"No clear roadmap to address pandemic, says Gary Teves"
"No clear roadmap to address pandemic, says Gary Teves"Two of the most thoughtful and substantial reactions to President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) came from Francis Lim, the president of the Management Association of the Philippines, which has 1,000 CEOs in its roster, and Gary Teves, a former congressman and a one-time Best Finance Minister of Asia.
Here is MAP President Francis Lim:
1. We are glad that the President pleaded with Congress to pass laws to help business recover from the pandemic. He prominently mentioned the CREATE and FIST bills. Surprisingly, he did not endorse the ARISE bill which is a well-studied bill aimed at effectively addressing our economic problems on all fronts in the shortest possible time. As we earlier said, we cannot afford to be behind the curve in putting in place all stimulants that will help our economy recover quickly from the pandemic.
2. We commend the President in putting emphasis on infrastructure development, aid to MSMEs, government online services, and deep concern for our overseas workers. He also vowed to uphold human rights, which is one of the things we wished for before the SONA.”
3. We salute the President for acknowledging that certain measures put in place by his Administration to address the pandemic were “not perfect” and that the government “will not stop until we get things right and better for you.”
4. What is sad is that the President characterized our present-day businessmen as the same type of oligarchs who took advantage of the people during the Spanish regime. This is so sad given how Philippine business has managed to grow despite the challenges along the way and how it has been helping the country through the years, which it ably demonstrated during the pandemic.
5. To put things in proper perspective, our so-called big businesses still pale in comparison with their Asian counterparts. They should be nurtured to grow further to help generate more jobs for our countrymen and help our country compete with its peers. Significantly, in 2015, Congress enacted a Competition Law to check any abuses that they commit, which is being proactively enforced by the Philippine Competition Commission.”
6. We agree with the President in calling on our telcos to improve their services to make them at par in the region. The need to improve these services is more imperative now more than ever before. But the President should have also called on our government units and property owners to remove roadblocks to the improvement of our telco services, especially in terms of putting up the needed cellular towers. This is a bigger problem than raising funds.
7. He gave a stern warning to two of our big businesses to improve their services until December 2020. Otherwise, the President said, he would take over them with the help of Congress. Given what recently happened to ABS CBN, this is a clear and present danger to the businesses mentioned. He can make it happen and that sends a chilling effect to business and potential investors.
Here is Gary Teves:
1. President Duterte thanked groups who helped ensure steady supply of food and basic needs, uniformed personnel who maintained peace and order, members of the IATF and NTF against COVID-19, and LGUS that stepped up to help their constituents.
2. No clear roadmap on how to address the public health crisis and he did not elaborate on the economic stimulus. The 2021 national budget was also not mentioned.
3. He took a swipe at critics, singled out Senator Frank Drilon twice, the Lopezes and oligarchs, and opportunist government officials.
4. Called for the reinstatement of death penalty, announced that gov’t will go after telecom companies if services don’t improve, and his plea to Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow PH be one of the first to get a vaccine against COVID-19.
Areas of agreement:
1. Fast-track approval of CREATE and Bayanihan II;
2. Assistance to repatriated OFWs – creation of a dedicated department; TESDA, CHED, DA and DTI ordered to provide assistance to OFWs and their dependents;
3. Assistance to MSMEs – gov’t to intensify efforts like regulatory relief, loan payment extension, and support MSMEs to adapt to the new normal;
4. Digitization of government services – gov’t agencies urged to develop an online, paperless system where full services could be availed to get rid of physical queuing;
5. Agriculture – urged Congress to create the coconut farmers trust fund and the P66 billion agricultural stimulus package, and promoted Plant, Plant, Plant.
Areas for improvement
1. Except for government target to conduct 1.4 million tests by end-July and a turnaround time of 48-72 hours, there was no clear plan re: COVID-19 for the near-term. President Duterte could have encouraged Congress to make the 2021 national budget more focused on the health sector, improvement of education facilities, and agriculture.
2. No new ideas/policies to accelerate Build Build Build, cited as key to economic recovery. Pres. Duterte could have used the opportunity to encourage more private firms to participate in infra dev’t, esp. that many of the projects recently completed are PPPs.
3. Several measures were cited related to the shift to digital (education, business, gov’t services, etc.) but there were no marching orders for the DICT to improve PH’s digital infrastructure.
4. Proposed creation of new departments will put more pressure on the gov’t limited resources. More practical solution is to improve the capacity and capability of the bureaucracy in the Executive to implement sound policies and programs and maximize utilization of scarce budgetary resources.
5. No economic charter change means lost opportunity to convince businesses getting out of China to consider investing in PH instead. There was no pressure either to pass low-hanging fruits like amendments to the Public Service Act. Pres. Duterte should convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to come up with a list of common priorities and a mutually-agreed time table with congressional leaders.
6. Threat that gov’t will expropriate telecom companies’ frequencies if services don’t improve sends the wrong signal to the business community. It effectively increases the regulatory risk faced by the private sector in contracting with the government.