A lawmaker said Thursday President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. now has the space and opportunity to work on “forward-looking” policies and priorities with inflation back under control and economic growth back on track.

Chair of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, said the key driver of growth recovery in the third quarter is government spending, which lodged a positive 6.7 percent growth year on year, reversing the previous quarter’s annual decline of 0.7 percent.

Salceda said the recovery in government spending resulted in high construction sector growth, at 12.4 percent on the expenditure side, and 14 percent on the industry side.

“PBBM is back in a position of strength – and that is leverage for more long-term reforms,” he said.

Salceda said the government has to sustain its spending catchup plan, especially at the local government unit level.

“Budgeted programs and plans there were put on hold because of the Barangay and SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) Election spending ban, (they) should be pursued vigorously to completion this year,” he said.

Salceda noted that mining is also “back in the green” at 4.5 percent growth, which is the sector’s best performance since the third quarter of 2022, or during Marcos’ first quarter in office.

He, however, cited the need for the government to keep working on agricultural growth, saying it should grow by at least 2 percent every year for the sector to maintain its peso-level contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

“Average growth so far this year has been 1.1 percent. The appointment of a DA Secretary who comes from the leading investment drivers of the agriculture sector should bolster the effort to meet this target,” he said.

Last week, Marcos appointed fishing tycoon Francisco Laurel Jr. as the new head of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Salceda also pointed out that in the absence of a strong global trade environment, the country must strengthen its fundamental domestic industries, especially agriculture and domestic manufacturing.

“Moving forward, Filipinos can expect that while global conditions will remain volatile and uncertain, the President has more tools to work with, thanks to good growth numbers for the past quarter,” he said.

The Philippine economy grew by 5.9 percent in the third quarter of the year, the highest recorded so far among the major emerging economies in Asia that released their growth data during the period.

October inflation, meanwhile, decelerated to 4.9 percent. (PNA)

Photo credit: Office of Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda