Marcos talks about his 1st year in office
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said there have been changes in the country in his first year in office but much still has to be done.
He said delivering his campaign promises is still “a work in progress.”
“It’s not something that you say, ‘Tapos na (It’s done). I finished it.’ This is an ongoing process. Again, we have to bear in mind that the international situation has changed in terms of trade, in terms of geopolitics. And so, we are having to adjust to that,” the President said when asked about the performance of his administration in its first year.
Marcos said in the agriculture sector for instance, the administration still has to “undo” some 30 to 40 years of “neglect.”
“We are not yet done… There are many, many things that we still need to do. We have to undo 30, 35, almost 40 years of neglect when it comes to the agricultural sector. And the agricultural sector still occupies the most fundamental part of our economy,” he said in a media interview on the sidelines of the launch of the Kanegosyo Center of the Cebuana Lhuillier group of companies at the Palacio de Memoria on Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque City.
The President, who is concurrent Agriculture secretary, said some changes that have been implemented resulted in the industry’s and the country’s growth.
“We are beginning to see the systemic changes that are going to be part of the new bureaucracy, but there is still a long way to go,” he said.
Promoting the country’s food security through agriculture is one of the goals of the administration.
Marcos said in terms of the economy, the country has been putting in place macro-economic basics but issues such as inflation still need to be addressed.
In terms of jobs and wages, he said, the Tripartite Wage Board might conclude its negotiations soon and the government might provide some measures to help uplift the lives of those in need. He did not elaborate.
“So, you know, it’s never enough. It’s never enough. Whatever it is that we have managed to do, there is still a great deal more to do. We have a lot of work still to do and we have to work smart and we have to work well and we have to be very conscious,” he said.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the yesterday announced it has approved a P40 pay increase for all minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
‘RECONSIDER PRIORITIES’
Militant lawmaker Rep. France Castro of the ACT party-list group urged the President to reconsider his priorities after his first year in office to ensure that his policies and priority legislation will “genuinely address the pressing needs of the Filipino people.”
Castro said only two of Marcos’ legislative priorities in his first year in office will directly benefit the marginalized — bill seeking the condonation of agrarian reform debts and the proposed magna carta for barangay health workers.
“Despite the urgent needs of the Filipino people, we see that out of the 31 priority legislations of President Marcos Jr., only two will directly benefit the marginalized,” However, the remaining 29 bills seem to cater to the interests of his cronies and serve to maintain the status quo.”
Castro appealed to the President to focus on pushing for measures that address the pressing concerns of the people, such as salary increases for workers, nurses, teachers, and government employees.
She said the allocation of an equivalent of 6 percent of the GDP to education and the provision of free land to farmers should be top priorities because “these are the needs of the people, not new taxes or the Maharlika Investment Fund.”
“We call on him to reconsider his priorities and ensure that his policies and legislations genuinely address the pressing needs of the Filipino people.”
STABILIZING PRICES
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the President did well in his first year in office, particularly in the areas of “helping ordinary Filipinos, sustaining economic growth, promoting the country as an investment destination, and in foreign relations.”
He said the President did his best in trying to address the Filipinos’ daily-life concerns like rising consumer prices and lack of housing.
“Shortly after assuming office, he was confronted with spikes in the price of certain commodities like onions, which were selling for as much as P800 a kilo, and the basic staple rice,” he said, adding that through a combination of measures, and with the help of Congress, the administration was able to bring down and stabilize the price of onions and rice, he said.
The Speaker pointed out that in the area of housing, the President also had to draw from the experience of his father’s administration by resuscitating housing programs like BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services), which was a project of his mother, former minister of human settlements and First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
Romualdez said the Chief Executive has also launched Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino and ordered the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to construct medium-rise and high-rise condominiums for the poor and government personnel, including soldiers and policemen.
He said sustaining the country’s economic growth is another noteworthy achievement of the administration, noting that the economy grew by 7.6 percent and 7.2 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Romualdez said the impressive growth during the President’s first six months in office was the result of the Chief Executive’s decision to reopen the economy despite the lingering threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that multilateral financial institutions took note of the country’s economic expansion, which prompted the World Bank to upgrade its 2023 forecast from 5.4-5.6 percent to six percent.
BILLS
Two of eight bills certified as urgent and three of the administration’s 46 priority measures have been enacted as of June 9, according to records of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO).
Data from the Official Gazette, meanwhile, showed that the President has signed 20 measures into law during his first year in office.
The priority measures signed into law were: Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act and RA 11935 or the Act Postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections that were that were both signed on Oct. 10, 2022; RA 1136 or the 2023 General Appropriations Act that was signed Dec. 16, 2022; and RA 1139 or the “Act Further Strengthening Professionalism and Promoting the Continuity of Policies and Modernization Initiatives in the Armed Forces of the Philippines” that was signed on May 17, 2023.
RA 1136 and RA 1139 were certified as urgent.
Most of the other bills that were signed into law pertain to extension of public schools or converting public schools into integrated school, except RA No. 11938 that converted the municipality of Carmona town in Cavite into a city, and RA No. 11940 that extended the term of office of the president of the Adiong Memorial State College to four from three years.
PLLO records showed that the enrolled copy of the Emancipation Bill or the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interest of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries was transmitted to the Office of the President (OP) last June 8. Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella said the bill is expected to be signed by Marcos into law by next week.
The OP is also still waiting for the enrolled copies of the Regional Specialty Hospitals measure that was ratified by the bicameral conference committee on May 31, and the Maharlika Investment Fund that was certified as urgent by the President on May 22.
The bill “Extending the Period of Availment of Amnesty of Estate Tax,” certified as an urgent measure, was approved on third reading in both the Senate and House of Representatives last May.
PRIORITY MEASURES
Other priority measures that were certified as urgent by the President are the: National Disease Prevention Management Authority, certified as urgent on February 13; Internet Transactions Act (E-Commerce Law), May 29; Amendment to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law (Public-Private Partnership Act), May 24; and the Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) and National Service Training Program, certified as urgent on Dec. 4, 2022.
The other priority measures that have been approved by the House of Representatives on third reading but are still pending at the Senate are the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (Tax package 4); Ease of Paying Taxes; Valuation Reform Bill (Tax Package 3); the E-Governance Act; and the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distresses Enterprise for Economic Recovery (GUIDE);
Creation of the Virology Institute of Philippines; establishment of a Medical Reserve Corps; National Government Rightsizing Program; National Land Use Act; Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers; amendment to the Passport Law; Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone; Waste-To-Energy Law; Eastern Visayas Development Authority; Free Legal Assistance for Military and Uniformed Personnel; apprenticeship law.
Magna Carta for Barangay Health Workers; Negros Island Region; LGU Income Classification; Philippine Salt Industry Development Act; Comprehensive Infrastructure Development Master Plan; Philippine Immigration Bill; Amendments to the Agricultural Anti-Smuggling Act; and the Amendments to the Universal Healthcare Act.
Approved on third reading in the House but has no counterpart bill in the Senate is the measure on amendments to the Official Development Assistance.
Other priority measures pending in Senate and House committees are on the creation of a Department of Water Resources; budget modernization bill; amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act; Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension for the Military and Uniformed Personnel; National Defense Act.
A bill strengthening the Maritime Industry Authority’s Regulatory Functions is pending in the House but has no Senate counterpart. — With Wendell Vigilia
