PRESIDENTIAL candidate Grace Poe on Thursday criticized the Aquino administration for failing to complete more infrastructure projects that, she said, could have made the so-called “economic gains” felt by ordinary Filipinos.
Poe, who topped the senatorial race when she ran as an independent under President Benigno Aquino III’s “Team Pnoy” in 2013, said Aquino could have done more in the last five years.
“You need 6 percent or higher of sustained growth for more years than six years for growth to be felt all the way down,” Poe told Filipino alumni from Ivy League US schools Wednesday night..
“So you can’t necessarily fault the President, but there are many ways that perhaps this administration could have [finished] more projects faster.
“Infrastructure projects and approving the Freedom of Information Bill—because this would have been a safeguard when it comes to people’s representation and participation. If we had Freedom of Information, people could weigh in on government decisions or transactions.”
Economists have chided Aquino for underspending in the first five years of his tenure, which could have greatly helped foster
growth in the grassroots.
Aquino, a senator who was propelled to the presidency after the death of President Corazon Aquino, his mother, also promised during the campaign to pass the Freedom of Information bill
in Congress.
In a statement, Poe said her administration would speed up government programs should she win the 2016 presidential derby.
She also criticized the Transport department’s failure to start the MRT-7 project that will connect to LRT-1 and MRT-3.
She said the stalled projects would have eased the traffic on the major highways and made commuting a little more bearable for the
more than 600,000 Filipinos who took the train daily.
“And while Naia is no longer the world’s worst airport, we should continue to improve the facilities and services at our airports and make them safer for planes, cargoes and especially passengers,” Poe said.
“Should we win next year, we will make sure that ports will be modernized and made more business-friendly. For the communities, we will build more farm-to-market roads to make sure our farmers will be able to distribute their harvests more efficiently.”