President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (RTVM Screenshot)

House members are confident that President Marcos would again come home with big investments once he wraps up his stint at this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in the United States (US).

House Deputy Speaker Lanao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Yasser Alonto Balindong, Misamis Oriental 2nd district Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, and Occidental Mindoro lone district Rep. Leody "Odie" Tarriela believe Marcos will put Philippine economic interests at the forefront during the high-level discussions.

"President Marcos' track record in these foreign trips shows that he always seeks to bring home not just the bacon, but the entire lechon baboy. He always has the Philippine economy and the livelihood of Filipinos on his mind," Emano said.

"Laging nakapag-uuwi ng malakihang investment pledges and business deals ang ating mahal na Pangulo. Hindi po nasasayang ang mga biyaheng ito, bagkus ang mga ito ang bumubuhay sa ating ekonomiya," he said.

(Our beloved President has always been able to bring home big-time investment pledges and business deals. These travels aren't a waste, instead these keep the economy afloat.)

Emano specifically expects Marcos to go hard in selling the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF)--the Philippines' first sovereign wealth fund--to potential foreign investors.

"I also expect him to go on salesman mode regarding the MIF, which is looking better than ever with its revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR). The Philippine sovereign wealth fund has now been the product of nearly a year's worth of tweaking, and I believe this will give foreign investors all the more confidence to invest in the MIF," the solon from Misamis Oriental noted.

Balindong agreed that Marcos would go all-out in terms of wooing investors.

"He is in an ideal position to bring in more pledges for foreign investments. Since he began his term as Chief Executive in 2022, he has already brought billions of dollars in investment pledges,” said the newly-installed deputy speaker.

He added that President Marcos has always been intentional and deliberate in enticing foreign investments whenever he goes out of the country in an official capacity.

“I encourage my colleagues to support President Marcos Jr. in his endeavor to propel our economy to great heights by passing priority legislation that will make the investment climate in the country more conducive and attractive to foreign investors,” Balindong noted.

For his part, Tarriela expects nothing but "enormous" investments for the Philippines once the APEC is over.

“The economic benefits our country could derive from the President’s APEC meetings and bilateral discussions are enormous. They could help us sustain our economic growth in the days ahead,” Tarriela said.

He added that the Philippines’ major export and import partners are from APEC.

“Our economy grew by 5.9 percent in the third quarter of this year. We hope to do better in the succeeding quarters with investments and financial and economic assistance from our APEC friends and allies,” stressed the Occidental Mindoro solon.

Chaired by the US, the 30th APEC Leaders’ Summit will be held in San Francisco, California from Nov. 15 to 17.

The meeting gathers the heads of state of the largest economies in the world, including Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Korea.