President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. knows the task at hand.
He must roll up his sleeves and prime the pump to reinvigorate the Philippine economy and get millions of Filipinos out of the poverty line.
It is not an easy job.
Like his predecessors, Mr. Marcos will focus on the economy on day one, identify the persistent problems that hobble and prevent it from making a full stride.
Past presidents tried their best but the Philippine economy still cannot match the feats of its Southeast Asian neighbors like Thailand and even Vietnam – which have attracted far bigger foreign investments and substantially reduced their cost of doing business.
Rising inflation will be the main concern of the new administration because high prices erode the purchasing power of consumers.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects the inflation rate in June to have reached as high as 6.5 percent due to weaker peso, higher oil prices and increased power rates.
The new administration, thus, will have to rein in the inflation rate before it does real damage to a recovering economy.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has identified the causes of rising prices.
It is now up to the Marcos government to decide on which set of menus will be effective in softening prices.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, for one, noted the continued increase in domestic petroleum prices, upward adjustment in electricity rates, higher cost of key food items and the peso depreciation as the primary sources of inflationary pressures in June.
The Marcos administration must also deal with the current pandemic.
The government must effectively contain COVID-19 cases across the Philippines.
The economy cannot fully reopen and generate more jobs if the virus spread is unchecked.
Food security will be another major concern of the new administration.
The Russia-Ukraine war has exposed the vulnerability of Philippine agriculture.
It is high time the Philippines modernized the farming sector.
Post-harvest facilities are lacking and contribute to low prices of agricultural produce in the countryside.
Cold storage facilities are scarce to help fisherfolk preserve their daily catch and command good prices in the market.
President Marcos is aware of the challenges in making the Philippine economy more vibrant. It takes hard work to accomplish the job. He should be up for it.