AN ANALYST AT a US investment bank is cutting
about the Philippines government. "They have no credibility,"
she says. "They are so bad that I can't even bring myself to
listen to them any more. And my clients are losing
faith."
Unfortunately for the Philippines, this is not a lone renegade
voice condemning the performance of president Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo's administration. It's a view echoed by many. The head of
global markets at another bank with pan-Asia coverage says: "On
paper the players look technically very impressive, and they give
the best Powerpoint presentations, but they continually fail to
deliver. Their credibility is severely stretched."
In just two years, the goodwill and support that Arroyo and her
band of technocrats claimed when she stepped into the shoes of the
disgraced Joseph Estrada have been frittered away. Her plans to
stamp out corruption, increase tax revenues, rein in a stampeding
budget deficit, privatize state assets...
