“The President’s Men” assumed their respective posts in high office on Friday, making their own pledges to implement programs that would lead to the attainment of President Aquino’s anti-corruption and anti-poverty agenda.

In Pasig City, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin Luistro said the other day that after assessing the true state of basic education in the country, he intends to implement a program that will address all the problems in the education sector within two years.

Newly-installed Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto Henares vowed on Friday to go after big-time tax cheats, intensify the run-after-tax-evaders (RATE) campaign, and raise revenue collection through all means available to her bureau.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who attended Henares’ installation as BIR chief, said these programs are critical in achieving one of the goals of Aquino to cut the number of poor families in the first three years of his administration.

Over at the Department of Health (DoH), its new chief Secretary Enrique T. Ona rallied his personnel to a shift in focus, particularly in addressing dengue fever by improving surveillance of cases and devising more effective treatment strategies for the mosquito-borne disease.

On Friday, Lieutenant General Ricardo David became the 41st Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines with a vow before Aquino to defeat the decades-old communist insurgency within three years.

That will be backed up Secretary Teresita Q. Deles who returns in the Cabinet as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. Deles said good governance will draw in better success in settling all armed conflicts besetting the government.

In her speech, Deles bared Aquino’s four-point agenda in dealing with the country’s security problems:
1.The development of basic services in armed areas such as health and education;
2.The economic reconstruction and sustainable development of Mindanao;
3.Security sector reform; and
4.Incentives performance agenda.

The peace is process very much on top of the agenda. If you listened to him very carefully (in his inaugural speech), he (Aquino) promised to be sincere to the people of Mindanao whether it’s the Bangsamoro, Lumands or Christians,” Deles said.

As an instrument of public policy, David said the paramount thrust of the AFP will be military operations aimed at decimating terrorist groups who remain to be the most imminent threat to the country’s internal peace and security.

Towards this goal, the AFP Chief vowed to assess and recalibrate the military’s Internal Security Operation (ISO) plans, whose priority will be terrorists and armed insurgents.

David said he is setting a self-imposed three-year deadline to defeat the communist insurgency, adding that they hope to achieve this by increasing the number of troops, putting the right commanders where needed, and equipping the soldiers with the necessary tools to do their job.

But Deles underscored that the delivery of basic services such as education and health will be a banner agenda.

She added that the economic reconstruction and sustainable development of Mindanao is also needed in order for it to become a growth area and not left behind economically.