President Benigno Aquino IIIAfter a full year in office,
President Benigno Aquino III reported his achievements in the last 12 months to his “bosses,” through his State of the Nation Address on July 25, 2011.
Eradicating the “wang-wang culture”—as he called the mindset of entitlement—remained high on the President’s priorities. The act of doing away with the “wang-wang” or police sirens, the President said, “has become the symbol of change,not just in our streets, but even in our collective attitude.”
“We are holding accountable— and we will continue to hold accountable—those who practice this culture of entitlement in all government offices, as there are still some who think they can get away with it,” Pres. Aquino stressed.
For example, the “wangwang culture” is still manifest in the private sector, where the Bureau of Internal Revenue reported that 1.7 million professionals and self-employed individuals paid a combined amount of P9.8 billion in taxes in 2010; this indicated that lawyers, doctors, businessmen and the like made only P8,500 a month.
“Today we can see that our taxes are going where they should, and therefore there is no reason not to pay the proper taxes. …It’s not just the government, but our fellow citizens, who are cheated out of the benefits that these taxes would have provided,” Pres. Aquino lamented.
He also scored the prevalent crab mentality and negativism and urged Filipinos to “say something nice” to their fellows instead. “Let us stop pulling our fellow man down…. Let us make the effort to recognize the good that is being done.”
The President cited as one of the bright spots the country’s flourishing energy sector, with the Department of Energy reporting that 140 companies were ready to “participate in the exploration and strengthening of our oil and natural gas resources.” In contrast, the last energy contracting round in 2006 attracted only 35 companies.
Additionally, the chief executive noted that the 2012 national budget was ready to be submitted to Congress, adding that the lawmakers’ support last year paved the way for the passage of the budget and thus, for the timely implementation of government projects.
Pres. Aquino also acknowledged his supporters, saying that by treading the straight and righteous path with his administration, they created the positive changes that the country is experiencing today.
“We still have five years left to ensure that we will not return to what once was. We will not be derailed, especially now that what we have begun has yielded so many positive results,” he vowed.