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THE
Philippines is likely to fail in achieving its
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) primarily because of
lack of political will on the part of the government to
effectively implement sustainable human-development
programs, particularly in the areas of health, education
and environment.
This was
the assessment of civil-society groups, led by Social
Watch Philippines, which came up with its alternative
MDG midterm report, giving the Arroyo administration a
failing mark for its dismal performance.
The
report, titled “Missing Targets—An alternative MDG
Midterm report,” said government is already missing on
the most crucial MDG targets which matter most to the
poor and excluded Filipinos. The report is civil
society’s parallel report to the 2007 Philippine Report
on the Millennium Development Goals, where the
Philippines gave itself a positive mark.
In areas
where government claims to have made significant
progress, however, such as reduction of infant mortality
or expansion of forest cover, the claims remain
contested.
Prof.
Leonor M. Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch
Philippines and coauthor of the report, said government
needs to institute drastic changes in policies and to
stop playing with statistics, but begin exercising its
political will starting with proper budget allocations
and implementing programs for the problem areas.
Briones
said the way the MDGs are being supposedly taken
“seriously” by government, there’s very little chance of
hitting the MDG targets.
She
blamed “political corruption” that has resulted in the
rise of a “parallel government” run by relatives and
cronies of people in government that at times have more
control and say over national development programs and
policies. She cited the ZTE-National Broadband Network
project fiasco as an example.
“Deals
are made in golf courses and people who have nothing to
do with government are actually deciding for and on
behalf of people in government,” she lamented.
The
report also highlights the growing social insecurity in
food, jobs, livelihoods, health, education, shelter, the
well-being of women and children, the young and the old,
the rights of indigenous peoples and minority
populations, the health of the environment, and peace
and development. |
