FIRST 100 DAYS

Romualdez: Marcos steering country in right direction

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. has steered the country in the right direction during his first 100 days in office, Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday.

“The Philippines is right on track, and is sprinting steadily during the first 100 days of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Our economy has bounced back from the ravages brought by the global pandemic and has already reached the first stage to full recovery,” Romualdez said.

"These were made possible because of the President’s choice of the best economic team and the meticulous crafting of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework to serve as the roadmap to steer the country back to its high-growth trajectory," he added.

The Marcos administration’s Medium Term Fiscal Framework includes the following targets:

• reducing poverty incidence to 9% by 2028
• 6.5-7.5 % real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2022
• 6.5-8% real GDP growth annually between 2023 to 2028
• 3% national government deficit to GDP ratio by 2028
• less than 60% national government debt-to-GDP ratio by 2025
• at least $4,256 gross national income per capita to attain upper middle­ income status

In addition, Romualdez lauded Marcos’ foreign policy of being “Friend to all, enemy to none.”

The Speaker cited the bilateral meeting between President Marcos and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nation’s General Assembly where the two leaders cemented a stronger security alliance and discussed opportunities to expand cooperation on a wide range of issues, including energy security, climate action, and infrastructure.

He also invoked the President's state visit to Indonesia and Singapore, where Marcos met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to secure agreements on defense, security, creative economy, culture, counterterrorism, personal data protection, digital cooperation, water resource management and investment.

“The future indeed looks brighter under the Marcos administration. Businesses [are] now ramping up activity, new jobs are created, lost jobs are restored, and economic activities have turned dynamic once again,” Romualdez said.

But Romualdez conceded that there are challenges that need to be addressed.

“We need business to keep going. We need to provide more jobs to those able to work, and we need to keep prices of basic commodities down to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.

“We can only hope to build a stronger nation resilient enough to withstand the shocks of external crisis if we remain united and work together for the common good,” he added.

But for House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, the President is mirroring his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, in falling short on big promises.

“Sa totoo lang parang may pagka-deja vu. Napakaraming pinangako pero wala pa ding natutupad isa na dito ang dapat na pagtataas ng sahod ng mga guro,” Castro said.

(It is deja vu. So many promises were made, including increasing the salary of teachers, but all of them have remained promises.)

“Harassment and killings of critics of the administration continues. It does not matter if you are an opposition official, media, activist or an ordinary person wanting the government to hear your redress, you will either be red tagged, jailed on trumped up charges or worst killed like the case of radio commentator Percy Mabasa,” she added.

Castro urged the President to address increasing prices of basic commodities, saying the salary of workers cannot keep up with such hikes any longer.

“This is the dismal situation of our country under 100 days of Pres. Marcos Jr.'s administration. What he should do is reverse all what he is doing today and we might see some hope yet,” she added. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ/KBK, GMA News