DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte may be eyeing radical policy changes but he is willing to retain members of the Aquino economic team who are performing well.
Despite criticisms that growth under the current administration has failed to uplift the lives of the poor, Duterte said the economy is “doing well.”
“The economy is doing good under the Aquino administration. I have to admit it. It’s doing well and if it’s not really broken, then why fix it?” Duterte told News 5 in an interview aired Monday night.
“I will hire Cabinet members who are good and (give) them enough time to come up with (policies that are) equal (to), if not (better than) the economic policies of Aquino,” he added.
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Duterte, nevertheless, admitted that he is no expert in terms of economic matters.
“I never portrayed myself as an economic genius…I am not a graduate of Wharton. I’m just a lawyer, a prosecutor,” he said.
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Duterte has revealed some of the members of his economic team namely former Agriculture Secretary Carlos Dominguez (Department of Finance) and former North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol (Department of Agriculture).
He has yet to reveal his appointees for the National Economic and Development Authority, Budget, and Trade departments.
The Philippine economy grew by 5.8 percent in 2015, lower than the government’s full-year target of 7.0 to 8.0 percent.
Growth drivers in the fourth quarter were services, government spending, and consumption.