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Investment pledges under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and Board of Investments (BOI) plummeted by 90.4 percent as of February, reaching only P12.82 billion from P133.24 billion in the same two-month period in 2021.
According to official figures posted on the website of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the BOI suffered the more severe drop of 93.8 percent to P7.55 billion from P121.9 billion previously. Peza, on the other hand, saw a 53.4-percent decline to P5.27 billion from P11.3 billion.
The drop in pledges followed the full-year decline seen in 2021 for both Peza and BOI, the country’s top investment promotion agencies, which are attached to the DTI. The Inquirer tried to reach Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez to explain the dive in the numbers but is yet to receive a reply.
The significant drop in investment pledges indicates that the promised influx of investments resulting from the passage of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act is yet to come through.
The CREATE law passed in March 2021 cut corporate taxes and rationalized tax breaks and was one of the major tax reform packages pushed hard by the Duterte administration.
Lopez, who called the reform law a “game-changer,” said back in February 2021 that the CREATE law “is expected to bring in [a] massive inflow of investments that will create more jobs.”
The promised influx in investments may yet happen, however, with the passage of key liberalization measures, including amendments to the Public Service Act and Foreign Investments Act.