MANILA – Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos recently pledged to improve the country’s economic standing, hoping to surpass its conditions prior to the pandemic, if he wins the May 9 elections.
Marcos said he aims to expedite economic recovery immediately after the presidential transition.
“Lagi kong sinasabi na ang ambisyon ko ay dalhin ang Pilipinas hindi kung saan tayo nanggaling, yung kalagayan natin bago magkaroon ng pandemya, kundi pasikatin at lalo pang pasiglahin ang ating ekonomya (I always say that my ambition is to take the Philippines not where we came from, our condition before the pandemic, but to make our economy famous and even more vibrant),” he said.
Asked how he would rebuild the economy after the distress caused by the pandemic, Marcos stated that he has a detailed road map centered around job creation that can “fix the system and propel our economy to greater heights”.
“In the next few weeks, dahan-dahan ko ng ipapahayag ang detalyadong plataporma ng UniTeam. Ang priority dyan ay MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises), and ating agrikultura, yung health care, infrastructure, kuryente. That is the way to do it. Ang nakita kong nangyari sa pandemya ay ang kakulangan ng sistema (I will slowly reveal the platform of UniTeam. Our priority is MSMEs, and our agriculture, health care, infrastructure, and electricity. That is the way to do it. What I noticed during the pandemic was the lack of a system),” he shared.
He stated that if one were to ask the typical Filipino citizen of their major concern during the pandemic, their response would be poverty and employment.
“His least worry ay ‘yung sakit. Ang sasabihin magtatrabaho ako kahit may sakit basta may maipakain sa pamilya. This will be one of our priorities. Kaya ang tawag ko dyan ay jabs to jobs. (His least worry is the sickness. He would still work despite not being healthy just to feed his family. That will be one of our priorities. That is why I call it jabs to jobs.),” he said.
Marcos added that the pandemic is a teaching moment, which calls for the next administration to be prepared for any and all challenges that may occur.
He stated, “Kaya kailangan natin tiyakin na kapag may dumating uli hindi lang pandemya, kahit na ano, huwag naman sana giyera, pero kailangan nating maging handa. Talagang malaking trabaho ng susunod na administrasyon (So we have to make sure that when pandemic, whatever, I hope not war, we need to be ready. The next administration has a lot of work to do)”.
Photo Credit: CNN Philippines