Businessmen were generally upbeat after hearing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inaugural address yesterday, but they said they want specifics.
“It’s too feel good,” said George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), of Marcos Jr.’s speech which contained broad strokes of his plans for the next six years.
Barcelon said the reconciliatory tone of Marcos clearly means “he wants to do his best” to meet people’s expectations.
But the PCCI chief finds the address wanting as Marcos Jr. did not tackle critical issues like how to attract more investments; job creation; industry; connectivity; bureaucracy; ease of doing business and most importantly, corruption.
“These were not even touched. For the issues he did tackle, business wants specifics. Remember, his audience (yesterday) was not not just the Philippines, the whole world was listening. Let’s see how it goes” Barcelon said.
Noteworthy for Barcelon is the fact that Marcos Jr. gave importance to agriculture, a sector which he himself would lead, especially at this time of rising prices of food.
Neglected for decades, agriculture needs infrastructure support like post-harvest and cold chain as well as a revisit of the agrarian reform, Barcelon said.
“When we talk about agriculture, it is all about competitiveness and productivity. You can stop smuggling all you want but there are challenges. With (Marcos) at the helm of agriculture, we want to know what his marching orders are,” Barcelon said.
Like Barcelon, Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines and of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., found as positive for the economy the move of the Marcos administration to continue the Build, Build, Build program.
However, both want the Marcos government to pick up the pace of the completion of the hundreds of infrastructure projects left by the Duterte administration.
Ortiz-Luis said infrastructure is tied to transportation which is critical to the mobility of Filipinos.
But he said Marcos Jr.’s greatest challenge is the escalating prices of practically everything as this would mean “we cannot be back to normal” soon.
Francis Chua, president of the International Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines, said Marcos Jr. through his address, assured the country that he will advance agriculture, energy and infrastructure.
“His speech brings much hope for the future of the country,” Chua said.
