Duterte economic agenda to keep sound policies of Aquino administration

carlos dominguez

The economic team of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte will meet with business leaders in Davao City on June 20 and 21 at the “Sulong Pilipinas: Hakbang tungo sa Kaunlaran” consultative workshop to flesh out the 10-point economic agenda of the new administration.

No. 1 in the agenda is a commitment to retain the sound fiscal, monetary, and trade policies put in place by previous administrations.

Incoming Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez will present the proposed 10-point economic agenda aimed at addressing the challenges to inclusive growth; while incoming Socioeconomic Planning Secretary as Ernesto M. Pernia will discuss the country’s current economic health.

Other items in the economic agenda are:

  • Instituting progressive tax reform and more effective tax collection while indexing taxes to inflation, in line with the plan to submit to Congress a tax reform package by September;
  • Increasing competitiveness and the ease of doing business, drawing upon successful models used to attract business to local cities such as Davao, as well as pursuing the relaxation of the Constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, except with regards land ownership, in order to attract foreign direct investments;
  • Accelerating annual infrastructure spending to account for 5 percent of the gross domestic product, with public-private partnerships playing a key role;
  • Promoting rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism;
  • Ensuring security of land tenure to encourage investments and address bottlenecks in land management and titling agencies;
  • Investing in human capital development, including health and education systems, as well as matching skills and training to meet the demands of businesses and the private sector;
  • Promoting science, technology and the creative arts to enhance innovation and creative capacity towards self-sustaining and inclusive development;
  • Improving social protection programs, including the government’s conditional cash transfer program, in order to protect the poor against instability and economic shocks; and
  • Strengthening the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law to enable, especially, poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.

According to a statement issued by Dominguez’ team, the economic  agenda “emphasizes the need to maintain accelerated economic growth while ensuring that gains are broadly shared by the Filipino people.”.

Duterte is expected to attend the workshop and respond to the recommendations that would surface from the consultations.