tourism Secretary, Atty. Christian Monsod, Chairperson of the Philippine Agrarian Reform Foundation (PARFUND), and Dr. Mary Racelis, of the Department of Socio-Anthropology of the Ateneo.

Civil Society Assessment of the 2004-2010 MTPDP 

Download a copy of the SUMMARY here 

 Download a copy of the FULL REPORT here