CAMARINES Sur. Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to capitalize on his record satisfaction ratings to free 10-million Filipinos from poverty by pushing for structural reforms via Charter Change to shift to the federal system of government.
Villafuerte said the shift to federalism is the only “antidote” to the overconcentration of political power and economic growth in so-called “imperial Manila” at the expense of the country’s other regions.
According to Villafuerte, the President’s high ratings in the latest survey
conducted by the Social Weather Stations show that he continues to enjoy the people’s massive support.
He said Duterte can co use his widespread popularity to realize his administration’s goal of reversing uneven or inequitable growth and finally ushering in genuine countryside development.
“Federalism will shift to high gear his ambitious, yet doable, agenda of freeing 10-million Filipinos from poverty and transforming our country into an upper middle income economy six years from now, and into a high income one by 2040,” Villafuerte said.
An SWS survey conducted from September 24 to 27 among 1,200 respondents across the country yielded a high net satisfaction rating of +64 percent for Duterte, with only 11 percent dissatisfied with his performance and 13 percent undecided.
The survey result was the highest among all post-Edsa 1986 presidents, with the exception of former President Ramos who scored +66 in 1992.
The survey firm described Duterte’s rating as “very good,” which was bested only by two percentage points in September 1992 when Ramos got a +66 percent satisfaction rating.
“The President should cash-in on his very high ratings on his performance by actively promoting federalism and supporting initiatives to shift to this system,” said Villafuerte, who was among the first legislators to push the federal system of government.
Villafuerte earlier acknowledged the resolute efforts of the Duterte administration to implement reforms in its first 100 days in office and called for sustained multisectoral support behind the government’s ambitious inclusive-growth agenda of lifting 10-million Filipinos from poverty in the next six years.
The Bicol lawmaker, who was a former local chief executive like Duterte, also appealed to all sectors not to be carried away by the undue political noise as he claimed even international institutions remain bullish on the Philippine economy continuing on its upward trajectory”•and possibly even surpassing preliminary growth forecasts”•if the government could go ahead on its plan to fill the major backlog in infrastructure and socioeconomic investments it had inherited from the previous administration.
“Finally, we have a one-of-a-kind leader who is not hesitant to implement out-of-the box solutions to the problems that have battered our countrymen in the past administrations,” Villafuerte said.
“Rather than focus on what he says, why don’t we just focus on what he does because he needs all the support we can give him so that he can fix the things that were neglected in the past. What is important is that Mr. Duterte gets things done”•and fast,” Villafuerte added.
Villafuerte noted that global financial institutions such as the World Bank remains highly optimistic on economic projections for the Philippines under the Duterte presidency and have even pointed out that the country remains one of the fastest-growing economies in East Asia and the Pacific despite the weak global economy.
The World Bank also said “the Philippine economy may surpass the forecasts if authorities can ramp up spending on public infrastructure as planned.”
Villafuerte, who was a three-term governor of CamSur, has long been a strong
advocate of federalism, which he said should be pushed in the early years of the Duterte administration to remove any suspicions of a hidden political agenda.
He said Duterte’s vow to create economic zones and spur development outside Metro Manila should serve as a strong impetus to Congress to give its full backing to the shift to a federal form of government.
Villafuerte said the Duterte-planned economic zones should preferably be put up in provinces where there are coasts, like what they did in Thailand and Indonesia, in order “to spur growth and development strategically and geographically.”
Currently, over 50 percent of economic zones are located in either Metro Manila or neighboring provinces like Cavite, Laguna and Batangas, he said.
A former chairman of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), Villafuerte said the switch to a federal government is crucial to attracting private investments and accelerating growth in the countryside under the Duterte presidency “because federalism alone could ensure full autonomy for provinces and cities in charting their respective growth paths, which, in turn, would foster a healthy competition among these LGUs (local government units) in wooing investments from both foreign and local business groups.”
Villafuerte had sought the creation of a “grand coalition” across the political divide in Congress to help push federalism at the onset of the Duterte presidency.
“Now is the best time to tackle Charter Change and the switch to Federalism at the onset of the Duterte presidency minus any suspicion of a hidden political agenda,” he had said.
He said the creation of a federal government would decongest Metro Manila and finally stem the unbridled migration of fresh college graduates and young workers from the countryside to the national capital.