Unfortunately, she expects fewer customers because of Typhoon Egay. This means less income for her.
She’s just a few meters from where the president works, but she feels she’s not getting any help from him.
“Kasi para sa akin ano parang hindi okay yung palakad. Kasi parang wala ring nababago eh… Wala naman kaming natatanggap na tulong eh. Kahit yung mga sinasabi nilang sa DSWD ang halos nakakakuha dito sa amin meron namang pera eh. Yung 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program),” Sibal says.
[Translation: I don’t think there are changes under his governance. We don’t get any help. Beneficiaries of DSWD’s 4Ps here are those with money.]
Estrella appeals to President Benigno Aquino III to visit them and check out how they’re doing.
“Dapat bumaba siya. Tignan niya kung sino yung nangangailangan. Marami kasing nangangailangan dito eh. Hindi siya bumaba. Di gaya ni Arroyo nung araw. Bumababa talaga siya. Saka nakakapasok lahat ng mahihirap sa Malacanang. Pinapakain kami. Di ba?” she says.
[Translation: He should go out and visit us, to see who are those in need. There are a lot of us here. He doesn’t go out unlike Arroyo before. During her time, the poor were able to get in Malacanang. We were fed.]
‘No trickle down’
Political analysts say the administration’s promise of inclusive growth did not materialize.
“Inclusive growth is putting food on the table of the poor. You cannot put food on the table unless they have jobs. And the economy is not producing the jobs that we need,” says Malou Tiquia, a political analyst.
“So when you see the marginalized sector of this society occupying pathways, island, certain public spaces. And they say: ‘We’re poor, so give us P5,000 a month under the CCT.’ It doesn’t say well because you don’t teach them how to get jobs.”
“People are still poor. Whatever gains you had is not trickling down… So you could not claim that the poor has benefited. That would be stretching a lot the argument,” says another political analyst, Antonio Contreras.
“What inclusive growth are you talking about? It has to be felt by the people,” he added.
But then there are also those who say the president’s programs are helping.
“Nararamdaman naman po. Kasi naman po pahirap ng pahirap ang buhay. Maraming nagugutom sa kalye yung kami nga po nagtitinda ang kinakain namin tutong eh dahil nanghihinayang kami sa kanin,” says Magdalena Dimano.
[Translation: I can feel it but life is getting more difficult. There are a lot of hungry people on the streets. Even us who are selling food eat the burnt portion because throwing it our is such a waste.]
“Hindi ba meron din namang binibigay na pabahay? Tumutulong din naman siya sa mga mahihirap. Lalo pa yung mga taong nangangailangan talaga ng tulong sa kanya,” Asuncion Nalos says.
[Translation: There is housing, right? He is helping the poor, especially those who need it the most.]
For the government, inclusive growth means it is growth that is “rapid enough to matter.”
Citing statistics
Malacañan uses statistics to argue its case as evidence that it has done so much for the poor.
“Puwede naman itong ma-validate dun sa pamamamagitan ng pag-aaral ng independent bodies no? Yung isa sa independent survey na tinukoy natin last week lamang. Yung self-rated hunger for example, bumaba na mula sa level na 17% to 12% na pinakamababa simula ng 2005,” says Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma.
[Translation: The inclusive growth in the country is validated by independent surveys. One example is the independent survey I mentioned last week, which says that self-rated hunger in the country went down to 12% from 17% — the lowest since 2005.]
Coloma says measuring the Aquino administration’s accomplishments is also a matter of perspective.
“Siguro para mas simple ang pag-unawa natin yung mga bumatikos ang nakikita nila yung half empty na baso. Tayo naman ay kung paano na ito napuno,” Coloma says
[Translation: To put it simply, those who are criticizing the current administration sees the glass as half empty. We, on the other hand, look at how it became full.]
A clear manifestation that the government is performing well, Coloma points out, is the prevailing economic environment.
“Nakapagtatag tayo ng matibay na pundasyon para umasenso ang ating bansa. Kaya naman yung ibang bansa kinikalala na rin ito. Doon sa pamamagitan ng pag-gawad ng investment grade rating. Kumbaga sa paaralan yan yung report card natin,” Coloma says.
[Translation: We were able to establish a strong foundation for growth and other countries are recognizing this. We were given a (good) investment grade rating. Comparing to a school, this is like our report card.]
Gains not for Aquino to brag?
But Tiquia and Contreras both agree that Aquino’s predecessor deserves the credit to the country’s economic success.
“The macroeconomic fundamentals of the Arroyo administration I guess were really rooted in a manner by which our economy is moving so he’s reaping the gains of those fundamentals,” says Tiquia.
“And many of the economic progress, that success this government is claiming, didn’t even start with them. It even started during the previous administration. So it’s just a continuation of what has happened, of what’s been prepped by GMA’s admin, with due respect and all in fairness to her,” says Contreras.
Tiquia says whoever wins in the 2016 presidential elections should focus on improving the situation of the poor.
She says this would address the real problem of the economy.
“So for the next administration it can’t be a marathon. It has to be a 100 meter dash. You cannot afford, we cannot afford having a leader who doesn’t know what he or she needs to do in the first 100 days. The first 100 days determines what kind of leader we will have, the kind of focus he will have,” Tiquia says.
Contreras, on the other hand, wants to see more empathy from the next president.
“I think the president symbolizes the detachment. He doesn’t simply care. And for Filipinos that’s very important,” Contreras says.
Where the difference lies
Building bridges, making trains run faster and more reliable, analysts say, are something that’s expected from the government.
They say what will make the difference is how it makes its citizens feel.
Contreras, in particular, wants to “put some humanity back” starting with the next president.
As for Malacanang, work continues.
