President Rodrigo Duterte hosted a dinner with top businessmen Tuesday night and secured their commitment to invest in poorest areas in the country.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the business leaders showed their support for the improvement of poverty-stricken and conflict-afflicted areas during the three-hour meeting organized by presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.
Duterte held the dinner to clear out the “wrong perception” of the business community against him and presented his plans to sustain the growth of the economy and fight illegal drugs in the country. The president also discussed issues such as “federalism, contractualization, job creation and tax reforms,” Abella said.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez sat beside the president during the meeting.
The Metro Pacific Group said it planned to pour investments in Mindanao as a part of its commitment to help the Duterte administration.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chairman Manuel Pangilinan, International Container Terminal Services Inc. chairman Enrique Razon, Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, SM Prime Holdings Corp. chairman Hans Sy, Aboitiz Equity Ventures president Erramon Aboitiz, LT Group president Michael Tan and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon attended the dinner.
“It was an excellent occasion to see the president up close and personal and I thought it was a very productive meeting,” Pangilinan said.
“It was good for the private sector to communicate with the president what our concerns are, and what we can do to help government’s efforts particularly in terms of the poorest areas of the country,” he said.
Pangilinan said there were discussions about Sulu province and certain areas in Mindanao where the private sector could help. He said his company planned to build hospitals, roll out telecom services, put up housing in partnership with Gawad Kalinga and establish a coconut oil mill in Sulu.
“It’s [Sulu] an island that has lots of coconuts,” he said.