Top policy experts and members of civil society discussed President Rodrigo Duterte’s state of the nation address affecting the country’s economic development in a forum organized by an independent international think tank in Makati City.
“The promise of deep-seated change could not come at a more opportune time. It is obvious to all of us that the government needs to address urgent economic issues and promote a strong flow of investment,” said Dindo Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute.
“It’s clear that the president needs to work with both the legislature and the judiciary to ensure that his projects see the light of day within his term,” he said.
Dr. Alvin Ang, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, discussed how President Duterte recognized the massive coordination failure he is facing.
“Despite political will and resources, he is facing the same problems that hampered the infrastructure projects of the Aquino Administration,” Ang said.
He cited as an example the Skyway 3 project that remained only 24-percent completed.
“The frustration comes out in that regard. There is need for coordination among equal branches of government,” said Ang.
“We need jobs that are quality jobs and not short-term. We can call for patriotic business. Many of the businesses run in this country are not able to produce enough jobs for the rest of the population,” Ang said.
Ang linked government capacities to the challenge of federalism.
“The frustration of the president mirrors the ordinary people’s frustration on governmental capacities. You cannot solve traffic or do this or do that because there are silos that rules them. Until institutional alignments are understood in terms of capacities, I guess we’ll go back to the same issues regardless of the new structures in place,” said Ang.
The West Philippine Sea and Duterte’s pivot to China was cited as critical and could not be put on the side for a long time.
“People already know that it is ours in the context of economic zones and the naming of the area.
With China as the biggest trading partner of the Philippines now and courting it for foreign direct investments, it is a high wire walk, how to attract investments of China and to give up the West Philippine Sea control or at least postpone it,” Ang said.