Lawmakers of the 19th Congress should ensure that the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023 will be used to prioritize ordinary citizens and steered toward government-private sector partnerships, Stratbase President and Democracy Watch Philippines Lead Convenor Professor Dindo Manhit said.

“At the end of the day, ordinary citizens are actually the main drivers of development, but they need to be given the opportunity. We need to turn these citizens into productive members of society. They earn. They have income. They have livelihood. They consume. That’s what drives economy,” Manhit said in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Manhit highlighted that about P9.3 billion in confidential and intelligence funds have been allocated to non-security related government agencies.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/03/purge-2023-budget-of-confidential-intel-funds-lagman/

The P5.268-trillion budget measure is currently under deliberation by the Senate. It was approved by the House of Representatives last Sept. 30.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/28/proposed-p5-268-t-national-budget-for-2023-hurdles-house/

The policy expert underscored that the best way to counter an economic crisis would be to invest in the Filipino people.

“We need to provide them with the opportunity. How? Do they have enough skills? The education system will always be very important. What about post-secondary skills development? Or even tertiary education? Or are they healthy enough to be productive? Those are the two drivers of productivity of our people,” he continued.

Furthermore, Manhit said that the government should work with the private sector.

“It’s good to have them, to listen to them, to engage with them, instead of vilifying them because that’s what former President Duterte did. There is always this perception that the Philippines is controlled by oligarchs or protectionist. But our experience in the Stratbase group is that, as you engage more with big business and conglomerates, they are actually the top tax payers. They are the top job creators and a strong source of investment across the country. Private companies should be seen as a key partner of government," he said.

“Imagine if we give enough incentives to the manufacturing sector. Imagine if we really generate more tourism. Imagine if we continue to play a role and strengthen the business process outsourcing or the KPO, knowledge process outsourcing, as one of our exports–imagine 109 million Filipinos, who are productive, working, earning towards that end. That’s a big consumer base. If this group of people will spend because there’s enough livelihood, not much indebtedness, then you can see a more sustained growth. Consumption economy, which is what drives us, can only be sustained, I believe, from an investment-led growth trajectory, not jobless growth,” Manhit concluded.

The Stratebase Advisory and Research Consultancy Group will host the Pilipinas Conference 2022: Onward to New Beginnings: Sustaining and Improving Philippine Development from Nov. 21 to Nov. 22 to tackle the subject of partnerships between the government and the private sector.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno, DOF Undersecretary for Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group Maria Cielo Magno, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Delegation of the European Union Ambassador and Head Luc Veron will serve as speakers during the Stratbase press conference.