BAGUIO CITY – A juice and banking magnate cited the Philippines can achieve its first world status only after two administrations who will continue the fight against corruption and will have an aggressive economic platform.
Alfredo M. Yao, national president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said President Benigno Simoen C. Aquino III has done his part in doing the house cleaning chores and will be leaving the country in a good economic standing after he steps down from power on June 30, 2016.
“The next administration should have aggressive anti-corruption platforms coupled with deeper economic development insights in order to complete the cleansing of the bureaucracy from the deep-rooted corruption that has plagued the government for decades now,” Yao stressed.
Yao explained the second administration should focus on how to sustain the gains of the country’s economy after the year 2022 in order to bring back the country’s image as one of the major economic tigers not only in Southeast Asia but also in the whole world.
According to him, the country’s current economic growth which has been rated as second to that of the economic growth of China last year could even exceed that of China because of the communist country’s pressing internal problems which he refused to underscore.
Yao said the 6.9 percent “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of the country last year was complimented by a low inflation rate that was a little over 2 percent.
The PCCI official pointed out for February, the country’s inflation rate which was around 2.4 percent was still low in the economic view that is why the country can achieve an average of over 7 percentt growth this year.
Yao asserted President Aquino must not buckle down on the government’s aggressive anti-corruption campaign in the remaining years of his administration because the next administration will be under pressure to elevate the country’s status to much greater heights compared to the state where it took off right after the Aquino administration.
He declined to comment when asked on whether or not there are presidentiables that could replicate or event exceed the accomplishments of the Aquino administration in terms of the aggressive anti-corruption campaign coupled with friendly economic policies that would attract the influx of investors, saying that the May 2016 election is still far.
The PCCI official said President Aquino embraced the role of being a ‘house cleaner” in order to prepare the foundation for the next administration to emulate and even exceed to have sustainability and continuity in order to attain a better economic standing compared to the previous administrations.
“Our country must be consistent in achieving economic growth instead of having a see-saw economy because we will not go anywhere if our economic condition is unstable,” Yao said.
Yao cited there are clear indications of better economic prospectives beyond the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration that is why it is best for economic managers to have a long-term economic plan that will sustain the country’s elevation to a better status than a third world country.
