Inertia grips organizations, like governments, out of fear of unknown outcomes of official action.

But the best outcome indicator is always a well-thought-out action plan.

“It’s all in the planning,” a sage once said.   

Indeed, desired results can only be achieved with a sound approach.

Take President Aquino’s fiscal stimulus package. The massive spending program  desires dramatic macroeconomic impact through increased cash emission  into infrastructure, public health, housing, and transportation plus equity infusion in major government institutions.

It is apparent that the administration seeks to strengthen the working class while bent on closing the doors on corruption.

How does the government spend the money? Let us count the ways.

While easier said than done, the administration has established some measure of success particularly in the Department of Public Works and Highways, which gets P5.5 billion from the stimulus package for various projects on roads, bridges, and flood control that are quick disbursing and cost below P40 million.

At the same time, P11.5 billion has been allotted for the National Housing Authority to build in-city medium high rises to provide shelter for 20,000 informal settlers in the National Capital Region.  The fund would also cover the establishment of a Quezon City Business District by providing housing for North Triangle residents.

The Light Rail Transit Authority also gets the much-needed opportunity to repair first-generation 30-year-old trains and upgrade the communication system apart from replacing all 152 units of air-conditioning for 18 trains and improve 11 train station facilities.

All told, the stimulus package is P72 billion, and,  depending on the absorption rate, on which the President is focusing, another P20 billion could be added, according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Timely execution inarguably could result in the desired high macroeconomic impact and more importantly achieve the other half of the goal: that is, to create jobs and cushion the domestic impact of the worldwide economic slowdown.

There are quarters who contend that with “only 10 weeks remaining in 2011,” the stimulus package cannot fly and that the administration is merely implementing a “catch-up job with a twist”.

There is also the opinion that government’s under spending in the previous quarters of the year is the motivating factor of the fiscal stimulus package.

Granting without conceding that these arguments are meritorious, the stimulus package still comes as a viable response to the general predicament triggered by the debt crisis in Europe and the fragile fiscal situation of the United States.

The package also has all the critical elements needed for the country to keep its head above the water and allow Filipinos to participate actively in keeping the economy in motion.

While an exchange of views contributes to getting the job done such must be healthy and strictly issues oriented as in the case of the administration’s stimulus package that is seemingly criticized on how it should be labelled.

The merits of the package can only be determined intelligently if the project list is allowed to take shape and the effects are quantified by the experts.

To expect this fiscal stimulus to have solid outcome within the last 10 weeks of 2011 is simply preposterous.  This undertaking would carry over to 2012, and if Secretary Abad is to be believed, it would not affect the government’s fiscal position next year.

In layman’s terms then, all we could do is monitor with vigilance and throw in the little we can do to help because it is everybody’s responsibility to back the government.  It’s the only one we’ve got.