CAMARINES Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte is hoping the next Congress would pass a “township revitalization” bill to brace for a feared economic turbulence that could hit developing countries this year onwards as the United States (US) Federal Reserve raised interest rates and world economic growth slows because of this monetary policy and the impact of the lingering coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Villafuerte’s proposal to ensure a strong and sustainable economic rebound calls for the establishment of township revitalization programs nationwide to create a lot of jobs outside the national capital and thereby encourage people to stay put or return to their home provinces, which will in turn decongest Metro Manila.

“The short-term goal of a township revitalization initiative is to generate economic activity and create jobs outside Metro Manila to accelerate and strengthen the country’s recovery from the lingering pandemic plus the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Villafuerte said.

“Its long-term goal is to decongest Metro Manila and other urban centers by creating growth hubs in the countryside,” Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, added.

He earlier filed House Bill (HB) 6970, which, in effect, institutionalizes the “Balik Probinsya” program of the outgoing Duterte government.

However, there is no more time for the current Congress to pass HB 6970 as it will adjourn sine die this week.

Villafuerte expressed the hope that the incoming 19th Congress could immediately pass a township revitalization bill, following the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s warning of continuing risks and uncertainties triggered by the pandemic along with the rocketing global price of oil and the other effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The IMF said emerging economies, which include countries like the Philippines, should gird up for possible rough times as the US Federal Reserve started raising interest rates amid the coronavirus-induced global economic slowdown.

Higher interest rates mean financing costs for some emerging economies with dollar-denominated debt will rise, IMF economists said.

They added that, “Given the risk that this could coincide with faster Fed tightening, emerging economies should prepare for potential bouts of economic turbulence,” as these countries are also confronting elevated inflation and substantially higher public debt.

The IMF issued this warning even before the Russia-Ukraine war, a conflict that has further undermined the global economic recovery from the pandemic.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), more than a quarter of a million firms were deemed permanently closed between 2018 and 2021 and more than half of these firms closed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This affected 1.052 million workers and more than a quarter of these workers were employed by firms based in the National Capital Region (NCR), the PSA said.

Villafuerte said a township revitalization bill will provide the next government with a solution to any spike in unemployment as this measure will propel the growth of “township economies” that will create jobs in rural communities and convince people to stay put and work in their provinces instead of going to Metro Manila to look for work, only to end up in the swelling ranks of the unemployed.

As in HB 6970, Villafuerte said such an initiative should offer a menu of tax breaks and other incentives to entice corporations to relocate to, or expand their businesses in, areas outside the Greater Manila Area (GMA).