PRESIDENTIAL bet Jejomar Binay will accomplish what the Aquino administration’s “Straight Path” failed to do: ease poverty and improve the quality of the lives of Filipinos, a spokesman said Wednesday.
“The Binay presidency will address poverty by focusing on three things: the creation of more stable jobs and livelihood opportunities, more meaningful income for our workers, and the availability of affordable food,” said former Finance secretary Margarito Teves.
Teves is the treasurer of Binay’s political party United Nationalist Alliance.
He said Binay’s presidency will create the most number of jobs in various sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and exportation, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
To ensure sufficient food on the table, Binay’s administration will increase farm productivity and raise farmers’ income as soon as possible, Teves said.
“Our policy will include reforming the National Food Authority and ending its monopoly on rice importation so it can focus more on food security,” he said.
Binay has pledged not to wait till the end of his term to build more infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities to boost farmers’ production, and promote crop diversification.
Farmers should also be encouraged to switch from subsistence farming to agri-business, Teves said.
To create massive jobs, Binay’s presidency will make it easier for foreign investors to set up shop in the country.
“A policy environment that is more conducive to business will allow local and foreign firms to thrive in the Philippines,” Teves said.
“We need to continue making it easier for investors to do business in the Philippines. A Binay presidency will endeavor to shorten the business registration process from 16 steps in 34 days to six steps over eight days.”
