President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. identified the Philippine economy as his number one priority. Specifically, this includes increasing public-private partnerships, continuing President Duterte’s flagship “Build, build, build” infrastructure program, improving the Philippine power sector to boost the country’s industrialization, ensuring the proper collection of taxes and duties, and strengthening partnerships with other countries to achieve recovery post-pandemic. He has also stated that he will welcome more investments from the United States.
A few weeks after his landslide victory, Marcos Jr. announced that he would look into the 2023 national budget to fund a proposed stimulus measure for his administration’s plans. In particular, he intends to move some public expenditures to more investment-led expenditures to retool the economy. Read More

The Stratbase ADR Institute, in partnership with the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST), organized its Virtual Roundtable Discussion (VRTD) entitled “Promoting an Investment-Led and Sustainable Economy”. This virtual event was held on 23 June 2022 (Thursday) from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM, and is part of Stratbase ADRI’s ongoing series of quarterly business roundtable discussions. Read More

President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has bared the names of the individuals who will lead his economic team. They are technocrats with a demonstrated track record of competence and credibility. Notable among them are Dr. Arsenio Balisacan for the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Dr. Benjamin Diokno for the Department of Finance (DoF). They had previously served as top economic managers during the administrations of Marcos Jr.’s predecessors and are expected to steer the country’s economy toward the right path in the next six years. Read More

In the past six years, the Philippines struggled to uphold its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) given the balancing, yet often failing, act that the Duterte administration performed in pursuit of its so-called independent foreign policy. This has resulted in numerous setbacks in strengthening our country’s defense posture and advancing strategic relations with like-minded states. Read More

The Philippines has one of the world’s longest coastlines, spanning 36,289 kilometers (22,549 miles), filled with abundant marine resources and maritime industry potential. Its strategic location, critical for trade and security, also elevates the importance of protecting national interest over the country’s territorial rights. These economic and industrial opportunities and strategic geographical location suggest that the new government should be able to use and harness concrete methods and approaches to strongly address our maritime security concerns. To promote and protect Philippine interests and concerns, priority must be given to establishing dependable interagency cooperation between maritime agencies and institutions. Read More

The rising uncertainties in the global environment, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, has demanded states to reorient its foreign and security policy to identify where and whom to collaborate, cooperate, compete, and confront in terms of emerging threats and opportunities for development. Within the context of maritime security, the Philippines continues to be in the mix of geopolitical shifts given the increasing influence of China and the country’s territorial rights over the West Philippine Sea. As the country moves into a new administration, a future-oriented, responsive, and strategic Philippine foreign policy must entail the configuration of the country’s national interest vis-à-vis the uncertainties about the current international order and lessons learned from the Duterte administration. The country must strengthen its inherent capability to be a maritime power given its strategic geographic characteristics and location from being a center of international trade flow and marine resource abundance.   Read More

The next six years will be crucial for Philippine society as it struggles to recover from the pandemic, build back better from the experiences and performances of the outgoing administration, and craft the future of our country. Cognizant of the extant and emerging challenges that the Filipino nation confronts, Stratbase ADR Institute launched its book “Beyond the Crisis: A Strategic Agenda for the Next President” last May 20. A veritable collection of 16 special policy papers, the institute proposes to the next government sensible and actionable recommendations in the areas of foreign policy and security, economy, social inequality, food security, climate change, and governance. Read More