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Philippine President Benigno Aquino III will outline his political agenda when Congress sits on Monday for the first time since the May election, and analysts hope he uses the platform to move beyond his campaign rhetoric.They want Aquino to use his first State of the Nation address to detail how he will fight corruption, improve infrastructure, reduce poverty and cut a large budget deficit, rather than recap why investors largely shun the poor Southeast Asian nation."He's still in the campaign mode," said Benito Lim, political science professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, describing Aquino as a "reactive president, not a visionary"."He should have hit the ground running on day one. I haven't seen any details of his economic agenda to tackle the fiscal problem. What I have heard from him are the problems of the country and his promises to deal with them."One of the key problems is the budget deficit, which was one third larger in the first half of the year than the outgoing government had estimated. The forecast for this year's deficit has been raised to 325 billion pesos ($7 billion), a record in nominal terms and equal to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product.Aquino plans to raise revenues through better enforcement of exisiting laws and cracking down on sumggling, and forecasts of stronger growth could also cut government expenditure.Investors and rating agencies want to see more: plans to broaden the tax base to strengthen underlying revenues and allow for increased investment in infrastructure, as well as the fiscal discipline needed to keep spending under control.Aquino may also outline plans to deal with twin insurgencies, which he says need to be resolved to attract foreign investors. Talks with Muslim separatists on Mindanao seen as more advanced than those with Maoist guerrillas.NO ENCHANTED KINGDOMSpokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino's speech would be a simple presentation of the country's problems and how to tackle them, and the president would not make promises on programmes and projects that could not be funded."There's no enchanted kingdom," he said in a TV interview.Both houses of Congress will convene on Monday, 11 weeks after the May 10 election and nearly four since the Aquino administration took office, and will have to elect a Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.One hurdle for Aquino is public support. His victory margin in the presidential vote was the largest since democracy was restored in 1986, but that has not translated to political dominance in Congress.His Liberal Party does not have a majority in either house, although its numbers have been bolstered by defectors from other parties since the election.The public's high anticipation of his government means Aquino may avoid grand promises or gestures, as he seeks to ground expectations of what can be achieved in a six-year term."I don't expect much from Noynoy's speech because he has to manage the expectation on his government, which is very high at the moment," said Earl Parreno, analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, referring to Aquino by his nickname."He can't afford to further raise those expectations because the risks are greater if he fails to match them with actions and delivers on his promises."(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by John Mair)(For more news on Reuters India, click http://in.reuters.com)
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