MEDIUM-TERM DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2001-2004

Part IV

GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THE RULE OF LAW

G ood and effective governance is vital to winning the battle against poverty within the decade. This rests on a sound moral foundation, a philosophy of transparency, and an ethic of effective implementation. The politics of personality and patronage will be replaced with a new politics of party programs. Underpinning this is a process of consultation and people empowerment that will provide a foundation for true reforms. Leadership by example is imperative.

The administration is committed to simple, fair, transparent, and predictable rules to reduce the cost of investing in the country. To reduce red tape in the national government, within 12 months, all government agencies will implement measures within 12 months to cut into half the number of signatures required for their service. Regulatory reforms are needed to safeguard and protect consumer welfare. Institutional reforms will heighten accountability and serve the public interest. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) will be showcases in the fight against graft and corruption.

In battling graft and corruption, procurement reforms in government are indispensable. The government is firmly committed to the decentralized structure enshrined in the Local Government Code. However, there will be seamless efforts from the national government to local government units in implementing investor-friendly registration requirements. Electoral and judicial reforms will be pursued to guarantee political stability.

New partnerships between the government on the one hand, and business, civil society and people’s organizations on the other, will be forged and strengthened as the bureaucracy is right-sized to permit a reengineered government to do more with less in the delivery of public goods and services. This requires a performance-based and results-oriented government.

Peace and order, and security against terrorists and external aggressors are crucial to growth and development. In this regard, the administration has forged a general ceasefire agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and has initiated peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF). The modernization and professionalization of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be accelerated.

The coming years will see the growing importance of multilateral and inter-regional organizations in promoting common interests. The government will abide by its international commitments, such as those agreed upon in summits held under the auspices of the United Nations. In the area of regional and international economic cooperation, commitments under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff – ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CEPT-AFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are observed.

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