‘EO on critical infrastructure to solve bureaucratic gridlock’

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang needs to issue an executive order on critical infrastructure to address the bureaucratic blockades that have been suppressing the country’s economic potential, an advocacy group said.

Orlando Oxales, lead convenor of consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch, said the proposed EO should cover digital, transportation (land, air and maritime) and power infrastructure.

“This EO should consolidate existing, albeit siloed, measures and be guided by recommendations from the private sector,” he said.

Oxales added that the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for Filipinos to recover economically.

The mission, he said, is to accelerate the velocity of economic growth using an inclusive, sustainable, and people-centered approach.

“To be responsive entails an accurate appreciation of the problems and the potential of drivers of the economy, which is the private sector.”

In the 2022 annual global competitiveness report of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the Philippines ranked 48th out of 63 economies.

“While this is a four-step improvement from the previous year, the fact remains that in Asia Pacific alone, we have remained second-to-last in the past five years,” Oxales said.

The ranking reflects the sorry state of infrastructure in the country, he added.

“The state of Philippine infrastructure has been one of the uncompetitive factors for attracting foreign investments we need to build a robust manufacturing industry. This, in turn, would create millions of quality jobs for our skilled and young workforce instead of losing to other countries with job opportunities that are often less optimal for their qualifications.”

Oxales noted that President Marcos Jr. has been engaging the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) wherein the country’s industry leaders in the infrastructure sector have vowed support for the execution of infrastructure programs of the administration.

The PSAC, along with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), has earlier called for the issuance of an EO to institutionalize improvements in the process of establishing telecommunication towers and other related infrastructure, thus speeding up the release of permits and licenses.

“These bureaucratic bottlenecks have bogged down the development of digital and other infrastructure projects for too long and has dragged down the growth of our industries,” Oxales said.