Apart from the need to recalibrate the country’s tax structure, the abject lack of public infrastructures and road congestion remain priority areas under the Duterte-led government, according to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.
In a recent forum organized by the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in Makati City, Dominguez said proposals, such as the grant of special powers to the President to deal with the traffic mess, are under evaluation to help ease Metro Manila’s chronic vehicle congestion.
Dominguez added improved infrastructure and traffic decongestion will help optimize the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, which is in lock step with President Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.
“We intend to take the traffic crisis by the horn not only because of the grave economic costs of congestion but also because of its adverse effects on the health and quality of life of our labor force,” he said.
In addressing almost 200 of the country’s leaders, including former President Fidel V. Ramos and former Prime Minister Cesar EA Virata, Dominguez said the government aims to address the short-term economic concerns of the country while looking far enough ahead to build an economy that is more fair to the Filipino people.
“Both the short-term goals and the longer-term strategies must cohere and deliver palpable results. Otherwise, we could reap more profound disenchantment,” he said.
As part of its 10-point socioeconomic agenda, the government vowed to revolutionize Philippine agriculture, reduce rural productivity and pour massive public investments into human capital to improve the country’s educational system and widen public access to health services, he said.
“This is, first and foremost, an opportunity to bring private-sector participation in nation-building,” he said. “The PPP Program will, in the new dispensation, no longer be merely a PowerPoint presentation.”
In a two-day consultation meeting last week in Davao City, over 450 leaders of the business community welcomed initiatives toward boosting the country’s agriculture sector, integrating farm systems in a novel way to produce high-value crops, and making farming more economically rewarding.