The incompetent Philippine government’s continued obsession with the “ayuda” or monetary assistance program is nothing short of a thoughtless band-aid solution that masks its utter failure to address the real problems plaguing the country. While throwing cash at the poor might look good in press releases, it does nothing to fix the broken system that keeps them impoverished in the first place. This administration seems completely uninterested in real, long-term solutions—like investing in digital transformation to cut bureaucratic inefficiencies, minimize corruption, and give every Filipino access to faster and more effective government services.
The current ayuda program, irresponsibly financed by taxes squeezed from the already struggling middle class, is an unsustainable and downright unfair scheme. The government is essentially robbing hardworking citizens who can barely keep up with skyrocketing costs of living, punishing them for their productivity while doling out cash to buy loyalty from the masses. And what has the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) done to alleviate the burden of red tape and inefficiency? Virtually nothing. Instead of spearheading the much-needed modernization of government services, the DICT remains a useless entity, failing to implement meaningful changes in the digital landscape.
Rather than endlessly bleeding taxpayers dry with unsustainable handouts, the government should be focusing on creating a streamlined, digital-first approach to governance. The rest of the world is rapidly advancing, leveraging technology to make public services efficient and accessible, yet here we are—still stuck in an archaic, manual system that requires endless paperwork, in-person queues, and frustrating delays. It is embarrassing that in 2024, Filipinos still have to take multiple trips to various agencies just to complete basic transactions that should take mere minutes online.
It’s infuriating how the DICT has been nothing but an ineffective, clueless agency that appears to have no concrete direction. Where is the fully functional e-Government platform that should have been implemented years ago? Why is the Philippines still drowning in bureaucratic inefficiencies when even our ASEAN neighbors have left us in the dust with their digital innovations? The answer is simple: incompetence, complacency, and a government that thrives on keeping its people dependent and uninformed.
If the administration truly cared about improving the country, it would stop wasting resources on temporary fixes and start investing in permanent solutions. The Philippines needs a radical shift—one that prioritizes digital governance, eliminates unnecessary red tape, and empowers both businesses and individuals to thrive in a modern economy. The middle class, already carrying the weight of the nation, should not have to suffer further because the government refuses to embrace technological advancement largely because admittedly, Government corruption persists primarily because of this problem in the first place.
Will the BBM Administration be remembered for lifting the poor while dragging the middle class into poverty, or as the administration that empowered the middle class to uplift the poor? If the government continues its blatant disregard for technological progress, history will remember it as the administration that kept the country stagnant while the rest of the world moved forward. The time for real reform is now, and if this government will not do anything then the people must do something drastic to demand it.
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Rafael “Raffy” Gutierrez is a veteran Technology Trainer with over 25 years of experience in networking, systems design, and diverse computer technologies.
