WITH HIGHEST HONOR
THIS is how the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, recognized the achievements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his first year in office which focused on addressing the pressing issues of the country and uplifting the life condition of the Filipinos.
For Romualdez, it was not a breezy start for the Marcos administration as it was confronted with high inflation rates, particularly spikes in the price of certain commodities like onions, sugar and rice.
But with the cooperation of the House of Representatives, the issues on skyrocketing onion prices was immediately resolved with the goal of providing consumers with enough supply at reasonable prices.
“The President did well in Year 1. Keep up the good work, Mr. President,” Romualdez said.
For Romualdez, other notable accomplishments of the Marcos administration are in the areas of helping ordinary Filipinos, sustaining economic growth, promoting the country as an investment destination, and in foreign relations.
He said the President did his best in trying to address the Filipinos’ daily-life concerns like rising consumer prices and lack of housing.
Within the first year of this administration, the House committee on agriculture and food led by chairman and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga had conducted an investigation that exposed price manipulation, hoarding and cartels behind onion trading.
And to provide people with cheaper yet high quality food products, the Marcos government has revived the Kadiwa stores.
Like the initiatives of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the Kadiwa stores also help local farmers’ produce and sell agricultural products at low prices.
“He has a genuine concern, compassion and empathy for the poor,” Romualdez stressed.
Meanwhile, on the housing issue, the President had to draw from the experience of his father’s administration by resuscitating housing programs like BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services), which was a project of his mother, former minister of human settlements and First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
The Chief Executive has also launched Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino and ordered the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to construct medium-rise and high-rise condominiums for the poor and government personnel, including soldiers and policemen.
Romualdez said sustaining the country’s economic growth is another noteworthy achievement of President Marcos.
During his first year, the country’s economy grew by 7.6 percent and 7.2 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.
“Those growth periods were the first nine months of the Marcos administration. I sincerely hope we could sustain it,” Romualdez added.
He said the impressive growth during the President’s first year in office was the result of the Chief Executive’s decision to reopen the economy despite the lingering threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that multilateral financial institutions took note of the country’s economic expansion, which prompted the World Bank to upgrade its 2023 forecast from 5.4-5.6 percent to six percent.
The House leader emphasized that Marcos actively promoted the country as an investment destination in his several trips abroad.
In these missions, the President likewise forged closer diplomatic, economic and cultural relations with the countries he visited, including the United States, he said.
“He has cultivated our ties with our old, reliable ally and partner, the US, and renewed bilateral discussions with China to uphold our interests in the West Philippine Sea and our exclusive economic zone,” he said.
Because of his remarkable accomplishments and his genuine concern for the poor and national interest, Speaker Romualdez said President Marcos remains immensely popular.
He noted that in the March survey of Pulse Asia, 78 percent of respondents approved of the President’s performance, with 80 percent saying they trusted the Chief Executive.
Publicus Asia’s second-quarter survey showed the President’s approval rating rose to 62 percent from 60 percent in the first quarter.
Some 68 percent of respondents in the same survey said the country was on the right track.
In another poll taken by OCTA Research Group in the first quarter, 54 percent said they expected their quality of life to improve, up from 51 percent from the previous survey; while 50 percent, from 46 percent earlier, stated that the economy would get better. Jester Manalastas
PBBM’s vow to uplift lives of Filipinos hailed
THE determination of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to improve the lives of the Filipinos has impressed a veteran member of the House of Representatives.
Dasmariñas City, Cavite Representative Elpidio “Pidi” Barzaga said Marcos is providing the country with a steady and reliable leadership in the face of difficult challenges, attacks, criticisms and others
“The President buckled down to work and took the bull by the horns, so to speak,” Barzaga, , a stalwart of the National Unity Party (NUP), said.
The solon also said that the Chief Executive was also able to restore decency in public office, pointing out that the Chief Executive “has always comported himself with dignity, exuding confidence.”
What impressed him more is that “Marcos Jr. has been a “consummate professional who has never let emotions get the better of him.”
“I like how the President carries himself. He was humble enough to give himself an ‘incomplete’ grade in his first year while being firm in saying that it’s best to take things in stride as the country is getting back on its feet post-pandemic,” the chairman of the House committee on environment and natural resources.
The Congressman, from a vote-rich province likewise said that the President has helped the country regain respect in the international community, especially since Marcos, is a household name.
He said the Chief Executive promoted the country as an investment destination in his foreign trips, where he also forged closer diplomatic and economic ties with other nations, especially the United States.
Barzaga also cited as one of the huge accomplishments of the administration the further slowing down of headline inflation rates to 6.1 percent last May.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the main driver of the lower inflation rates was a decline in costs of transportation, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and restaurants and accommodations.
Barzaga also noted that the economy grew by 7.6 percent and 7.2 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 which is well within the government’s target.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has said that among major emerging economies in the region that have so far released their first quarter 2023 real GDP growth rates, “the Philippines grew the fastest, followed by Indonesia (5.0 percent), China (4.5 percent), and Vietnam (3.3 percent).
NEDA said the country’s growth “is also more rapid” than the forecasted first quarter growth rates for Malaysia (4.9 percent), India (4.6 percent), and Thailand (2.8 percent). Jester Manalastas
‘Bagong Pilipinas’ brand of governance launChed
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the adoption of the administration’s brand of governance and leadership campaign, which calls for a deep and fundamental transformation in all sectors of society and government and fosters the government’s commitment towards the attainment of comprehensive policy reforms and full economic recovery.
In a three-page memorandum circular dated July 3 and signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, the President directed all national government agencies (NGAs) and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and state universities and colleges (SUCs), to adopt the “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign in their programs, activities and projects.
The “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines) logo was also approved.
“All NGAs and instrumentalities, including GOCCs and SUCs, shall adopt the ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ logo and incorporate the same in their letterheads, websites, official social media accounts, and other documents and instruments pertaining to flagship programs of the government,” the memorandum stated.
The “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign serves as the overarching theme of the administration of President Marcos, characterized by a principled, accountable and dependable government reinforced by unified institutions of society with the objective to realize the goals and aspirations of every Filipino. PCO
