Noynoy has good grasp of issues

By Boo Chanco, www.boochanco.com, Philippine Star

Noynoy was a very pleasant surprise last Saturday during the interview session with staff and columnists of the Philippine Star. I had given him up as a policy lightweight after I read the text of his Makati Business Club speech. In his first important policy speech on the economy, Noynoy sounded like any ordinary politician eager to say what his audience wanted to hear but saying nothing of substance. In fairness to him, I understand he did well in the Q and A portion.

I was not expecting the Noynoy who faced us last weekend. His responses to our questions would warm any policy wonk’s heart. His answers were crisp and to the point but even then, he displayed knowledge of the important nuances that must not be left unsaid. In some cases he made no commitment but gave the signal that he understood the complexity of the issue.

It was interesting that Noynoy described himself as an economist even if his training in the discipline was just like ours in the undergraduate level compared to the PhD of Ate Glue. But I will take his honesty to Ate Glue’s betrayal of her discipline for political exigencies. I am sure most of the folks at the UP School of Economics where Ate Glue got her PhD are just as frustrated with her.

There are those who might say that perhaps Noynoy was just better briefed after his MBC exposure revealed obvious gaps. But even if this is true, it would show a brain that is able to absorb a lot of data and policy options in a short period of time. This definitely debunks the evil suggestion of Ernie Maceda that he may be autistic. Maybe Maceda, in this late stage of his life when the mind isn’t what it used to be, confused genius with autism. Being basically shy and reserved isn’t autism.

In fact, I am now sure Noynoy is ready for a one-on-one with Manny Villar on a variety of issues including economic. Come to think of it, Villar was pretty evasive on many economic issues during our interview with him about a week ago. We unconsciously gave him an easy pass simply because we assumed that he had a good grasp of the issues due to his academic training and his many successful years in business. With Noynoy, we were a little more critical.

In agriculture, Noynoy captured the problem of the sector in the first sentence of his response to our question. He said the problem has to do with farmers’ income. Food security is a concern but it can only be attained if we are able to assure farmers they can make a living planting and growing our food crops. “The focus should be first, maximizing means of the farmers to keep them in agriculture and second, ensuring a steady supply of rice.”

On the question of saving our manufacturing sector, he wondered softly but audibly if there was anything left to save. He doesn’t think we are ready for free trade but he also thinks that economic favoritism of past administrations created manufacturers who are unable to compete in a free global market. To him, the key to making our manufacturers competitive is to level the playing field. No more crony capitalism.

Global competitiveness, Noynoy also said, cannot be attained for as long as power rates are as high as they have been. He says there has to be a way of bringing power rates down. He doesn’t think bringing down power rates is as simple as addressing the royalty issue. He promises to have an open mind on what to do next in making sure power rates go down enough to make our industries competitive. High power rates, he said, is a deterrent to more job-creating investments.

He likes the idea of renewable energy but he realizes it is not that simple. Price competitiveness is key. Our problem now, he pointed out, is also complicated by misguided investments in unproven technology like jathropa.

“It has to be a good mix. There is a lot of money being spent on renewable energy, biofuels, and jatropha. That is misguided. There is no jatropha industry in the world.” This was precisely what I had been saying in this column. Ate Glue even created a new PNOC subsidiary to invest in jatropha. We should have spent money on modernizing our coconut industry instead, since coconut is a proven alternative energy source, among others. Investing in coconut will also lift a large number of our countrymen out of poverty.

On attracting foreign and local investments, he shares the view of Villar that the present dispensation’s horrible image is the biggest deterrent. He cited basics we must provide in order to increase FDI and local investments. Level playing field. Rule of law and predictable policies. Provide infrastructure, upgrade communications, secure reliable and reasonably priced power.

On his economic priorities, he said creating jobs will be at the top of his mind. “Our backbone is job generation and our biggest prospect is the IT field and tourism, and agriculture especially the post-agriculture aspect. There will be an infrastructure program. I also want to revive our manufacturing.”

He sees the deployment of OFWs as a stop gap measure while we grow our economy to the point when no Filipino needs to go abroad to get a good job. “(OFW) deployment is both a boon and bane,” he said. “We have the cash but there is also a social cost.” It is the social cost of OFW deployment, the children growing up without their parents, marriages broken up by separation… these are the things that worry Noynoy as all these will impact on all our futures because he recognizes the family as the foundation of our society.

He sees the provision of a good education as the key to the creation of a wider middle class. He wants not just tuition fee subsidies for poor but deserving students, he wants government to be more proactive in protecting parents and students from diploma mills. He thinks CHED should have been more vigilant in weeding out the nursing schools that are unable to provide the education promised. He doesn’t like the current situation of nursing schools producing a bumper crop of ill-trained nursing graduates who cannot get employed here or abroad.

On smuggling, he said the government knows who are the smugglers and can eradicate the malaise in a jiffy if it really wants to. He said he has been given a list of habitual smugglers and among the first things he will do when he assumes office is to take a direct hand in stopping them, even if it means opening all the containers identified with the known smugglers in his list.

He is for making the Bank Secrecy and Anti Money Laundering Laws more effective in weeding our crime and corruption but he also thinks the present Council is simply not doing what it should. His running mate, Mar Roxas is proposing to require public officials to waive their rights under the bank secrecy law as a means to cut down corruption in government.

On the additional two years in our education curriculum, he is for providing early education at the preschool level, something his fellow Tarlaqueno Education Secretary Jesli Lapus advocates. That levels the playing field at the start and may help reduce the number of drop outs in the higher grades.

Overall, I found Noynoy responsive to our questions, on and off camera, in a very refreshing way. What strikes you is a lack of a personal agenda other than the national good. You can feel his honesty and I got the feeling he regards the presidency as a mission rather than as the pinnacle of a lifetime ambition. To many people, those qualities are enough. I was looking for a good brain that can grasp nuances of policy issues and I am convinced he has one.

If as seem to be what is turning out that the contest is between Noynoy and Manny Villar, I think it could be the best presidential contest we have had in years. For one, it brings back the two party system. The earlier they do a one-on-one encounter so we can compare them more clearly, the better it will be for the country.