The Philippine Online Chronicles

Our presidential candidates are gearing up for the May 2010 elections as they travel from one province to another delivering to the electorate their core message and plans for the country. I wonder if they are also thinking of 2015, the deadline for country-signatories to the Millennium Declaration to meet the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. In fact, the new Philippine president will need to report to the United Nations on September 2010 about the country's MDG over the past 10 years.

Are we on track with the MDGs?

The Philippines is still off-track in more than 40 percent of the 21 indicators of the MDGs, according to a tripartite report made by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) which reports as follows:

“The Philippines is off-track in more than 40 percent of the 21 indicators, including poverty, hunger, infant mortality and maternal health,” the report stated, which means the country is either slow in achieving targets or has no progress and/or regressing in achieving the goals. The report showed that of the 11 countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is among those with the highest percentage of missed progress deadlines, with fledgling Timor-Leste having the highest percentage—with over 60-percent underachievement.

The Philippines is regressing in primary enrollment; same with the number of students who reach the last grade, primary completion. The country is slow in achieving $1.25/day poverty, incidence of underweight children, infant mortality, antenatal care, and incidence of births with the aid of unskilled professionals.

In its progress report on the MDGs last  October 2009, the Philippine government said there may be trouble ahead regarding targets for achieving universal primary education (goal number two), as well as those on improving maternal health (goal five), specifically improving the maternal mortality ratio and increasing access to reproductive health services. But it also said that there was a high probability of meeting most of the other targets for the rest of the goals, which are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger (goal one); promoting gender equality and empowering women (goal two); reducing child mortality (goal four); combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (goal six); ensuring environmental sustainability (goal seven); and developing a global partnership for development (goal eight).

Since the Arroyo administration came to power in 2001, all key performance indicators in education in fact have floundered. The percentage of schoolchildren who reach up to grade six, for instance, is down from a high of 75.9 percent in 2001 to 69.9 percent in 2006. Elementary dropout rate in 2001 was 5.75 percent, but went up to 7.36 in 2006. The percentage of those who repeat a grade is also up, from 1.95 percent in 2001 to 2.89 percent in 2006.

Maternal mortality declined in the Philippines but won't reach MDG targets.  Though the decline of maternal mortality continued, it was at a sharply diminishing rate.

The target reduction in maternal mortality rate is 52 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015. The decline slowed down considerably and appears to have stalled, so that this goal has been identified as the least likely to be achieved for the Philippines.

We need to encourage reporting, discussion, and debate on the MDGs, particularly Goal Two (universal access to primary education) and Goal Five (maternal health) from the presidential candidates and the electorate. Ten years  already passed since the Philippine government signed the Millennium Declaration that enrolls the MDGs (eight goals, 18 targets, 48 indicators), but public awareness remains low not only among journalists, but also among local government officials.

Civil society organizations like Youth Vote Philippines based their presidential issues on the MDGs and encourages town hall meetings and discussion through their e-Leksyon 2010: A Voter Empowerment Project. Even Blog Watch initiated MDGs discussions with presidential candidates when they do not support the Reproductive Health Bill. This is where issues on sex education, maternal health, and infant mortality is tackled.

The government achieved gains in certain areas but it has acknowledged that the goals of universal access to primary education and improving maternal health are the least likely to be achieved before the 2015 deadline.

Indeed, primary education and maternal health are strategic context issues of the poverty that one in every three Filipinos endures. And yet, all our candidates in all elections past and present have sworn to uplift the poor, albeit mostly in campaign spins and slogans only. Perhaps we, the media, should not just let them talk, sing, and dance their way out of these issues.

Media plays a crucial role revving up government action on the MDGs, and in encouraging voters to critically assess the performance of local officials in terms of the specific and interrelated development targets set under the MDG framework. Media “can do a scorecard on a politician” by using the targets and indicators used in the MDG. "Combining hard evidence and human interest in a story is the key for media to aid the citizenry in deepening democracy and for the government to work effectively in achieving the MDG," according to Minar Pimple, regional director of the UN MDG Campaign in Asia.

Amid the noise and fury of the ongoing election campaign, let's educate ourselves with the Millenium Development Goals and Indicators. Then, we can ask our candidates if the  MDGs form a critical and strategic policy issue in their platforms.

Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) announced the PCIJ project on the MDG, which will give writing grants to journalists who will write stories about the MDG status of the Philippines, and the platforms or reactions of national and local politicians in achieving it. Journalists are encouraged to pitch in stories on the issue by the end of February 2010. Pitches or inquiries may be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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