MANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 2:03 p.m.) — Economic recovery and a new stimulus package are among the legislative priorities of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which he discussed in a meeting with lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, among the top contenders for the Senate presidency who was at the meeting with Marcos, told Philstar.com that they discussed the national budget, bills on economic recovery and a stimulus bill similar to the two previous Bayanihan measures that were passed to provide aid to those hit hard by the pandemic.
“He wants to hit the ground running,” Zubiri said in a text message.
The Senate leader added that Marcos wants to focus on developing the countryside through agriculture, continuing President Rodrigo Duterte's flagship infrastructure program “Build, Build, Build,” providing credit facilities to small businesses and education, which he said lawmakers committed to support through the national budget.
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, a leading candidate for House speaker in the next Congress, has previously floated a new stimulus package named after his cousin Marcos’ initials called the “Bayan Bangon Muli bill.”
Some opposition lawmakers, like Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay), have questioned whether the next administration can even find fresh financing for this new stimulus package.
"Stimulus spending to help support agriculture and MSMEs will always be welcome as it will help support job creation and overall GDP. However, the new administration must also be mindful of the fiscal situation, with debt levels currently at elevated levels," Nicholas Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank in Manila, said in a Viber message.
"Additional spending will be welcome but not to the extent that it would leave the country susceptible to a potential credit rating downgrade," Mapa added.
Zubiri and Romualdez led lawmakers from their respective chambers in a meeting with Marcos at his headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
Romualdez was joined by Rep. Janet Garin (Iloilo) and Rep. Tonypet Albano (Isabela).
Meanwhile, Zubiri was joined by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Sens. Nancy Binay, Ronald Dela Rosa, Ramon Bong Revilla, and Sens.-elect JV Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Loren Legarda and Raffy Tulfo.
Missing from the meeting was Sen. Cynthia Villar, who is another leading candidate for the Senate presidency and is supposedly backed by the president-elect’s older sister, Sen. Imee Marcos.
Dela Rosa said Tuesday that Villar has offered a term-sharing arrangement with Zubiri to prevent a split in the majority bloc, a claim which Zubiri denied.
“There are no talks for term sharing,” Zubiri told Philstar.com. “At this point it’s just discussions on committee assignments.” — with a report from Ramon Royandoyan