BSP tops MBC poll; water agency ends at bottom

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) landed at the bottom of the list of 69 government agencies covered by the executive outlook survey (EOS) conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC), in partnership with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

With its satisfaction rating dropping to 21.9 percent from 29.7 in the last EOS in 2015, MWSS ranked 69th in the recent survey, down from its previous rank of 58th.

The low satisfaction rating given by respondents to MWSS can be due to the acute water shortage in Metro Manila that started in March and is still being experienced in some parts of the metropolis.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) got the highest rating of 97 percent, up from 95.4 percent in 2015. It was followed by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), up 84.5 percent from 80.3 percent.

The MBC-MAP survey on 69 government agencies was released just days after President Duterte gave his 4th State of the Nation Address, giving a snapshot of what 100 executives from 100 companies thought of the government halfway into Duterte’s term.

In comparison, the 2015 EOS gave a picture of what these business executives thought of the Aquino administration during the tail end of its term.

In the recent EOS, 11 agencies landed at the top 10 spots, with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) tied on the 10th place.

However, only four of these agencies saw their satisfaction ratings improve. Other than the BSP and Neda, the two other agencies that also saw their ratings improve were the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which had 81.1 percent from 76.3 percent, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which scored 78.7 percent from 60.9 percent.

According to an MBC statement, the survey asked respondents whether or not they were satisfied with the performances of government agencies from July 2018 to June this year. The survey was conducted on June 19 to July 22.

In the same statement, MBC executive director Coco Alcuaz said the business group had revived the EOS to help agencies assess and improve their performance especially following the creation of the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Alcuaz was referring to the newly created agency that would implement the ease of doing business law.

Interestingly, the Office of the President ranked at the lower half of the list at 45th, with a satisfaction rating of 49 percent compared to the 64.5 percent rating Aquino received in 2015.

On the other hand, the Office of the Vice President ranked 14th with 74.7 percent under the leadership of Vice President Leni Robredo, up from the 11.9 percent the office received with former Vice President Jejomar Binay at its helm.

The rest of the top five agencies were: the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (down to 84.2 percent from 89.4 percent), Department of Trade and Industry (down to 82.8 percent from 84.8 percent) and the PSA.

Ranking 6th to 10th were: the Department of Finance (80.4 percent from 86.4 percent), Board of Investments (79.8 percent from 84.1 percent), Department of Tourism (78.8 percent from 90.9 percent), AFP, SEC (77.8 percent from 84.6 percent), and Peza (77.8 percent from 92.2 percent).

Seven agencies were included in the survey for the first time: Bases Conversion and Development Authority, which debuted at 12th (77.1 percent), Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) at 26th (59.8 percent) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) at 41st (50.5 percent). PCC and DICT were organized after 2015.