Romualdez: Jobs secured in Japan not mere number but way out of poverty for Filipinos

House Speaker Martin Romualdez joins the Philippine officials present during the meeting between President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Commemorative Summit at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, December 17, 2023. Photos by Yummie Dingding/ PPA POOL

MANILA, Philippines — The jobs secured by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during his Japan trip are not mere numbers but a way out of poverty for several Filipino families, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Romualdez called Marcos’ trip to Japan a success after the Chief Executive was able to secure P14.5 billion worth of additional investment pledges — turning the total amount of pledges from Japan into P771 billion, including those secured in the February 2023 trip.

Combined investments are expected to generate 40,000 jobs for Filipinos, as the nine new letters of intent and memorandum of understanding signed during the visit would create 15,000 more job openings.

“President Marcos has proven himself a champion for economic growth and job creation. These investment pledges secured in Japan are a testament to the international community’s confidence in the Philippines’ future under his leadership,” Romualdez, who was with Marcos in the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo, said.

“The promised over 40,000 jobs are not just numbers. They represent families lifted out of poverty, brighter futures for our youth, and a stronger middle class. President Marcos’ dedication to attracting foreign investments translates directly into improved livelihood for our countrymen,” he added.

READ: Marcos’ Japan trip nets P14.5B in fresh investment pledges

Romualdez also assured Marcos that the House will support the administration’s effort to create a more investor-friendly ecosystem in the Philippines by passing necessary bills to address foreign investors’ concerns.

Marcos said it is why Romualdez is accompanying him on trips because laws “dictate that all revenue measures that are undertaken or new laws that are revenue measures must originate from the House of Representatives”.

Romualdez, for his part, said that the suggestions from investors would have weight in crafting legislation that would address stumbling blocks to implementing investment pledges.

“The inputs and suggestions we personally hear from potential investors during these trips would be invaluable in crafting laws meant to answer the issues they have raised to ensure that these investment pledges would come to fruition and create jobs for thousands of Filipinos,” Romualdez said.

A criticism hurled against the Marcos administration is supposedly having huge amounts of investment pledges that have not yet bore fruit. According to the Presidential Communications Office, over P169.7 billion of Japanese investments are currently funneled into the Philippine economy.

However, that P169.7 billion only amounts to just 22 percent of the entire P771 billion pledges that Marcos got from his February and December Japan trips.

READ: Allies, critics weigh in on Marcos’ 1st year in office

Romualdez believes that the slow turnover of investment pledges can be addressed by easing economic restrictions against foreign investments in the 1987 Constitution. However, Senators have appeared lukewarm to the idea of a charter change, with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri himself saying that some of his colleagues might not support this proposal.

On the executive side, Marcos signed Executive Order No. 49, creating the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, tasked with ensuring the effective integration, coordination, and implementation of the various government investment and economic policies and programs.