Presidential candidate and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso vowed to create more economic hubs in the countryside to spur economic growth and progress and speed up the country’s recovery from the devastating impact of the two-year COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreno stressed this during his presentation of his ‘Bilis Kilos’ 10-point economic agenda at the “Panata sa Bayan” Presidential Candidates Forum sponsored by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).
This will be pursued through the combination of the current administration’s massive infrastructure “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program and the equally successful “Public Private Partnership” (PPP) of the Aquino administration, the Manila mayor said.
“BBB will continue but with PPP being revived, especially in the light of expected higher loan interest rates and higher foreign debt, which is now at 63 percent of our GDP (gross domestic product). A peso spent in Metro Manila will have much less economic multiplier effect than the same peso spent in the countryside,” the 47-year-old presidential aspirant said.
To create more economic hubs, Moreno said he will pursue the following “doable and time-bound” targets to support improved physical connectivity through LuzViMinda (Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao) trimodal transport systems; Well-integrated kalye, kuryente, tubig at internet; Safe and potable water 100 percent accessible by 2026; Improve access to information and communications technology (ICT).
“There must be continued hopes for these dreams of ours to become a reality in a good, prudent and efficient management that we also did in Manila,” the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer said.
“When I entered Manila, we had no money. Zero, literally, but through good governance, through effective, efficient government, we have survived. Then there was the pandemic, everything we promised that seemed impossible to the people of Manila, happened.”
“That ten-year promise of previous administrations, happened in two years of our tenure and we are still in a pandemic,” Moreno added.
According to a report from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), there are currently more than 400 economic zones in the Philippines, each providing their own different fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to foreign investors.
In June 2020, the Philippines announced the approval of 12 new economic zones, which will be managed by the Philippine Economic Zones Authority (PEZA).
In the same Forum, Moreno said he will not support the proposed bill that will create a government-owned and -controlled corporation to be known as the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA), whose functions he viewed as teeming with duplication.
Moreno flatly said “no” to the pending legislation when asked during the presidential candidates’ forum hosted by the Kapisanan ng Broadcaster sa Pilipinas if he favored the bill.
According to Moreno, the BIDA bill will not see the light of the day if he’s elected president in the May elections.
“So, to me, let’s not add government spending. Let’s not add a bureau when the existing one is already sufficient, effective and local governments benefit from the economy, employment, and businesses in the area,” the president candidate said.
“Apparently, let’s not fix something that is not broken. It’s not broken, do we still need to fix it? In fact, it’s the other way around. The national government should support the local government in that area,” he added.
Under House Bill 9826, which consolidated several proposals in the lower chamber, the BIDA will have corporate powers to, among others, contract, lease, buy, sell, acquire, own, or dispose of real property in the entirety of Boracay Island and the surrounding islets including Barangay Caticlan in the town of Malay in Aklan.
The bill, however, is opposed by the Aklan provincial government, religious groups, and various private organizations in the Visayas on grounds that it’s unconstitutional and was approved without consultation with stakeholders.
“It is not just the voice of the stakeholders that should be taken. That income should be enriched in that local government. They should just be able to enjoy the marine resources or tourism or minerals in their respective governments,” Moreno stressed.
Boracay, considered the crown jewel of the Philippine tourism, has been voted several times as one of the best, if not the best, beach destinations in the world.
In the same forum, Moreno also shared his plans to revive the country’s tourism industry sidelined by the COVID-19 health crisis in a bid to boost visitor arrivals from pre-pandemic level of 8 million in 2019 to 16 million by the end of his term in 2028.
Under his administration, Moreno said he will pursue under the 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda the promotion of sustainable tourism, events-based tourism, policies to cushion the pandemic impact on tourism, national creative economy strategy, and tourism highways through the Build, Build, Build and the Public-Private Partnership program.
