Mar Roxas Commitment to the Filipino Family and to Philippine Economics #HelpfulHowTo

Mar Roxas Commitment to the Filipino Family and to Philippine Economics #HelpfulHowTo

Mar Roxas has the positive image in detailing the economic thrust in the Philippine business arena; noted for his initiatives in believing that the Filipinos could do more than just a country, but an economically stable in the future.

His notable history in running different positions in the government and an excellent graduate student. Roxas was appointed Secretary of Trade and Industry by President Joseph Estrada in January 2000, replacing Jose Pardo who was appointed Secretary of Finance. He resigned the position in November, as Estrada was under fire due to allegations of corruption. In January 2001, days after Estrada was overthrown, Roxas was re-appointed to the same office by newly installed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was also temporarily designated by Arroyo to head the Department of Energy.

During his four-year stint as DTI Secretary, he pushed for the development of the "palengke" (market) as the basic unit of the economy and the root of progress, advocating not only consumer welfare and protection but also sound trade and investment policies, particularly SME development.

His commitment to the Filipino family, and will fulfill this by pursuing, sustaining, and accelerating reform in a number of priority sectors. He wanted sustained economic growth; progress will be sustained through the revitalization of key sectors like manufacturing, which will create jobs for the Filipino people.

Mar Roxas said, “In order to do this, we will develop and fully implement industry-specific resurgence roadmaps in conjunction with stakeholders. We will also address factors that will allow more businesses to come in: the high cost of power, and the lack of infrastructure, among others. Information technology will be utilized to streamline business registration and license systems at the local and national level.”

“To stimulate the creation of high-quality jobs, we will provide incentives to investors who engage in industries higher up the value chain, while ensuring that Filipinos have the necessary training and education to fill openings in these more complex industries. We will revisit EPIRA and other laws in order to encourage greater competition in the energy market. Our goal is to diversify the energy mix, while ensuring that power is affordable, and that baseload capacity can meet the rising demands of a growing economy and a growing population.”

Mar Roxas said that his future administration will sustain a high level of infrastructure development, without compromising the integrity and safety of projects. We will prioritize transport infrastructure to connect cities and regional growth hubs, industrial zones and tourism destinations. Traffic in Metro Manila will be addressed through the re-examination and reconfiguring of bus franchises, and the reform of the train system.

Another item is to maximize tourism potential. New tourism sites will be developed, while we continue the sustainable development of already-favored destinations. Participation of local communities in economic activity generated by tourism will be stimulated. We will ensure that owner-cultivatorship remains the foundation of agriculture and is more profitable and sustainable by encouraging clustering of farmers for effective access to support services and improved farm operations. Targeted infrastructure development in rural areas will be pursued: post-harvest facilities in every town and farm-to-market roads connecting agricultural centers to markets will be built to reduce wastage and maximize profit.

Lastly, before, Manuel Araneta Roxas has filed Senate Bill No. 108 (Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) to strengthen Republic Act No. 6977, the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises. The focus of the amendments of this bill focuses on three points: guidelines, institutional support and organizational support. Guidelines refer to the specific asset size definition, appropriating a definite and regular amount for the Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) Council and increase in the mandatory allocation to lending activities. Institutional support comprises additional government agencies to coordinate SME efforts and formalization of the SME Development Plan.

This will intensify organizational support to intensify the powers and increase capitalization of the Small Business and Guarantee Finance Corporation to complement the growing demands for financing. Other features of the bill include formalizing the celebration of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Week and recognition of outstanding MSMEs.

Mar Roxas has the edge from other presidential candidates to uplift the standard of living in the Philippines through his continuing effort in widening the scope of Philippine economy to globalization.