Marcos urged to 'step out of father's shadow'

FORMER senator Franklin Drilon has urged President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to "step out of his father's shadow" and create the necessary sacrifices using his huge political capital in his first State of the Nation Address on Monday.

In an interview on the ABS-CBN News Channel, Drilon said that Marcos' SONA is the "most confronting" that he has seen as the President faces "more challenges", with the economy becoming a key concern.

"This economy was not only battered by the pandemic, but also due to the inefficiencies and corruption in the previous administration. Our debt burden is astronomical... [and] almost 60 percent of our people point to inflation as a cause for concern and they want this to be addressed," Drilon, also a former Senate President, said.

Drilon said that Marcos should tighten fiscal spending in the government although he understands that it may affect the funding for the much needed social and infrastructure programs of the administration.

"That is why I am endorsing the policy of encouraging the PPP (public-private partnership) concept of participating in infrastructure to provide needed money or budget which cannot be provided by the public sector," he added.

Marcos should also review the need for food importation in the short term to address increasing chicken and pork prices, which he said is one-half times more expensive than in Thailand.

Drilon said that Marcos should also make a review of the Universal Health Care law and have it "funded properly" as there is a possibility that its funds will be depleted in the next several years by addressing corruption in the health sector, as well as increase health systems infrastructure.

He urged Marcos to step out of the shadows of his father, former president Ferdinand Marcos and create necessary measures using his 31 million votes as political capital.

"[He] cannot take populist decisions, it has no place at this point, and he should use that political capital to execute these reforms," Drilon said.

Marcos is the son and namesake of the late president Marcos who was ousted in 1986 via popular revolt that forced him and his family to flee the country.

With a platform anchored on unity, the young Marcos won the May 9, 2022 presidential elections with 31 million votes, considered the highest in the recent history of the Philippine polls.

Source: TheManila Times