Palace counters Binay’s accusations, says administration "hardworking, prompt, and prudent”

MALACAÑANG on Thursday countered assertions of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, claiming that the Aquino administration is "masipag, maagap, masinop” (hardworking, prompt, and prudent) in addressing the needs of the people. The Palace issued these remarks after Mr. Binay launched another tirade against the Aquino administration on Wednesday during the launch of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). Members of UNA, Mr. Binay said, are not "tamad, usad-pagong at teka-teka sa pagharap sa mga problema ng bayan. (lazy, slow, and indecisive when facing the country’s problems). Mr. Binay have launched attacks against the Aquino administration since he quit the Cabinet as the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Concerns and chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council on June 22. At the same press briefing on Thursday, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. mentioned some accomplishments of the Aquino administration, citing data and survey to support their claims. "The responsible thing to do is to base statements on actual data,” Mr. Coloma said. "If there are accusations, the appropriate thing to do is to present these with concrete bases and these should not be based on speculation, cliché, or rhetoric.” On Wednesday, the Vice President in his speech said that many Filipinos remain jobless and hungry and that poverty remains rampant. However, Mr. Coloma cited a Social Weather Stations survey in May which found that 13.5 percent or three million families are experiencing involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. This figure is 3.7 points below the 17.2% or 3.8 million families in Dec. 2014 and the lowest in 10 years since May 2005 when it was 12%. Another survey showed that self-rated poverty went down by 3 percent from the average of 54% recorded in 2014. He also noted that the unemployment rate went down to 6.6% in January from 7.5% last year. The number of overseas Filipino workers also went down to 8.4 million from 10 million. The Palace official cited the findings of a Philippine Institute for Development Studies and United Nations Children’s Fund study which showed that the proportion of out-of-school children -- aged five to 15 years old -- to the total number of kids in the Philippines dropped to 5.2% from 11.7%. Mr. Coloma said President Benigno S. C. Aquino III has built on the platform of good governance. "The Aquino administration has brought forth a government that is open, transparent and accountable,” he said. --