Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)



The Philippines is on track to attaining a "prosperous and inclusive" future based on Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s performance during year one of his presidency. Thus, said Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte in his assessment ahead of Marcos’ first year anniversary in Malacañang. “It has been a short learning curve for Mr. Marcos,” said Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA). "His administration has managed to accomplish better-than-expected initial results in the President’s 2022 'Bangon Bayan Muli' campaign pledge to uplift the lives of all Filipinos," he reckoned. "The rosy indicators this early on the watch of Mr. Marcos underscores that while his government needs to do a lot more over the next five years to fully realize its social and economic transformation agenda, it is, for sure, on track toward achieving the President’s vision for a prosperous, inclusive and resilient Philippines," said the Bicolano, who has practically backed every decision of the Chief Executive the past year. According to Villafuerte, the Marcos administration has “reported a higher employment rate, generated local and foreign direct investments (FDIs) and pushed business-friendlier reforms that create even more jobs and restored the economy to its pre-pandemic high-and-inclusive-growth trajectory". He also cited the government for its "accelerated programs to attack poverty and provide economic relief to disadvantaged sectors such as the jobless, low-income families, farmers and the homeless" and for "shepherd[ing] our people to the digital world and the post-pandemic ‘new normal'". Villafuerte also said that, based on the results of the latest surveys, Marcos’ pro-poor and pro-growth initiatives "have won broad and deep support from our people and the business community". The former House deputy speaker agreed with a previous statement from Marcos that the people were aware of his administration’s initial efforts to energize the economy, in a bid to slow the world that the Philippines was back in business following the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Marcos was the first Philippine president to be elected during a pandemic. He won the May 2022 polls via historic majority vote, garnering over 31 million votes.