The current administration will redouble its efforts in sustaining
the country’s economic resurgence, while the Cabinet now has opened a
direct line for urgent concerns of the business sector, President Aquino
told a gathering of businessmen at the Manila Hotel yesterday.
Addressing the 40th Philippine Business Conference and Expo, the
President said Cabinet members are now “duty-bound” to step up their
efforts and be “more receptive” to the public after signing their
performance contracts, where they committed to “redouble” public service
and sustain the country’s economic resurgence in the last two-minutes
of his term.
“Just a couple of days ago, I presided over a small ceremony in
Malacañang involving the heads of various government departments and
agencies. It was an event where we concretized our commitment to
redouble our efforts in the so-called last two minutes of our term:
toward maximizing our service to the public, which, of course, includes
business and industry,” the President said during the Manila Hotel
conference.
“I thought it might interest you to know this; since they have signed
their contracts, the members of my Cabinet are now duty-bound to be
even more receptive to all of you. Thus, please feel free to call them
anytime,” Aquino added.
Last Tuesday, the Cabinet members signed the performance contracts
that will gauge if they are meeting targets of government programs
within their jurisdiction. The performance contract scheme was
implemented as part of the administration’s reforms to promote
accountability and good governance.
The President, in his speech before the business community, took
pride of the country’s positive transformation amid his reforms on good
governance and fiscal management, citing that the “Philippine brand has
recaptured the attention of the world.”
Aquino also gave credit to the private sector for its “invaluable role” in the “resurgence of the Philippines.”
“Without the innovation it takes to nurture the growth of businesses,
without your support for our reform agenda, and without your confidence
in the Filipino people, we certainly would not have been able to come
so far along the straight path to progress,” Aquino said.
“I know we can make even greater strides, as long as we are able to
create deeper, more dynamic, more impactful synergies between industries
and government,” he added.
Aquino also highlighted the results of his administration’s reform
agenda “to turn the tide in the Philippines” in the past four years and
three months.
“Reforms in key systems and processes have led to leaks being plugged
and resources being maximized; more contractors and investors are not
only registering interest in infrastructure projects, but are competing
to build what we need,” he said.
He said the Philippines is now ranked investment grade and continues to climb global competitiveness rankings.
The local economy also remains “strong” with growth at 6.4 percent in
the second quarter of this year, according to the President.
“Even more good news, the first half of 2014 attracted net foreign
direct investments of $3.57 billion, almost 80 percent higher than the
FDI recorded in the same period in 2013,” he added.
He said the manufacturing sector has also rebounded with 8.8 percent growth in the first half of 2014, and exports are up.
“All our successes reaffirm these basic truths: Integrity works, reform works, and the Philippines works,” he said.
At the same gathering, President Aquino said the government is moving
to boost the country’s energy security and ease port congestion but
underscored the need for the help of the private sector to effectively
address these twin economic obstacles.
The President assured that both efforts to reform the power industry
as well as decongest the Manila ports are “still a work in progress.”
The two economic concerns were included in the resolution presented by business community to the President during the forum.
Amid the imminent shortage in power reserves next year, the President
recognized the need to change the “business model” of the power
industry in a bid to ensue sustainable energy in the country.
Aquino lamented that the present setup of the power sector does not foster new investments.
“For instance, even before groundbreaking, plants have typically sold
all of their output. I know of no other business or industry that has
already sold its goods that have yet to be produced in a facility that
has yet to be constructed. That, of course, is not an ideal situation,”
the President said.
“Just-in-time supplies of energy do not engender more investments.
Therefore, there is a need to change the business model, and that is
also a work in progress,” Aquino added.
Aquino grabbed the occasion to appeal to the business sector to invest in the power industry.
“These kinds of plants are what our Department of Energy calls
merchant power producers; and we hope that more investors will follow
suit and will seek ways and means to encourage more in following their
track,” he added.
On another business concern, the President said the issue of port
congestion has been “a paramount concern” of the administration since
the truck ban. Aquino said he was aware how port congestion has
affected, and can affect, the conduct of business in the country.
So far, the President told the business community that there has been
“some improvement” in easing port congestion amid the use of Subic and
Batangas ports as temporary extensions of the Port of Manila as well as
intensified operations against hijackers.
Aquino, however, admitted that the situation is “far more complex” as
he called on the private sector to do its part in decongesting the
trading hubs.
“We have already seen some improvement: for the Port of Batangas
alone, for instance, utilization is up to 94 percent this October.
Compare this to its previous utilization rate of only 20 to 25 percent
before we encouraged importers and exporters to shift to the Batangas
port. Ship calls at Batangas have likewise increased from two to five
ships per week,” he said.
“In light of this, some might say that we can cross that off the
to-do list, but in reality, the situation is far more complex,” he
added.
Aquino said diverting traffic to Subic and Batangas is only a
short-term solution, saying the high use of these two ports might only
transfer the congestion problem experienced in the Manila port.
