While President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona) may have hit the right notes for Cebu’s businesses, there were some things local industry leaders wished they heard from his speech last Monday.
Melanie Ng, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president, said they were hoping for big-ticket infrastructure projects for Cebu and Central Visayas already in the pipeline to be mentioned.
“(We) also hoped to hear a reaffirmation of the economic plans of the administration, especially as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been working tirelessly to promote business and economic prosperity for our country,” she said in a text message.
During his second Sona, Duterte sang a tune quite different from what local business leaders expected, putting emphasis on his war on illegal drugs and criminality instead.
Moving forward, however, Ng said there should be more focus on economic programs so that more investors would be inclined to come to the Philippines.
She said more investments translate to an increase in job creation, which will benefit the people and the economy.
“More investments will mean more opportunities for development especially in the countryside,” said Ng.
She said government agencies, especially the DTI, Board of Investments (BoI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) have embarked on many activities to promote investments in the Philippines.
Traffic
Philip Tan, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) past president, said he would have wanted to know what specific actions Duterte would have instructed various government agencies to alleviate the worsening traffic problem across various metropolitan cities like Manila and Cebu, as well as how he would improve infrastructure in these areas.
“No growth will be sustained if these are not properly addressed,” Tan said.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said President Duterte’s inclusion of the traffic problem in Metro Cebu in his Sona was “a marching order” for his office to seek the best and long-term solutions to the problem.
“I urge the local government units (LGUs) down to the sitio level to heed the order of the President. The immediate work is to rid the roads of obstructions, including vehicles parked along the roads. It must be a shared responsibility of all concerned agencies,” he said.
Tan meanwhile said investors will only come if an enabling environment is provided, such as the perception of securing their investment with government policies consistent to what was agreed on, where rules are not changed, especially on promised incentives.
Empowerment
For the provincial officials, Duterte should also pay attention to empowering local government units.
Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Vice Governor Agnes Magpale stressed the importance of empowering LGUs and provide them with a higher share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) in order to streamline all projects from the national and local levels.
“Any kind of project the government enters into, the prevailing issue will always be the funds. Its implementation would be easier if there are more funds provided to the LGUs,” he said.
Davide said certain provisions in the Local Government Code could be amended to give LGUs a bigger share of government funds instead of adopting federalism.
“It’s appropriate to reverse the share of funds. Probably 60 percent will be allocated to the LGUs and the remaining 40 percent to the national government,” he said.