SUBIC BAY — Warning of “danger signs,” former President Gloria Arroyo lamented Friday that her “hard-fought gains” in the economy were being eroded by President Noynoy Aquino’s “lack of leadership and questionable economic policies.”

Instead of answering the specific issues raised, Mr. Aquino (former Economics student of Prof. Arroyo) fielded a presidential spokesperson, who just tossed around flippant repartee and said nothing relevant to contribute to what could have been an enlightening debate.

Ms Arroyo, now the congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, said she turned over to Mr. Aquino last year a “new Philippines” buoyed by a sustainable growth rate that ended the country’s boom-bust economic cycle.

Whether Ms Arroyo is right or wrong, or partly so, we the people deserve a clear, intelligent response from Malacañang.

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ISSUES UNANSWERED: Unfortunately, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte failed to answer directly the claim of Ms Arroyo that when she (GMA) stepped down a year ago:

* There had been 10 years of uninterrupted growth — even during the global recession — with a 7.9-percent growth rate at its highest. Today, a year later, the economy is still supposedly benefiting from that sustainable growth.

* The country finally had in 2010 its first automated national elections, which she said was “the beginning of political reforms.”

* Inflation during the Arroyo administration was at its lowest, but now it has been going up. There is a similar rising incidence of self-rated poverty as exposed in nationwide opinion surveys.

* Foreign investments are down by half, according to data she cited from the National Economic and Development Authority.

These claims deserve decent, direct answers.

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P1.8-T BUDGET: Meanwhile, the “Good News” electronic circular of the Malacañang press office said that the administration was finalizing the proposed national budget for 2012 that Palace watchers estimated to run to over P1.8 trillion. This year it is P1.575 trillion.

After its meeting last week, the Development Budget Coordination Committee announced there would be a proposed 8 to 12 percent increase in the 2012 expenditure plan.

The group envisions reducing the fiscal deficit from 3.2 to 2.6 percent of the gross domestic product. The country’s economic managers aim to reduce the debt burden in the national budget by 2-4 percentage points from the 22.6 percent in 2011.

There is a proposed allocation of 30 percent for social services, or P500 billion, and an 8 to 12 percent increase in outlays for social protection, basic education and public health.

About 25 percent will be for economic services, or about P400 billion, with a 20-percent increase for infrastructure and other capital spending.

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KEY RESULT AREAS: The “Good News” added that as a whole, the funding focus is on the five Key Result Areas (KRAs) of the administration’s “Social Contract” with the people:

• Anti-corruption, and transparent, accountable and participatory governance.

• Poverty reduction and empowerment of the poor.

• Rapid, equitable and sustained economic growth.

• Just, inclusive and lasting peace and the rule of law.

• Integrity of the environment, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

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‘DIRETSO SA TAO’: Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad said in “Good News” that the zero-based budgeting approach continues to be used to reduce or eliminate funding for programs and projects that are irrelevant, inefficient or not aligned with the KRAs.

If 2010 was the year of “Paggugol na Matuwid,” this year, as zero-budgeting becomes a habit, Malacañang said the national budget’s orientation will be to make sure funding and services will be “diretso sa tao.”

Absolute figures will be published after President Aquino and the Cabinet approve the proposed budget. It will be submitted to the Congress after the State of the Nation Address on July 26.

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SKYCABLE REJOINDER: Re our Postscript last June 23 on SkyCable’s deteriorating service in some areas, its marketing head Rodrigo Montinola emailed us a rejoinder saying:

“1. We adhere to strict technical standards, based on the 2010 PCTA (Philippine Cable TV Association) guidebook on practices and procedures for cable TV operations, and consistent with the US FCC rules and regulations. We wish to assure you that we do not overload customers on our lines.

“2. We are very serious about running after illegal connections. We formed special teams to proactively identify and disable these connections. We also worked with several municipalities in Metro Manila to come up with anti-illegal cable ordinances. The incidence of illegal connections in our network has been reduced significantly due to these efforts, but admittedly, they have not been eliminated completely. We appeal to the public to report such incidents to us, so we can act on them promptly.

“3. We have invested in digitizing our cable TV network, as an important step towards resolving the problem of illegal connections. This has also allowed us the flexibility to offer low-price plans, as well as a unique Cable ala-carte service, for the benefit of our subscribers.”

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LAX POLICING: SkyCable did not say what the PCTA guidebook and the US FCC rules have set as the optimum number of user-devices that may be connected to every line installed, say in a condominium building, so the reception quality is not impaired.

SkyCable uses many splitters per cable line in the same premises, resulting in a sort of systems loss or a diminishing quality of reception for TV/Internet subscribers. What is the optimum limit per line, who sets it, and how is it enforced?

When illegal connections, mostly using unauthorized splitters, are found by or reported to SkyCable technicians, they merely disable them. There should be serious effort to prosecute the thieves.