CenPEG

The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to achieve a concensus among participants on the state of Philippine governance since the crucial elections of May 2004, when, for the first time since Ferdinand Marcos, an incumbent President ran in an election on the basis of the claim that she had to finish what she had begun in 2001, as well as to articulate proposals to address Philippine problems, and critique existing approaches and policies if necessary.

Among the initiatives that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she had to continue to address were the economic crisis, poverty, unemployment and corruption in government, as well as peace and order and the Muslim and communist-led insurgencies.

Based on her own claims then, the success or failure of Philippine governance so far can be measured in terms of the answers to the following questions:

What steps if any have been taken to halt the economic crisis and broaden employment as well as business opportunities as measures to address chronic Philippine poverty and improve the Filipinos' quality of life?
To what extent has the problem of corruption-which has been identified as a major cause of the fiscal crisis, mismanagement and the loss of billions of pesos that could otherwise have been used for social services, infrastructure construction and economic inputs-been addressed?
What of the perennial complaint about peace and order which, together with government corruption, foreign investors almost always raise as a reason for their hesitation to invest in the Philippines? Has the peace and order situation improved and to what extent?
How has the participation or inclusion into mainstream politics of marginalized sectors and groups been encouraged and the democratic rights of the people promoted and protected?
As far as the Muslim and communist-led insurgencies are concerned, what steps if any, have been taken to solve them? Are these steps working, or can they work?

If indeed there are clear and consistent steps that have been taken to address these issues as President Arroyo pledged during the elections, what are the chances of their viability? If no such steps have been taken, or if the steps that have so far been taken are not enough, or perhaps even contributory to making existing problems worse, how many we account for it, and what proposals can be advanced to address existing problems and to prevent the making of new ones?