Experts are urging President Duterte to use his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday to push for better agricultural policies, as well as Charter change to further boost the country’s economic growth.
Bold reforms will address the structural weaknesses of Philippine economy, including low agricultural productivity and anemic agricultural growth, according to Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) President Calixto V. Chikiamco.
“The administration should go beyond populist measures like free irrigation and free fertilizer,” Chikiamco said in an e-mail to the BusinessMirror. “It should create a favorable environment for agribusiness investments in the countryside by removing the retention limit of 5 hectares for agricultural land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law.”
The 5-hectare retention limit, he said, leads to fragmentation of rural land which limits the application of economies of scale and modern agricultural methods.
The President should also talk about mangrove replanting and coral rehabilitation to restore the country’s fishing grounds, as well as reforestation to mitigate floods, said former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri.
“[I would like to hear him mention] agroforestry to make upland areas productive in an environmentally sound way, and river dredging and restoration to let floodwaters flow away quickly,” Neri added.
He said the President should consider relocating the national capital to the Lucena-Pagbilao area in Quezon province so it could be accessible to those in the Bicol region and the Visayas.
“The President may also hint at emergency powers to fast-track infrastructure and reforms, and also call on the COA [Commission on Audit] and Ombudsman to be less repressive to remove fear of action [among government officials],” said Neri.
Charter change
Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, nonresident research fellow at the Ateneo School of Government, said he is keeping his fingers crossed that the President will talk about Charter change in his Sona.
“I hope the President gives a
clear mandate or directive on whether or not he wants to pursue Charter change.
If he decides to push for Charter change, I also hope that he gives a clear and
coherent road map. If he believes Charter change is no longer part of his
agenda, then he must unequivocally say so,” Yusingo said in an e-mail to
the BusinessMirror.
Chikiamco noted that there is a need to ease foreign investment restrictions indicated in the Constitution, and to amend or scrap laws that tend to discourage foreign investments.
The FEF official said he supports the economic managers’ push for amending the Public Service Act, liberalizing the Foreign Investment Negative List and amending the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, which is expected to lower capital requirements.
Reforms that will also boost exports, such as the liberalization of sugar imports, must be pursued given the ballooning trade and current account deficits.
“Increased consumption and capital spending have led to massive imports without a corresponding increase in exports,” he said, adding that the country imports cement, fertilizer, rice, meat and even fish, which is “ironic” for an archipelagic country.
To keep up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Chikiamco said, government must consider amending the Labor Code.
“Artificial intelligence and other digital technologies will disrupt many industries and make traditional jobs obsolete. Therefore, industry should be given flexibility in labor rules to adjust to this new reality and also to get incentives to invest in upgrading the skills of the work force,” he said.
“In this regard, the President should call for the passage of the labor apprenticeship law, which will incentivize industry to invest in the training and education of new graduates. Without modernizing the Labor Code, manufacturing will remain stunted and cannot generate the good paying jobs that would lift the working poor out of poverty,” he added.
Foreign policy
While it is widely expected that the President will highlight the “Build, Build, Build” program and the implementation of new laws, such as Republic Act 11203, analysts are also looking forward to his statement regarding the Recto Bank incident.
De La Salle University Economics Prof. Maria Ella C. Oplas said it is “a must” for the President to give a “clearer picture” of his international policies especially when it comes to China.
“I think that is the most important thing that must be settled in this year’s Sona,” Oplas told the BusinessMirror.
Yusingco expressed confidence that the President is ready to explain his response to the Recto Bank incident, as well as his “unilateral” decision to allow the foray of Chinese fishers into the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“If the President goes off-script and goes extemporaneous, he will most likely rant about his critics, specifically those who question his acquiescence to China with regards to the latter’s intrusion in the West Philippine Sea. He will certainly attack those who accuse him of betraying his oath of office and those who have threatened him with impeachment,” he said.