New regime seen business-friendly

The first 100 days in office of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte will be under scrutiny but at least one big international fund manager is optimistic that President Aquino’s successor can continue or even intensify an anticorruption campaign and promote a business-friendly regime.

Mark Mobius, executive chair of Templeton Emerging Markets Group and an influential fund manager specializing in emerging markets, said the first 100 days would be crucial and businessmen would like to see a continuation of the elimination of corruption and promotion of lean government that had characterized the Aquino administration.

“Based on his track record and campaign statements, there is a good chance Duterte will not only continue Aquino’s stance but may even come out harder against crime and corruption. He has the reputation for cleaning up Davao and even executed a number of criminals (which caused concern among human rights groups),” Mobius said in a blogsite of Franklin Templeton dated May 18.

Mobius’ blog was titled “Will New Leadership Change the Outlook for the Philippines?”

“Clearly, the Philippine population would like to have a strong and clean anticorruption and anticriminal government that will come out hard against criminals, and Duterte has the background to deliver that,” Mobius said.

Citing the Davao City mayor’s rhetoric and track record, Mobius said Duterte appeared to be a strong hand of the government. As he was likely to continue to come down hard on criminals, Mobius said that in such respect, Duterte could represent a continuation of the Aquino anti-corruption stance or perhaps even execute it more forcefully. As such, he said this should be positive for businesses and the economy.

“Additionally, despite some socialist leanings, Duterte’s record as former mayor of Davao was actually one of being very business-friendly, with the major business groups in the city doing very well under his administration,” Mobius said.

The fund manager also noted Duterte’s friendly ties with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and his proposal to include CPP members into his Cabinet—a pronouncement that has sparked controversy within the business community. “It remains to be seen if he can lead such a bipolar Cabinet in terms of political ideology. However, if the successful integration of the CPP into his administration is established, I think the Philippines can look forward to a new era of peace and unity that was never achieved in past administrations,” Mobius said.

Mobius took note of how the Filipino people had embraced Duterte’s “outspoken and somewhat unpolished style.” The fund manager said his popularity seemed to stem from the fact that he spoke his mind, expressing things others did not dare to say “but there is some worry about his being too totalitarian in some regards.”

Having bounced back from adversity time and again, Mobius said “resilient” was probably a good word to describe the Philippines and its people.

“Some observers say the victory of such a flamboyant personality reflects some of the discontent many Filipinos still feel—particularly the middle class who feel squeezed by what they perceive to be high taxes and a lack of government support. Infrastructure remains a noted sore spot for the country and is clearly in need of improvement,” he said.

Citing his most recent visit to the Philippines to speak at the opening of a new apartment building for business process outsourcing (BPO) workers, Mobius said he saw great potential in this area as well as in affordable housing sector.