THE government is being run on “auto-pilot” mode with no direction.

Thus said Lakas-Kampi-CMD Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales, even as she gave the Aquino administration a failing grade on its one year in office.

“After a year in office, hunger is up, poverty is up, unemployment is up, dissatisfaction is up, prices of oil and commodities up, electricity and water rates up, transportation rates up, corruption up, trust rating down, business optimism down, foreign direct investments down, investor confidence down, job generation down, etc.,” said Magsaysay.

Asked the exact grade she is giving the President, Magsaysay said: “50 percent dahil hindi pa niya napapatupad iyong mga pinangako niya sa ating lahat. Imbes na guminhawa buhay natin, mas naghirap tayo. Bukod sa mataas na bilihin, gas, pamasahe, kuryente, tubig, unemployment, nagugutom, double standard ang hustisyang pina-iiral: isa sa kakampi at isa sa kaaway. Hindi rin nasugpo ang corruption dahil patuloy pa rin ito sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno, etc.,” said Magsaysay.

She also scored President Aquino for habitually passing buck to others “his incompetence.”

“It is time to own up your shortcomings. Act positively on it and move on,” said Magsaysay.

Relatedly, Migrante-Middle East, an alliance of progressive Filipino migrants’ groups in the Middle East, also gave Mr. Aquino a failing grade in his first year in the presidency.

“After a thorough consultation and deliberation and assessment on what the Aquino presidency had done so far after a year, we, member-organizations of Migrante in the Middle East, declare that he failed to deliver what he had promised during presidential campaigns and policy pronouncements during his inaugural and public speeches. Thus, we are giving him a failing grade of 65 percent, 10 percentage points below the 75 percent passing grade,” said John Leonard Monterona, the group’s regional coordinator.

Monterona said his group’s parameters in assessing the performance of the President are based on what it promised to do, in the absence of a concrete plan for migrant workers, and what it actually had done during his first year in the presidency.

“During his inaugural address, Aquino issued a marching order to all concerned government agencies to attend to various overseas workers’ issues and concerns that fell short on the deaf ears of his officials; after that we never heard any orders and actions improving the plight of migrant workers and their dependents,” Monterona said in a statement.

The group accused the Aquino administration of “patent criminal neglect and dilly-dallying” in repatriating and providing assistance to Filipino workers in war-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

“The Aquino administration had been caught unprepared in repatriating Filipino workers in these war-torn countries, and admitted that it can’t do mass repatriation of affected Filipinos. Worse, it even required vacationing migrant workers to issue a waiver, in effect absolving the government of its responsibility to provide assistance and protection to returning workers,” it said.

In addition, the group said that during Mr. Aquino’s first year in office, three Filipinos were executed in China.

It said the numbers of Filipinos on death row has surged to 122 from 108 in various countries.

“There are around 7,000 Filipinos in various jails worldwide, mostly in the Middle East. Every day, there are six to 10 Filipinos who arrive in coffins in several airports in the country. Many jobless would-be overseas workers have fallen prey to human smugglers and drug traffickers,” said Monterona.

Monterona and Magsaysay are one in saying that  in his first year in office, Aquino did not seriously act providing protection to overseas workers especially in the Middle East.