Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte has identified what he likes to call the "most remarkable feat" of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in 2022, which covered the first six months of the latter's tenure in Malacañang.
“The most remarkable feat of President Marcos thus far his decisive moves on the public health and economic fronts," Villafuerte said in a statement.
Such moves sent a "loud and clear message to the world that the Philippines has reopened fully for business on his watch despite the lingering Covid-19 pandemic", said the solon, who is the majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).
Covid-19 first emerged in the country in January 2020. Following a successful mass inoculation program, the government switched gears to economic recovery mode.
“Complementing such initiatives,” added Villafuerte, “were the President’s aggressive pitch in his overseas trips for the Philippines as an Asian business hub with investor-friendly policies plus a young and dynamic labor force, leading to a whopping over $23.6 billion-worth of investment pledges that will for sure energize domestic economic activity in 2023, create a lot of jobs and improve the living standards of many of our people.”
The veteran lawmaker expressed confidence that the Marcos administration can keep the Philippines can maintiain its growth potential for 2023 and beyond.
He cited as reason the Palace's decision to sustain the unprecedented level of mega investments of the past administration in public infrastructure, “considering that infra spending has the highest multiplier effect on the economy".
Citing a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) report, Villafuerte said the Marcos government has allocated an amount equivalent to 5 percent to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to spend on infrastructure and other capital outlay projects.
Proof of the continued high infra spending under the Marcos administration was that completed infrastructure projects went up by 39.3% in September alone as National Government (NG) expenditures for this sector plus other capital outlay projects rose to P99.1 billion in September from the year-ago’s P71.2-billion disbursements.
For Villafuerte, “Most of our people are apparently aware of, and appreciate, Mr. Marcos’ achievements in his first half-year in office on improving their lot—in keeping with his 2022 presidential campaign promise—as borne out by the results of separate public opinion polls pointing to his high approval and trust ratings, with two out of three Filipinos believing his Administration has been moving in the right direction and as many as nine out of 10 of them saying they are welcoming 2023 with hope.”
The ranking solon also praised Marcos for his "one-two move to issue Executive Order (EO) 3 lifting the mandatory use of face masks outdoors and, later, EO 7 relaxing the masking mandate indoors along with easing the Covid-19 tests and other strict health protocols for inbound travellers".
Villafuerte said these moves showed that the Philippines was "back in business".
Citing the fourth-quarter Tugon ng Masa (TNM) survey by the OCTA Research Group, Villafuerte said that 92 percent of Filipinos approved of the Marcos administration’s Covid-19 response.