Trustworthy government needed to boost economy – Robredo

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo stressed the importance of a trustworthy, empowering and agile government to strengthen the country’s economy heavily affected by the pandemic.

In a message during the Arangkada Forum organized by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines on Tuesday, Robredo said the character of the government that will implement policies should be factored in when considering candidates for next year’s elections.

“It is not too difficult for anyone to come up with a laundry lists of steps. We should, however, consider first of all the character of the government that will be tasked to implement these steps,” she said.

The Vice President outlined three imperatives that she said are necessary to ensure that the government will be able to implement measures to boost the Philippine economy.

“First, government should be trustworthy. When rules are unevenly applied, when they are changed in the middle of the game to favor one interest over another, when government cannot be trusted to keep its word, then the economic environment becomes unpredictable,” she said.

The second imperative, according to Robredo, is that the government should empower the people that it serves.

“By this, I mean a government that seeks to engage businesses and come up with solutions rather than one that is overly fixated on restrictions and merely waits to pounce and penalize those who step an inch out of line,” she said.

“It is a government that listens and actively builds a workable and dynamic consensus with stakeholders, understanding that national progress is a goal that is shared by all,” she added.

Robredo said her third imperative, to have an agile government, will be achieved through modernization and by harnessing new technology.

Digitization, she said, should be treated as the front-end domino to unlock the economy. – Louella Desiderio