Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte is hoping the next Congress would pass a “township revitalization” bill to brace for economic turbulence that could hit developing countries this year and onwards.
The lawmaker cited as reasons the United States of America’s Federal Reserve raising interest rates and world economic growth slowing because of this monetary policy, the impact of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
His proposal to ensure a strong and sustainable economic rebound calls for the establishment of township revitalization programs nationwide to create a lot of jobs outside the national capital and thereby encourage people to stay put or return to their home provinces, which would in turn decongest Metro Manila.
“The short-term goal of a township revitalization initiative is to generate economic activity and create jobs outside Metro Manila to accelerate and strengthen the country’s recovery from the lingering pandemic plus the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
“Its long-term goal is to decongest Metro Manila and other urban centers by creating growth hubs in the countryside,” he added.
Earlier, he filed House Bill 6970, which, in effect, institutionalizes the “Balik Probinsya” program of the outgoing Duterte administration.
However, there is no more time for the current Congress to pass HB 6970 as it will adjourn sine die in June, he cited.
He said he hopes that the 19th Congress could immediately pass a township revitalization bill, following the International Monetary Fund’s warning of continuing risks and uncertainties triggered by the pandemic along with the rocketing global price of oil and the other effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The IMF said emerging economies, which include countries, such as the Philippines, should gird up for possible rough times as the US Federal Reserve started raising interest rates amid the coronavirus-induced global economic slowdown.
Villafuerte said a township revitalization bill will provide the next government with a solution to any spike in unemployment as this measure will propel the growth of “township economies” that would create jobs in rural communities and convince people to stay put and work in their provinces instead of going to Metro Manila to look for work, only to end up in the swelling ranks of the unemployed.
Under HB 6970, he said such an initiative should offer a menu of tax breaks and other incentives to entice corporations to relocate to, or expand their businesses in, areas outside the Greater Manila Area.