Duterte Administration 10-point Socioeconomic Agenda

A two-day economic forum, “Sulong Pilipinas: Hakbang Tungo sa Kaunlaran”, starting 20 June 2016 was held in Davao to discuss the incoming Duterte administration socioeconomic agenda. The original 8-point economic agenda of the incoming administration has been updated to include Reproductive Health Law and Science, Technology and the Arts. The event was co-organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mindanao Business Council and was attended by more than 400 delegates.

The following is the updated 10-point socioeconomic agenda:

1. Continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary, and trade policies.
2. Institute progressive tax reform and more effective tax collection, indexing taxes to inflation. A tax reform package will be submitted to Congress by September 2016.
3. Increase competitiveness and the ease of doing business. This effort will draw upon successful models used to attract business to local cities (e.g., Davao) and pursue the relaxation of the Constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, except as regards to land ownership, in order to attract foreign direct investment;
4. Accelerate annual infrastructure spending to account for 5% of GDP, with Public-Private Partnerships playing a key role.
5. Promote rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism.
6. Ensure security of land tenure to encourage investments, and address bottlenecks in land management and titling agencies.
7. Invest in human capital development, including health and education systems, and match skills and training to meet the demand of businesses and the private sector.
8. Promote science, technology, and the creative arts to enhance innovation and creative capacity towards self-sustaining, inclusive development.
9. Improve social protection programs, including the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program, to protect the poor against instability and economic shocks.
10. Strengthen implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law to enable especially poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.

Benjamin E. Diokno, designated Budget Secretary of the incoming Duterte administration, told reporters. “We are planning to spend as much as 5% to 6% for infrastructure; we’re thinking about P800 billion to P1 trillion for infrastructure.” In addition, he said that the incoming administration will focus investments on agriculture and human capital development and bring economic growth to the countryside. ●