The camp of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday refuted a UK-based think tank report stating that Marcos Jr. would be bad for the economy if he wins the presidency.
Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, Marcos Jr.’s spokesman, said in a statement it is “unfortunate” for Capital Economics to assume that the country will not economically recover under a Marcos administration.
Rodriguez said the think tank “failed to monitor or collect some, if not all, details of UniTeam’s economic agenda.” UniTeam is an alliance formed between Marcos Jr. and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio
Marcos Jr.’s camp also said his platforms are even “summarized in layman’s terms for the clear understanding of the Filipino audience.”
Among Marcos Jr.'s plans if elected as the next president of the Philippines include continuing—and even enhancing—the current Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
“Through the Build, Build, Build program we should be creating more jobs for our people,” Rodriguez said.
“We should create a more conducive business climate, there should be certainty and adherence of government to long-term contracts with the private sector so we may attract more investors to place their capital in Public-Private Partnership programs, again it would mean more job opportunities for Filipinos,” he added.
Marcos Jr.’s spokesman also reiterated the need to strengthen the agriculture and transportation industries. The UniTeam already has blueprints for the said sectors.
“The UniTeam has many more in store to ensure economic recovery, like the strengthening the small and medium scale enterprises, during and beyond the pandemic, and these plans, deemed doable and realizable, only because they are anchored in national unity,” Rodriguez said.
In its latest weekly outlook, the UK-based Capital Economist expressed belief that the Philippine economy will likely worsen should Marcos, Jr. win the presidency in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
“It is unlikely the situation will improve under Mr. Marcos and could easily get worse,” Capital Economist Emerging Asia economist Alex Holmes said in Capital Economic’s weekly.
“If he is elected, it would only reinforce our view that this under-performance will continue,” he added, noting Marcos’ plans are “far from encouraging.”