Senators: Rody’s foul mouth does not discourage investors

MANILA, Philippines – More government officials, particularly from the Senate, have belied allegations that the President’s foul mouth has been shooing investors away.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said yesterday it is not the President’s foul mouth that is turning off investors, but the country’s weak and inadequate infrastructure, particularly on power and transportation.

Even Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said hard-nosed investors are actually not repelled by invectives and just go where they can make money, even if the leader of the land drops the “F” bombs or where real bombs explode daily.

Both senators were reacting to critics of the Duterte administration that the President’s expletives and verbal attacks against world leaders were discouraging investors from coming to the country.

“Investors just look the other way when such language is used because what they really are looking for are strong and sufficient infrastructure like railways, stable power and efficient governance,” Ejercito said.

The senator lamented that the country’s power supply is not only unreliable but also costly, and that the transportation system, particularly the railways, remain antiquated and inadequate.

He said certain Philippine economic policies and regulations are also contradictory and obsolete.

Ejercito asked the administration’s economic managers to address concerns of investors, while the nation and the international community get used to Duterte’s manner of speaking.

“He’s adjusting; we’re adjusting; the international community’s adjusting; but the government must act very quickly and decisively to make our country attractive to investments,” he said.

Recto said hard-nosed investors are actually attracted by incentives, not repelled by invectives, and go where they can earn money, like the Philippines with “an irresistible large market of over 100 million consumers.”

Recto, an economist, said investors go to countries where costs – power, labor, land and other inputs – are cheap.

“The leader of the land where they’ll be sinking their money in can drop ‘F’ bombs for all they care,” he said. “In search for the almighty profit, business will go where it can be made, even to places where real bombs explode on a daily basis.”  Recto explained.

“Businessmen operate under a presumed climate of certain risks, and they know how to manage them. A president’s colorful language is not a risk to be managed. Trading does not stop because the president has again thrown a tantrum.”