President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. spearheaded on Tuesday, July 12, his administration’s second Cabinet meeting via teleconferencing, with national budget and infrastructure programs topping the agenda.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the second Cabinet meeting focused on the 2023 national budget and economic recovery, as well as the Build, Build, Build program, and transportation priority programs.
Marcos also noted the need for a strong digital infrastructure for effective information delivery, prompting the government to further improve its current state.
Angeles said the President expressed full support for proposals to review the country’s education curriculum to address the issue of “job mismatch.”
“Among the suggestions to address these standing issues include a reform of the current curriculum since the rise of automation has posed a threat to many jobs,” she said.
In a separate statement, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the meeting “started promptly at 9:00 a.m.,” with a “quite heavy” agenda on budget, infra, transpo, trade and industry, tourism, among others.
Top concerns
Based on the latest Pulse Asia survey, the most urgent national concerns that Filipinos want the next administration to respond to are controlling inflation, increasing workers’ pay, reducing poverty, creating more jobs, and fighting graft and corruption.
Angeles said such issues were raised during the first Cabinet meeting last week, with Marcos giving his marching orders especially on taming inflation.
Marcos, who tested positive for COVID-19 last July 8, is expected to complete his isolation this week. – Report from Mela Lesmoras-ag
