Marcos admin urged to address PH’s local problems more in 2024

The Marcos administration should devote more public resources to addressing the country’s domestic problems next year.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III made the suggestion saying that while the increase for his local and foreign trips has increased for 2024, President Marcos should bear in mind that the country’s woes “are more local” than what they perceive.

“The increase in the foreign and local trips budget is reflective of their plans for 2024. If the president intends to travel more then so be it. But he should be aware that our people’s problems are more local than he thinks,” Pimentel said in a statement.

“Food production means we need to produce more food from our own land. Food importation is not the same as food production,” he pointed out. 

For 2024, the President will have P1.408-billion at his disposal for local and foreign trips next year. The amount is stipulated in Republic Act No. 11975 or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024, which he signed on December 20. 

The amount is 58 percent higher than his 2023 travel budget of P893.7-million. 

Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria Garafil had defended the increase in the requested budget for the President’s local and foreign travels for 2024 saying this would help attract more investments into the Philippines. 

For his part, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. said he believes the country stands to gain more during the President’s foreign trips as this would help sustain employment opportunities for thousands of Filipinos next year. 

“Mataas ang kumpyansa ko na magiging maganda ang pasok ng taon para sa bawat Pilipino lalong-lalo na dahil sa pagsusumikap ng ating Pangulong Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. na paigtingin pa ang pagdami ng mga trabaho dito sa ating bansa sa pamamagitan ng pag-secure ng mga oportunidad galing sa ibang bansa (I have high confidence that the new year will be good for every Filipino especially because of the hard work of our President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. to intensify the increase of jobs here in our country by securing opportunities from other countries),” Revilla said.

Apart from the billions of pesos worth of investment pledges that the President was able to secure from his official foreign trips from the last quarter of 2022 until 2023, the administration was also successful in bagging more than 200,000 job openings for fellow Filipinos.

In fact, he said the series of presidential and state visits of the President last year resulted into as follows: 7,100 job opportunities from Indonesia; 14,932 from Singapore, 98,000 from New York, U.S.A.; 5,500 from Thailand; 6,480 from Belgium; 730 from the Netherlands. 

For 2023, the President has brought the following number of employment opportunities: 32,722 from China; 24,000 from Japan; 6,386 from Washington, D.C.; and 8,365 from Malaysia. 

Moreover, his recent trips during the second half of the year also gained the country further opportunities for its people: 450 jobs from Singapore, 2,550 from U.S.A., and 15,750 from Japan. 

“Nasa tamang direksiyon ang tinatahak nating landas tungo sa maayos at maunlad na bansa dahil sa walang humpay na pagsisikap ng ating pamahalaan para mag-angkat ng karagdagang negosyo at trabaho na kailangang-kailangan ng ating bansa (We are on the right path to a healthy and prosperous country because of the relentless efforts of our government to import more business and jobs that our country desperately needs),” Revilla said, praising the President's effort.