| PHOTO: Official website of NEDA / sdg.neda.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines — The escalating political bickering in the country is unlikely to have any effects on the economy, said National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Thursday.
Balisacan made the remark after meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Senate president Francis Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
According to Balisacan, it’s “business as usual” for the country’s economic managers even amid the worsening political strife between the current administration and the Dutertes.
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“What’s important for the business community is the sustainability of our economic agenda and as also seen in recent economic history that, for so long, the government stays in course within its development economic priorities and programs, this will continue to maintain their confidence in the economy,” said Balisacan in a Palace press conference.
“So I think the impact of [political] noises such as what we have now, if there’s anything, will be quite minimal and the last 12 or so years bear on that,” he added.
Balisacan explained that the government had continued to sustain its economic policies since the late 1990s, which resulted in continued improvement in the economy.
The official then assured the public that the Marcos administration remains focused in meeting its goals, targets and strategies outlined in the Philippine Development Plan.
Doing so, he said, signals that the country’s economic momentum “will be sustained.”
Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, who were running mates in the 2022 elections, have been embroiled in a worsening clash over the past months after the latter quit her post in the President’s cabinet as education secretary.
The feud has since escalated, with Duterte recently admitting that she instructed someone to kill Marcos, his wife Liza and cousin Romualdez if she herself dies.