TWO Presidents in succession—Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III—cleaned up the country’s fiscal house and succeeded in bailing out the country from the hole they inherited from previous administrations.
Once dubbed as the “sick man of Asia,” the Philippines emerged as one of the most promising economies in the region with growth rates peaking at more than 6 percent.
The Duterte administration is now trying to improve on those gains amid the uncertainty that Mr. Duterte’s centerpiece war on illegal drugs has brought.
The two former governments relied heavily on the fiscal acumen of outgoing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amado Tetangco, who for years labored and quietly did his job in the backroom before being promoted as BSP chief by GMA. PNoy reappointed him.
President Duterte hopes to continue with the macro-economic policies of the previous administrations, and in fact has promised to do more by ramping up infrastructure spending, promoting regional and rural development and investing heavily in human capital development. This supposedly includes health, education and nutrition.
The bad news, my gulay, is the President Duterte will no longer have Tetangco as the gatekeeper of the country’s coffers. He has offered to stay, but such a scenario involves a congressional amendment of the BSP charter. For health reasons, Tetangco also politely declined what could have been an unprecedented third term.
The central bank in the Philippines is 67 years old, but crucial events of the past two decades have changed how the fiscal managers do things. The late Miguel Cuaderno, the first Philippine central bank governor, was greatly responsible for the BSP charter.
I am sure economist are aware that these have to do with the BSP’s lowering its policy rates to negative territory and of quantitative easing. But, the fact is, the fiscal tools which Tetangco adeptly used encompass other fiscal gears beyond the traditional interest rate and on-site supervision. But, that’s an entirely different story.
Tetangco has been hailed worldwide for his extraordinary fiscal management but I have always believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It helped a lot that Tetangco came from the ranks. He knows, even with eyes closed, how different apparatuses work. He knows, by heart, the people whom he entrusts with such gargantuan tasks.
Now that Tetangco’s end as BSP chief nears, I humbly submit that President Duterte should not look elsewhere for Tetangco’s heir. GMA and PNoy have shown us that getting someone from the ranks is always a wise decision.
No less than Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said that the next BSP governor is the most important appointment that President Duterte will make.
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There are some familiar names. There are BSP insiders Nestor Espenilla and Diwa C. Gunigundo. There is former Trade and Industry Secretary, Bankers Association of the Philippines and ex-Monetary Board member Peter V. Favila. There is also East West Bank president Antonio C. Moncupa Jr.
Among these, I support Espenilla. He strengthened the Philippine banking system to the point that our banks today are known to be the strongest in the Asean region. They have a healthy capitalization position, which makes them flexible in absorbing unexpected shocks to the economy and bank customers.
Espenilla shaped the country’s macroeconomic policy by bringing his unique perspective as the BSP’s main bank regulator to the decision-making process of the high-level BSP Advisory Committee on monetary policy. In particular, Espenilla finetuned BSP policies by linking his path-breaking efforts in financial supervision to the promotion of an effective and efficient monetary policy in the context of a rapidly developing financial system.
As chair of the bank supervision committee, the main platform for dialogue with various banking industry associations, Espenilla established a culture of participation and feedback to help in crafting and communicating sound and effective bank regulations initiatives.
This is not to say that the others in the radar are not competent and qualified. They all possess qualities that would help the country attain economic progress. But why run the risk of failure when there are people from the ranks who have already made an impact on the country’s economic growth?
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“Sino bang walang girlfriend (mistress, or live-in partner or common-law wife)?”
These words coming from Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, and supported by President Duterte, keep ringing in my ears this Holy Week.
This is what I meant when I said that our greatest tragedy is the deterioration of our values.
Now, officials flaunt their immorality.
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When I was a boy growing up in the mountains of Abra, Holy Week was that time of the year I could not forget.
Starting Monday, we were not allowed to play with other children or even talk in a loud voice. I was allowed to go out of the house, but only to watch and listen to the monotonous chanting of old women for the pasyon.
In the afternoon of Mondays through Saturday, I’d accompany my mother, a devotee of Saint Anthony de Padua, to church. And at midnight of Saturday, my parents would take me to the midnight Mass and witness angel-clad little girls as cherubs unveiling the Mother of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, to proclaim that Jesus Christ had risen from his crucifixion.
These days, Holy Week means vacations.
How I long for the good old days!
