MANILA, Philippines - Local businessmen said they are satisfied with the way President Arroyo is running the government, pointing out that the economy managed to grow in the face of a global slowdown.
In a press conference yesterday, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president Edgardo Lacson said they are looking at three criteria for judging the effectiveness of the Arroyo leadership.
These are state of the economy, political stability and peace and order.
As far as the economy is concerned, Lacson said they are satisfied because the country has not entered into a recession. Lacson said they think the economy will grow by 1.9 percent this year.
“The peace and order is still under control,” he noted.
Although there are a lot of opposition on the political front, Lacson said the country is under a healthy democracy with people being allowed to voice their opinion.
Lacson expressed concern, however that the government seems to have slowed down in its effort to pump prime the economy. “We are encouraging them to front load.”
So far, Lacson said the private sector has spent P30 billion in infrastructure projects. Asked if the private sector will commit more money in the infrastructure, Lacson said it depends.
Earlier, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said the government should require all infrastructure projects that will be funded by the P330-billion stimulus package to use locally made products even if it means increasing the project cost by 25 percent.
FPI President Jesus L. Arranza said lawmakers are hesitant to include the Buy Pinoy Buy Local in the economic stimulus package because it might send the wrong signal to other nations that the Philippines is advocating protectionism.
“I talked to Malacañang and several congressmen and senators about this but they said we cannot do this because we are advocates of free trade,” Arranza said. “They are worried that there might be a backlash if we make buying local products a requirement.”
He said the government is worried about the repercussions because this would diminish the demand for imported products and would adversely affect the income of nations exporting to the country.
However, the staunchest supporter of free trade and globalization, the United States, has inserted a similar provision to its economic stimulus package, Arranza pointed out.
“If they can do it, so can we,” he said. “I will write to the people who told me that this could not be done that America is doing this,” he added.