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How is
the Philippines faring when it comes to meeting global
development goals?
Not too
well, if we’re to believe civil-society groups.
In a
recent gathering to review the country’s accomplishments
in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
Prof. Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch
Philippines and BusinessMirror columnist, said, “The
political leadership in our country failed to hit the
MDG targets. The reason behind this is that the
government is not fully committed to it, and the
direction and focus needed to achieve it that should
come from the highest political leadership is lacking.”
A little
background is in order. In 2000, the Philippines joined
189 other countries and signed the Millennium
Declaration and the covenant to attain the MDGs by 2015.
The eight goals are: 1) eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger; 2) achieve universal primary education; 3)
promote gender equality; 4) reduce child mortality; 5)
improve maternal health; 6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases; 7) ensure environmental sustainability;
and 8) develop a global partnership for development.
The
government claims that the Philippines is on track in
meeting most of the MDG targets. However, it concedes
difficulties in meeting the goals in universal primary
education, maternal mortality and reproductive health.
But
Social Watch asserts that most of the goals are not
likely to be fully met, judging from MDG performance for
the past seven years.
The
group points out that the Philippines does not only have
a serious poverty problem, but also a serious inequality
problem. Even as the government insists that poverty
levels have been reduced, this is true only in terms of
the national total. With many regions still stuck in
deep poverty, the national total is pulled up by a few
rich regions.
The
education goals are also problematic, with the
participation rate and cohort survival rate all going
down for elementary and secondary education. Dropout
rates are also rising, with out-of-school rates in the
country now among the highest in Asia.
Insofar
as the environment is concerned, Social Watch points out
inconsistencies in governance characterized by frequent
changes in the position of DENR secretary, and the
inherent conflict in DENR’s dual role as protector of
the environment and regulator of firms engaged in the
exploitation of our natural resources.
Health
is another area where Social Watch sees government
shortcomings, because our infant mortality and maternal
mortality rates remain high compared with other
countries in Asia, and we are still threatened
with diseases that should have been wiped out 50 years
ago, such as tuberculosis and malaria.
Civil
society is on the right track in asking for political
reforms that will do away with political practices that
divert scarce financial resources to the undeserving and
distort government priorities.
By
calling on the Arroyo administration to practice good
governance characterized by citizen participation,
transparency and accountability, civil society is, in
fact, asking that the government should do everything to
attain the MDG goals, which are, after all, part of its
commitments. |
