PNoy: Second Term If

President Benigno Aquino III is no masochist by seeking another six years in office though he says he continues to consult his “Bosses”.

Has he ever defined to us who these “bosses” are?
Because “Boss” will ring a bell to those who have resources; it will sound out-of-tune to the hardworking middle class. Doubtful if it were to be appreciated in the farms, and a hundred percent sure it will insult the pesoless, the homeless, the hungry.

Economics

Taking into consideration the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), leaps were reported from First Quarter 2012 at 4% to a high 7.3% in the same year’s Last Quarter GDP. A gradual downtrend started in the Last Quarter of 2013 with 7% and 6.4% in Second Quarter of current year 2014 but still said to have exceeded expectations. The GDP reflects a country’s economic well-being and economists interpret the current GDP values as indicators of the nation’s economic success.

Social Reality

In the social structure are classes of Filipinos who may or may not experience the GDP well-being. Unemployment in 2013 is highest in the Philippines compared to the other 9 Asean countries. Also, our poverty incidence was estimated at 24.9% during first half of 2013, with 10.7% of Filipinos in extreme or subsistence poverty including farmers and fishermen. (Philippine Statistics Authority).

Upon observation, the poor are most visible in the streets, riverbanks, and urban poor dwellings of Metro Manila. Street children no longer just roam the streets to beg or sell candies and sampaguita. They now flock in corners of under and over passes and indulge in prohibited scents and drugs or they are used in criminal acts of theft, robbery and even in heinous crimes of kidnapping and murder.

Informal settlers are almost everywhere and in no safe zones. They are most vulnerable during disasters and recent response costs to impacts of super typhoons including deaths, destruction of houses and infrastructure were a great toll to government and private responders both domestic and abroad.

PNoy's Leadership

If one were to assess President Noynoy Aquino’s qualification for a second term, the nation’s economic performance during his first is one major consideration. Of course his moves to end corruption is a long battle begun whose end he may not see as President. And after all is said and done, his “Boss” will ultimately say whether his “Tuwid na Daan” was somehow reached or would remain as it started – a dream.