Dick Gordon's Platform- Making Our Country a Better Place

8/9/2019 Dick Gordon's Platform- Making Our Country a Better Place

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MAKING OUR COUNTRY A BETTER PLACE

Vision, Strategy and Program

of Bagumbayan

2010

Introduction

The supreme goal and objective of our political party is to makethe Philippines a better place to live in, work in, invest in, worshipin, and all those other things that citizens seek in a free anddemocratic society. This is the dream we all share as members of Bagumbayan. This is also the hope we hear from our people aswe travel and listen to them all over our archipelago.

As the first people to recover their independence after World WarII in July 1946, the Philippines should have become by now a truly

modern, developed and democratic nation. Instead, we are anation in chronic crisis and decline.

In 1957 the World Bank said that The Philippines has achieved aposition in the Far East second only to Japan[and] the prospectsof the Philippine economy for sustained long-term growth aregood.

Today, 53 years later, the Philippines is a laggard in Asia,overtaken by Asian neighbors who used to look at us with envy.

Over this half-century, from one administration to another, greatopportunities have come and gone. We have faltered because ourgovernment did not rise to its basic reason for being: to assurepeace and security throughout the land, to provide opportunityfor all, to lead in growing the economy, and to spread the benefitsacross all sectors of society.


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Instead of peace, our country has been torn apart by rebellion,secession and disorder. Instead of our poor attaining a better life,we have only seen the rich get richer. Instead of sustainable

development, we have witnessed boom and bust, growth andrecession. Instead of providing for all, we have become lesscapable of providing for the health, education and welfare of ourpeople as our numbers have increased to 94 million.

Strategy for Change: Effective Government

We submit that our national decline is due, not to any deficiencyof talent of our people, or a damaged culture, or a lack of democracy. We have faltered because of the lack of effectivegovernment in our country.

Every problem that torments us today is rooted in poorgovernance.From the perennial complaint about graft and corruption, to thenightmare in Maguindanao and the rise of private armies, to thehuge fiscal deficit and the failure to collect the proper taxes, tothe

perpetual weakness of the economy, to the decline of oureducation and public health systems, to our failure to compete inthe world all these are due to weak and ineffective government.

The way forward therefore, first and foremost, is the installationof Effective Government in our country. On this rests our visionand strategy for the transformation of the Philippines into amodern and progressive nation.

Simply stated, Effective Government means a government thatcan get things done, meet its targets and objectives, and realizethe vision of progress and welfare for the nation. It means agovernment that can enable our people and our country tocompete in the world economically, politically, socially andculturally.


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Five Strategic Objectives

Our strategy for change includes five key pillars:

Establishing Peace and Security We will uphold theauthority of the Philippine Government in all provinces andregions of the country by establishing peace and order,bringing an end to the communist insurgency and Muslimsecessionist rebellion, dismantling all private armies, andkeeping the peace in all communities through effective locallaw enforcement.

Rooting Out Graft and Corruption We will stop graftand corruption in all levels of the government bureaucracyby making the President lead by example, installing fulltransparency and accountability in government operations,strengthening the independence of the Ombudsman, andoverhauling government agencies long noted for graft.

Mobilizing Government for National Modernization We will transform the bureaucracy and the public service

into a productive, efficient and forward-looking organizationby adopting best practices in government operations,improving government finances through the collection of proper taxes, providing clear roles, guidelines andprocedures for each government department and employee,and establishing meritocracy as the basis for advancementin the public service.

Managing the Economy for Growth and Global

Competition We will raise the Philippine economy to a

new level of growth and global competitiveness by investingin the modernization of national infrastructure, releasing theenergies of the private sector, simplifying and streamliningthe rules and procedures for doing business, raisingdomestic and foreign investments in the economy, andraising productivity in agriculture, industry and services.


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Developing our Human Resources Recognizing that ourpeople as our most important national resource, we pledgeto provide for quality basic education to every Filipino child,

modernize our education system from elementary to tertiarylevel, relieve once and for all the classroom shortage,modernize our public health system and provide healthinsurance for every citizen.

Establishing Peace and Security

We will establish peace and security throughout the archipelagoby implementing the following measures:

Enforcing the authority of the State in every community,every province and every region in the country.

Bringing an end to the Communist insurgency and theMuslim secessionist rebellion through the process of peaceful negotiation if possible, or by force of arms if necessary.

Disarming and disbanding of all private armies in thecountry.

Improving law enforcement through the reorganization of the Philippine National Police and the greater participation of local government units and local communities in keeping thepeace within their jurisdiction.

Waging a vigorous campaign against organized crime, thedrug trade and illegal gambling.

Rooting Out Graft and Corruption

We assign high priority to rooting out graft and corruptionbecause it is a major obstacle to national progress andmodernization. The spread of graft from revenue agencies tovirtually all government agencies is pervasive. Local governmentshave likewise gotten into the action in a big way. To root our thismenace, we pledge to implement the following measures:


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Make the position of Ombudsman a nationally electedposition.

Declog the Sandiganbayan in the prosecution of corruption

cases. Eliminate presidential pardon for government officials found

guilty of graft. Establish full transparency in executive projects, and include

cabinet officials under judicial and congressional oversight. Punish all those who offer bribes and corrupt members of the

bureaucracy.

Reinventing Government for National ModernizationRecognizing that the role of government has become morecentral and vital than ever in the new global economy, andconsidering how weak and ineffective our government has beenfor many decades, we assign top priority to the transformation of the government bureaucracy into an engine for nationalmodernization and development. The key to achieving this arethe following measures:

Undertake from day one a full performance audit of theentire government bureaucracy in order to determine whatagencies must be retained, strengthened, or eliminatedbecause of obsolescence.

Create clear roles and goals for each department to performand meet in the modernization effort.

Establish meritocracy as the rule for advancement in the civilservice.

Raise the standards for entry in the civil service. Adopt best practices in government management and

operations. Eliminate wasteful spending in every agency of government.

Managing the Economy


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for Growth and Global Competition

Governments role in the economy is central and vital to nationalsuccess. The economy cannot be delegated merely to the private

sector. Government must lead the way. To meet this objective thefollowing programs will be implemented:

Energy Sufficiency and Efficiency -- The current powercrisis and the continued volatility of oil prices highlight theneed for a long-term and focused energy program to achieveboth energy sufficiency and efficiency. We will adopt acomprehensive energy program that should include 1)overhauling and strengthening the Department of Energy, 2)setting clear targets for expansion of power generationcapacity, 3) setting targets for the replacement of oil importswith alternative clean energy sources, and 4) settingstandards for energy conservation and efficient energyutilization.

Food Security and Agricultural Development -- Foodsecurity and sufficiency is the primordial challenge facingthe country every year as a result of typhoons and droughts.We believe Government must commit assign top priority to

agricultural modernization. We have the human resources,the technical knowhow, and the land and marine resourcesto exploit.

Tourism Development and Jobs Creation -- Tourism is anexport industry and its a tremendous jobs creator. And wehave the natural beauty of our archipelago, the colorfulculture and the people that can make tourism a long-lastinggrowth industry in our country. With the passage of the

Tourism Development Act, attention must now focus onmaking it come to life through the right implementing rulesand regulations, and effective reorganization of the Tourismmachinery, and effective management. We set as aminimum the target 5 million tourist arrivals and one millionnew tourism jobs by 2013.


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Infrastructure Modernization and Jobs Creation --Infrastructure modernization is a must for nationaldevelopment and for Philippine competitiveness in the globaleconomy. This is a challenge that the nation cannot shirk

because of lack of resources or whatever. The publicinvestment must be made in the modernization of thenations highways, transport systems, ports, airports, andcommunications. What government cannot provide in termsof capital, the private sector will be encouraged to supply.And whatever domestic investments cannot raise, foreigninvestments must fill the gap. We set the achievement of $20 billion direct foreign investments in three years.

Developing our Human Resources

Our people are our countrys greatest resource. And this hasproven been many times over by our OFWs, our managers, ourengineers, our artists and cultural workers. We believe thereforethe education and health of our people must be of the highestpriority to Government.

To meet our goals in education, we will implement the followingmeasures:

Undertake a comprehensive review of educational prioritiesand reorganize the Department of Education

Add two years to basic education

Meet the classroom shortage and reduce the averagenumber of students to 50 per class within three years

Increase the salaries of teachers to a minimum of P40,000per month to attract top graduates to teaching.

Provide sturdy, electronic book reader to public school


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students to lower costs for books and give them IT knowhow.

To meet our goals in public health, we will implement thefollowing:

Extend free public health services to cover all citizens,especially in the rural areas.

Increase the salaries of doctors and nurses in order to keepmore of them in the country.

Establish compulsory healthcare savings account for allFilipinos.

Establish more Botika ng Barangay outlets nationwide.

Promote responsible parenthood.

Documents

Dick Gordon's Platform- Making Our Country a Better Place