Daang Matuwid: The Hits and Misses
“Daang Matuwid” is a tagline used by the present administration led by the 15th and outgoing President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III. Way back 2010, being the standard bearer of the Liberal Party, President “PNoy” was been proclaimed President-elect with 15, 208, 678 total number of votes. PNoy began as the 15th President of the Philippines on June 30, 2010, at noon.
“Daang Matuwid” also known as the Coalition of the Straight Path was expressed by President PNoy as the roadmap that will enable the Philippines to achieve First World Status by 2030.
If you can still remember in his New Year’s message, he cannot be filled with pride for the achievements of the country in the last 5 years under his administration.
“I join all Filipinos as we bid farewell to a historic 2015 and expectantly look forward to a peaceful, prosperous 2016. Our country’s soaring economy, robust democracy, and magnified presence on the global stage not only promise a great start to the coming year but also highlight the Philippines’ ongoing narrative of resurgence under the Daang Matuwid,” Aquino said.
“Just a little more than five years ago, we faced a future full of despair and uncertainty; reports of plunder, mismanagement, and corruption dominated our headlines. Today, progress, opportunity, and growth fill news about the Philippines both here and abroad,” he said.
“Indeed, the Daang Matuwid is a roadmap that will catapult us into First World Status and make us a $1-trillion economy by the year 2030,” he added.
But many Filipino people including the “Iron Lady of Asia” Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who also present herself during the recent presidential election feels depressed of this tagline, “The righteous path that the administration has campaigned on in 2010 turned out to be the ultimate frustration of the Filipino people,” as she lashed out at the Aquino administration for the first time in her campaign facing the crowd of mostly students and faculty at the UST.
“The administration has failed to implement many reforms to curb corruption. These include the Freedom of Information Bill or Law, which I strongly supported in the Senate, and the Anti-Premature Campaigning Law,” Miriam highlighted in her speech.
But here’s the Bottomline: Does this tagline “Daang Matuwid” happened?
In Pnoy’s recent interview with the media on June 10, 2016, he beams the achievement of his anti-corruption campaign what he and his colleagues called, “Ang Daang Matuwid.”
2012, it was when Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached in his position for failing to sufficiently disclosed all his assets.
According to Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, the Philippine standing in international community improved because of the better use of the public funds.
But for the critics said the achievement is not enough, for one the administration failed to deliver on PNoy’s campaign promise of FOI or the Freedom Of Information Law.
The anti-corruption campaign also failed to sufficiently cover the lower ranks of the bureaucracy.
“You have to go down the line, of the bureaucracy which was not completed and therefore we would say, figure half done,” said Edna Co, UP National College of Public Administration and Governance.
There is also criticism of the administration diversion of public funds to the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP. Billions in Pork Barrel funds were allegedly used to get congressional support for the administration’s agenda.
The Supreme Court would later rule that parts of the are unconstitutional.
“Here you have the paradox of a government pursuing good governance through the use of traditional political means through the use of patronage so that a big minus to the entire anti-corruption and legacy of this administration, ” said Julio Teehankee, DLSU Dean, in an interview with ANC.
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