Marcos vows to slash poverty, rein in increasing food prices
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr vowed on Monday to slash poverty, rein in soaring food prices and boost renewable energy, as he unveiled an ambitious blueprint for his six-year term.
In his first State of the Nation address, Marcos Jr offered a laundry list of targets, ranging from geting children back into classrooms, easing the debt burden of farmers, and expanding internet access.
Unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who used to frequently go off script in a stream of consciousness and threaten to kill people, Marcos stuck to a prepared speech that was methodical and heavy on numbers.
Ater inheriting an economy ravaged by COVID-19 lockdowns and inflation, the new president expressed cautious optimism for the future — even as the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions drive up food and fuel prices.
“I do not intend to diminish the risks and challenges that we face in this turbulent time in global history,” he told the audience of lawmakers, diplomats and judges.
“And yet I see sunlight filtering through these
Philippines pr esident offer s a laundr y list oftargets, ranging from geting children back int o classr ooms, easing the debt burden of far mer s and expanding internet access
dark clouds. We have assembled the best Filipino minds to help navigate us through this time of global crisis.”
Marcos, who is the son and namesake of the country’s late dictator, spoke for 74 minutes without mentioning human rights, corruption or peace talks with militant groups.
Instead, the 64-year-old scion focused on the economy, clean energy, agriculture, and helping poor Filipinos.
Marcos vowed to more than halve the poverty rate to single digits by the end of his term and offer financial relief to many farmers, including forgiving debts.
Renewable energy was “at the top of our climate agenda,” he said, insisting it was time to reconsider building nuclear power plants in the disaster-prone country.
He also pledged to boost agricultural productivity and bring down food prices.
“These will not be done in one day, one month or one year. But we need to start now,” he said.
Marcos was swept to power by a landslide in the May 9 elections, completing his family’s remarkable comeback from pariahs in exile to the peak of political power.
Hours before his speech, several thousand protesters marched peacefully along a major avenue to oppose his victory and criticise his first weeks in office.
“He’s just siting around, he’s busying himself revising history instead of doing the urgent work of stopping the rising costs of commodities especially food, distributing land to farmers and raising the wages of workers,” said Angelo Suarez, who volunteers for an agricultural workers union.
Outside Congress, thousands of Marcos supporters wearing red, his campaign colour, also gathered, waving the Philippine flag and holding signs with slogans such as “Progress.”
Congressman Ralph Recto said the new president’s speech was “brave, not boring” and gave the country a “fiscal reality check.”
The higher cost of living is worsening the financial misery of millions of Filipinos already struggling to feed their families.
The central bank recently raised interest rates for the third straight month as it struggles to rein in surging energy prices.
Inflation hit 6.1 per cent in June, the highest level in nearly four years.
As the war in Ukraine pushes up wheat prices and a weaker peso raises the cost of imported edible oil, many Philippine bakers are shrinking the size of a popular breakfast roll to cope with higher inflation.
The slightly sweet and pillowy sot “pandesal,” which Filipinos oten dunk in coffee or stuff with cheese, used to weigh 35 grammes at Matimyas Bakery, a breadmaker in suburban Manila.
But as the cost of local and imported ingredients soared in recent months, co-owner Jam Mauleon gradually reduced the size of the roll — known as the “poor man’s bread” because it is cheap — to around 25 grammes to avoid raising the 2.50 peso (about $0.04) price.
She feared that even a slight increase would send cash-strapped customers in her neighbourhood to a rival bakery five blocks away.