The Philippines has spoken, the presumptive winner of the 2022 Presidential election is Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. – also known as Bong Bong Marcos (BBM) .

Here at iMoney, we’re all about empowering you with the right information to make wise financial decisions. Now that the dust has finally settled, it’s time to break down the policies that will have an impact on your personal finance that Marcos Jr stands for based on his campaign promise.

Sure, his family name comes with a lot of baggage to unpack, but we are not here to talk about that.

Economy

Marcos Jr., together with his VP elect Sara Duterte Carpio, identified crop planning and supply chain management as two crucial sectors that might benefit substantially from digitization. This is due to the cost reductions that come with increased efficiency. They reaffirmed their commitment to building a future-proof digital infrastructure capable of meeting Filipinos’ expanding demands.

In an interview earlier this year, they said that should they win the elections, President-elect Marcos hopes to raise a generation of young digital agri-entrepreneurs to help rebuild the country’s economy.

What is this strategy?

The incoming government will encourage the participation of young digital agri-entrepreneurs, or agripreneurs, to introduce innovative solutions in the sector. Marcos Jr highlighted that partnering with the private sector will help leverage the skills and experience of Pinoy technology start-ups to boost the digitalization process. And with the challenging landscape due to the pandemic, Marcos Jr with his VP tandem also acknowledged that they will need investments from both the public and private sectors to recover. 

Kadiwa rolling store

Marcos Jr. is campaigning for the permanent creation of “Kadiwa” mobile supermarkets in every barangay across the country to combat hunger. The Kadiwa mobile supermarkets were revived by the Department of Agriculture following a spike in prices of basic food products due to lockdowns.

Marcos believes that Kadiwa stores should be located in every barangay since they are successful in assisting people in purchasing essential commodities -such as food – at lower costs than those found in normal markets and supermarkets.

Part of this initiative is also to help local farmers to sell their products without having to worry about transportation costs. 

SMEs

In an interview with Boy Abunda, Marcos Jr suggested that the government may help small businesses by providing “lower taxes, tax vacations, and amnesties.”

Agriculture

In a separate interview in Tacloban in November of last year, Marcos Jr. said that the country’s agriculture system must be improved to safeguard the welfare of farmers who have been severely damaged by the COVID-19 epidemic.

He recalled how establishing the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s was the first step in bringing changes to the agriculture sector. Researchers will develop additional crops that can resist shifting weather and different strategies to assist farmers, who are the most impacted sector during disasters. Following his investigation, Marcos Jr concluded that financing packages based on farm inputs and technological assistance should be easily available.

Education

In one of his interviews late last year, the President-elect spoke of plans to construct the NEP as an online platform for students and instructors to make e-learning more convenient and safe for both public and private institutions. He stated that it will also function as a central point for students and instructors to securely connect and share digital learning resources. The portal would be established in collaboration with pertinent government departments and private-sector I.T. professionals.

Marcos Jr. emphasized that the program will complement the present administration’s Build, Build, Build initiative, as he is also trying to incorporate a digital infrastructure push. He further noted that, as a result of Covid-19 and the country’s prolonged lockdowns, Internet connection has become essential, particularly for students and employees confined to their homes.

Healthcare

“Tawid-Covid, Beyond Covid” will be a program to further expand the healthcare system in the country. Marcos Jr acknowledged that it needs more funding to increase the wage and benefits of the healthcare workers in government hospitals, and the medical research capabilities of the country. He also cited that the country’s major COVID-19 laboratory, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), has to be strengthened by allocating a bigger budget. 

Jobs

The practice of labor contractualization began in the Philippines when the Marcos regime signed the Philippine Labor Code in 1974 to address the country’s high unemployment rate and an unsteady economy.

When asked about “endo” in an interview, Marcos Jr. will capitalize on his friendly relationship with big corporations and “tell them to be fair, make [the workers] permanent and change the system.”

On the other hand, he stated on February 23 that if elected, he would make the Security of Tenure law a priority and would try to streamline processes for workers both at home and overseas.

Can the incoming President successfully deliver on his promises? Only time will tell.  Also, keep in mind that nothing in his platform is set in stone yet, things could still change – for better or for worse. These are at least an overview of the direction that he will take when he sits as the 17th President of the Philippines. And with the controversy attached to his family name, it will be interesting to see how things could go from here.  

For now, as we close another chapter of the National Elections, let’s all take a deep breath, reform broken relationships due to the election, and hope for the best! Time to band together and do our best for a better Philippines!

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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