‘Business as usual’ for Cabinet amid political tensions, says Balisacan

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday said rising political tensions in the Philippines will have minimal, if any, impact on the economy.

The Philippine government is focused on upgrading infrastructure, boosting the country’s resiliency in the face of climate change, and diversifying its economy amid geopolitical risks, NEDA added.

It’s “business as usual,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said at a Palace briefing after attending a Cabinet meeting that largely focused on the prospects for the 2025 national budget.

He said the business community is more concerned with the sustainability of the country’s economic agenda.

“As also seen in recent economic history, for so long the government stays in course within its development economic priorities and programs, this will continue to maintain their confidence in the economy,” he added.

“So, I think the impact of [political] noises such as what we have now, if there’s anything, will be quite minimal and the last 12 or so years bear on that.”

Due largely to the impacts of weather disturbances and slower government spending, the Philippine economy grew by 5.2% in the third quarter — the weakest in five quarters.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Monday vowed to fight back and never to allow the country to be dragged into gutter-level politics. This after his erstwhile ally and Vice-President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio claimed she hired an assassin to kill the President, his wife and  House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.

Ms. Duterte on Wednesday said her broken ties with the President’s camp had reached a “point of no return.”

The country’s second-highest official has been grumbling amid congressional probes into confidential funds at the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education.

Mr. Balisacan claimed that since the late 1990s, the Philippine economy “continued to progress despite the political noises.”

“In this administration, we are so focused on ensuring that the goals and targets and strategies that we have outlined in the Philippine Development Plan will be achieved,” he said.

Mr. Balisacan said it is important for the public to know that economic momentum is sustained.

“We can do ‘business as usual’ amid conflicts between former political allies. Indeed, it may not translate to macroeconomic disturbances, but it would affect our image among global partners which could be potential sources of investment,” said Emy Ruth Gianan, who teaches economics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

“More importantly, it adversely affects the morale of ordinary Filipinos. They would eventually choose to leave the country given petty political fights,” she said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said amid all the dramas, the major issue remains the same — “that the root cause was the misuse of public funds, otherwise known as confidential funds.”

“Sure, the government is focused on the economy. But the key issue is trust,” he said via Messenger chat.

“The loss of P125 million of confidential money in 11 days should be already a cause of concern for the economic managers, and its consequences cannot be offset by future committed work especially if no one is being held accountable for it.”

Terry L. Ridon, a public investment analyst and convenor of InfraWatchPH, said rising political tensions can create an “atmosphere of instability” from the point of view of the international community.

“This may compel foreign investors to reconsider the Philippines as its next investment destination and rechannel their funds towards economies with a more stable political status quo,” he added.

“Nonetheless, Congress and the President should resolve this political instability in the soonest time, whether through impeachment proceedings or through legal proceedings being initiated by various government agencies.”

‘More stable’

Mr. Balisacan said the economic meeting with Mr. Marcos earlier in the day largely focused on the 2025 national budget and “the need to prioritize the funding of the high-priority projects.”

Mr. Romualdez and Senate President Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero were present at the meeting.

Mr. Balisacan said the Congress vowed to cooperate with the Executive branch in ensuring funding for its flagship projects for next year.

Asked whether this would mean new taxes, the NEDA chief said: “It’s the same. We haven’t changed the priorities with respect to new measures.”

He said the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council will convene in two weeks.

Mr. Balisacan said the President has instructed the economic team to “tighten our practices” in releasing rules and guidelines for infrastructure projects to ensure that they can withstand the floods and typhoons.

Aside from infrastructure, the economic team is also focused on the need to “diversify the economy and to strengthen its fundamentals,” the NEDA chief said, citing “threats of high tariffs and the possible responses of other countries to such tariffs.”

US President-elect Donald J. Trump seeks 60% or higher tariffs on all Chinese goods and a 10% universal tariff.

“I think that over the years, and I’m quite confident, that our economy now is more stable than any other time in the past, that it’s more diversified than actually in the past but we need to continue and improve working and developing other pillars of growth,” Mr. Balisacan said.

Also on Thursday, Mr. Balisacan said NEDA was set to submit its periodic review of the reduced tariff rate for rice on Friday.

“It basically presents the picture of the rice market at this time, providing an analysis of where we are, particularly with respect to production, to supply, to demand, to prices and what to expect in the coming four months and beyond,” he said. – Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter