ISRAEL FACES A KEY VOTE–AND A CRISIS–OVER DIVISIVE LEGAL CHANGES

IT would seem that unity is working for the country’s economic recovery, a local economist said after the President delivered his 71-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday. Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior adviser at professional services firm Reyes Tacandong & Co., told BusinessMirror that the President’s second SONA was able to address several pain points such as education and jobs; affordable healthcare; and efforts to address inflation and strengthen the economy. R avelas also said it was also made clear by the President that his focus included efforts to raise revenues and reduce inflation. However, he said, these are not enough, especially given the El Niño. “ It seems the unity strategy is helping the economy turn a corner. However, challenging inflation and El Niño remains but also provided plans in mitigating these risks,” Ravelas said.

“He (the President) is taking his high approval rating for a spin.”

R avelas said it also remains to be seen whether the President’s approval ratings will be enough to sway the legislature to pass 18 measures, some of which have not been directly identified in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, the country’s medium-term socioeconomic blueprint.

A teneo Center for Research and Development (ACERD) Associate Director Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes told BusinessMirror the President’s SONA was a “well-articulated speech.”

Portions of the SONA that appealed to him were the discussion on inflation, food production, particularly agriculture and fisheries as well as jobs creation. Peña-Reyes was also partial to the President’s “punitive stance against smugglers and hoarders.”

I hope we can attract more FDI for the renewable energy projects mentioned in the speech,” Peña-Reyes said. “I just wish housing would figure more prominently in our infrastructure push.”