A year after assuming office, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his administration should put into action the plans they laid out in 2022 to address the major issues like prices, attracting foreign direct investments, ease of doing business among others, this time setting targets, milestones and deliverables within specific timelines.
This is the sentiment of business groups as they anticipate today’s second state of the nation of address of Marcos Jr.
“It’s game time. Those plans should come out of the dugout and be in the ballgame. With COVID (new coronavirus 2019) no longer a public health emergency, it is time to also focus on other urgent concerns,” said George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Barcelon cited the importance of setting timelines in lowering the prices of goods like agriculture, and of logistics which add to the cost of commodities, especially with the Philippines participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Barcelon said PCCI hopes the government sets a vision on how to improve productivity of agriculture to ensure the sector’s competitiveness.
Barcelon said ease of doing business while being adequately addressed by the Anti Red Tape Authority needs more push on the local government unit (LGU) level as it will also eliminate corruption.
He said LGUs should improve the environment and set clear regulations to spur business and job opportunities.
“It would be better if LGUs also set targets to attract investments for job opportunities. LGUs should be more pro-active,” Barcelon said.
He said doing business can further be eased through digitalization to eliminate face-to-face transactions.
Edgardo Lacson, chairman of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines listed 10 SONA proposals which also include reduction of corruption in government and keeping inflation in check.
Barcelon said legislative and administrative branches of government appear to be not in sync when it comes to wages.
“The P150 wage increase being proposed by (Senate President Juan Miguel) Zubiri is sending the wrong signal to foreign investors which all these presidential visits want to attract. How can we promote the Philippines when there are proposals like that?,” he said.
Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the ECOP and of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., agreed, saying the government should stop efforts to legislate minimum wage in the country.
Ortiz-Luis listed SONA imperatives that the legislative branch could consider: passage of the amended Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Act; ASIN Law; PhilPorts Act to decouple the regulatory and developmental functions of the Philippine Ports Authority; Revised Warehouse Receipts Act for movable collaterals and; increase in the budget of the Department of Trade and Industry particularly for export promotion fund and shared services facilities Ortiz-Luis said for the executive branch, businesses reiterate their appeal for the urgent repeal of an administrative order mandating cargo registry and monitoring which they said will add huge cost and extra processing time to import and export shipments.
Ortiz-Luis agrees with Barcelon and Lacson on the need to keep prices stable and proposed for a rationalized importation of raw materials.
On ease of doing business, he said the government should implement the Regulatory Impact Assessment in reviewing existing and new government processes.
