PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been on eight foreign trips in the seven months of his term. As the country's Top Salesman, it is one thing to make a pitch for the country and discuss his plans to foreigners. But it is another thing, albeit most important, to create a policy environment in support of opening the economy of the country. This can only be made with a certain, stable and predictable policy regime that makes clear to all potential investors the governing laws prevailing in the country, with impacts and unintended consequences measured and assessed, respectively.
EVERY Filipino voter would want to have a successful president because his success is the success of the nation, which means a better life for all. But success is hard to come by if basic stomach issues are not attended to by a president who designated himself as his secretary of agriculture. Even the importation during harvest time came late as it is, even as Nueva Ecija was flooded causing an early harvest.
Had too much food or beer this holiday season? How about too much talking for some, especially on an issue which is close to the heart of the working class after a long break--- returning to work? Anything excessive is bad, which includes being overly or obsessively positive--- called by many today as "toxic positivity."
On 9 May 2022, an overwhelming majority or about 31.6 million (59% of the total votes) Filipino voters cast their lot on the message of unity by (President) Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
The success of any government's efforts is measured by its citizens‘ assessment of their quality of lives. There are several international organizations that have published their quality of life indices and surveys which covers several combinations of components and considerations. In the Philippines, the quality of life survey is regularly published by private pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS).
THE economic team of the Marcos administration gave stability and coherence to a Philippines exposed to Covid and VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). That it was the first to be named and members of which were suggested by then BSP governor Benjamin Diokno was a very bold move. All talking in one language, rowing in one direction with agreement readily had was welcoming in the light of the need to reboot and rebuild, not from where we were before but toward a new direction and hopefully, a better development model for the country.
WHY should we worry about a strategic first strike by the United States? Why should the country be drawn to a scenario of preventing a competitor from achieving parity with or surpassing the US in economic, technological and military terms? Why should we be alarmed of the US conducting a preventive war? We all have lessons to learn from Ukraine, NATO and encircling Russia and threatening its survival. We all know that the number of deaths are not NATO forces or Russian but more and more Ukrainians are at the core of the destruction. So these questions of why are material to any talks on the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Why should we fight the war of the US? Is it in our interest to do so?
Lofty and ambitious- these are two words that describe Pres Bongbong Marcos' goal to bring down poverty rate to 9% by 2028 as the current administration is set to unveil the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 by December 2022. This is considering that the poverty rate at end 2021 was 18.1% based on figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) or double the 2028 target.
LEADERS will have to take hold of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in light of the recent Basilan and Cotabato ambushes because the perpetrators are said to be young recruits of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with which we have a standing peace agreement. This does not augur well since we are already on the last mile if you will go with the implementation of the peace process. Still, the list of codes passed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, or BTA, will have to be subjected to a midterm audit, which should have been done first before rearranging the composition of the second parliament of the BTA which was inaugurated last September 2022, with the President himself going to Cotabato City for the ceremonial opening.
Page 1 of 2
The LOBBYiST
More Than Just Views