By Azer Parrocha/PNA
MANILA — Malacañang on Tuesday stood pat on its belief that there is strong investor confidence in the Philippines under the Duterte administration despite being hounded by issues on human rights and extrajudicial killings.
“There has been a strong investor confidence in the economy under the decisive leadership of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo slammed anew how the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA) and other critics continued to “vilify” President Rodrigo R. Duterte by linking the issue of human rights, in connection with the drug war, to other issues such as trade, business and the economy.
“The international groups of lawyers claim that our foreign investments have been or will be adversely affected by the issues on human rights and EJKs. It’s further from the truth,” he said.
He maintained that the Duterte administration always adheres to the rule of law.
Panelo cited how the Philippine economy has been growing at least 6 percent under the Duterte government, the strongest economic growth since the mid-1970s.
He said the present administration has even acquired significantly higher net foreign investment during its first two years compared to the previous administration.
“In the first two full years of the Duterte administration, when the media propaganda war against the campaign on illegal drugs was virulent, the Philippines had an unprecedented USD20.1-B in net foreign investments in 2017 and 2018 (about USD10 billion yearly in both years) as compared to the first two full years of the Aquino administration, which registered USD 2B in 2011 and USD 3.2B in 2012,” Panelo said.
Panelo attributed Duterte’s “strong political will” in pushing for reforms, which includes the signing of Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business Act.
Panelo said the Philippines’ 48-notch jump to 19th place out of 193 countries in the e-Participation Index of the United Nations shows the administration’s notable performance to streamline the business registration process in the country.
Moreover, he also cited how the administration has committed more resources to infrastructure projects since lack of infrastructure has hampered the Philippine economy’s competitiveness.
“In his first two years in office (2017 and 2018), the President obligated 6.3 percent of GDP to infrastructure, which is two to three times as much as his previous predecessors — 1.7 percent under Ramos, 1.8 percent under Estrada, 1.6 percent under Arroyo, 3.0 percent under Aquino,” Panelo said.
“These are hard facts and figures, which cannot be disputed and which should be relayed by those in capable positions to the public, including those in the international community. They are more reliable than some anecdotes that are politically colored by some groups or interests,” he added.
Panelo, meanwhile, reiterated that the main considerations for foreign investments are “macro economic fundamentals, no or minimal restriction on foreign equity on investment areas and activities, ease of doing business, good infrastructure, non-restrictive labor laws, and consistent policy milieu.”
Earlier, Panelo said investors also took note of the country’s improved peace and order situation.
“They know that criminality has gone down considerably and there is war against illegal drugs,” Panelo said.
