Long-term growth plans

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is asking Congress to give it a charter that will strengthen its functions and enable it to make economic plans that straddle administrations.

According to Neda Director General Ernesto Pernia, in the absence of a mandate to craft long-term plans, Neda, which is envisioned by the Constitution to be an independent national planning agency, comes out only with medium-term plans, such as six-year development plans.

A review of Neda’s past record validates this observation since majority of its approved programs have gestation periods or time frames for completion that fall within the term of the administration that agreed to it, or one or two years after the end of its term.

On a number of occasions, projects already approved by Neda under an outgoing administration had been set aside or shelved by the incoming administration for political reasons or to favor certain vested interests.

In a manner of speaking, the country’s economic wheels are reinvented or realigned whenever a new president is elected.

Although Neda is meant to be an apolitical office, the fact that its chair is the President of the Philippines and its director general is a presidential appointee makes it susceptible to political pressure.

Its direction, for at least six years, is determined, if not heavily influenced, by the gods in Malacañang.

Transitional 

The perennial short-term character of the country’s economic programs has become a cause for concern for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the agency that Japan uses in giving loans and aid to developing countries.

As the Philippines’ top provider of official development assistance loans for decades, Jica clearly has the competence (and “right”) to express its views on this matter. After all, their money is on the line.

In a recent interview, Jim Wakabayashi, director of Jica’s Southeast Asia and Pacific department, said: “One could say it is a difficulty that the administration will change after six years, and there could be cases where the whole development strategy changes under a different administration.”

Citing the challenge of transitioning from one president to another after six years and maintaining consistency in development strategies, he stated that “individual projects might be affected, which might work as a detriment to the country as a whole when it comes to installing important infrastructure.”

Consistent with the Japanese tradition of politeness and civility, however, Wakabayashi refrained from saying if the six-year term with no extension provision of the Constitution for presidents should be changed to address the concerns he raised.

The message that he was trying to send can be read between the lines.

Strategic plans 

Long-term economic planning (backed by political will) has proven its worth in our more economically developed Asean neighbors Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

They have economic plans that span 20 or more years that their political leaders implement and, when circumstances require, make appropriate adjustments to meet their stated objectives.

The development roadmaps are products of the expertise and foresight of their economic and social planning agencies similar to Neda.

Although the top echelon of these offices owes their appointment to the political leadership, they leave whatever political baggage they may have by the door when they enter into office.

With carefully crafted 20-year economic programs on the table, there is hardly any incentive for the political leaders, as they come and go, to reinvent the wheel when they take over the reins of government unless there are compelling reasons to do so.

It helps the countries mentioned have parliamentary systems of government that allow close coordination between their executive and legislative branches.

While it is true that in the parliamentary system the executive officials are not hobbled by fixed terms of office that characterize the presidential system, they are nonetheless obliged to hold elections at predetermined periods or whenever the composition of the political parties changes.

Cooperation 

For long-term economic planning to succeed in our country, it is essential that Congress adopt a sense of “co-ownership” of the projects and activities contained in the program that transcend political ideologies.

Without legislative support by way of annual or continuing budgetary allocations and covering laws, all those plans and programs will be useless. They will remain in the drawing board and will be no different from privilege speeches that lawmakers routinely deliver to get their three minutes of publicity on radio or the evening news.

The challenge to the present Neda board in pushing for the amendment of its charter is to convince the legislators of their competence to do the job and that they can be trusted to prepare viable and sustainable long-term economic plans that are devoid of political color or selfish interests.

This is the best time for Neda to undertake this task considering President Duterte has shown by his actions that he is giving his economic managers a free hand in running their affairs while he concentrates on the project closest to his heart—eliminating the country’s drug problem.

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