The Philippines: Balisacan to return to NEDA under Marcos

• FORMER Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, former Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma and migrant workers’ rights advocate Susan “Toots” Ople have accepted presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.’s invitation to join his Cabinet.
• Mr. Marcos said he had asked Mr. Balisacan to “return” to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), a Cabinet-level agency responsible for economic planning.
• “I’ve worked with him extensively at the time when I was governor, we have very similar thinking in that regard which is why I am confident,” Mr. Marcos said of Mr. Balisacan who he described as an “old friend.”
• Victor D. Rodriguez, who is set to become Mr. Marcos’ executive secretary, confirmed in a text message to reporters that Mr. Balisacan has already accepted the offer.
• Mr. Rodriguez also said Mr. Laguesma and Ms. Ople have also accepted Mr. Marcos’ offer to head the Labor department and the newly established agency for migrant workers, respectively.
• Mr. Laguesma was Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) secretary from 1998 to 2001, while Ms. Ople was a DoLE undersecretary from 2004 to 2009 under the Arroyo administration.
• Laguesma said he plans to create a “workable formula” with employers and workers to address labor issues, including contractualization.
• Mr. Laguesma vowed to work closely with the newly established agency for migrant workers while encouraging more Filipinos to stay in the Philippines instead of seeking employment abroad.
• Ms. Ople is the founder of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute. The center is named after her late father who served for 19 years as the Labour minister under President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
• Mr. Balisacan in a statement said he looks forward to working with the economic team and the private sector “to bring back the country to its pre-pandemic high-growth trajectory, deliver rapid poverty reduction, and reduce socioeconomic inequality.”
• A native of Ilocos Norte, Mr. Balisacan was Socioeconomic Planning secretary and NEDA director-general from May 12 to Jan 16 under the Aquino administration. After he resigned from NEDA, President Benigno S.C. Aquino III appointed him as the first-ever chairman of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
• He was part of Aquino’s economic team that catapulted the Philippines to an investment grade rating, effectively lowering borrowing costs and encouraging more investors to do business in the country.
• The credit rating upgrades during the Aquino years, supported by reforms initiated by his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, brought down debt servicing to about 20% from a third of the national government budget.

External Link : https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2022/05/24/450362/balisacan-to-return-to-neda-under-marcos/

External Link : https://www.rappler.com/business/arsenio-balisacan-priorities-neda-philippine-economic-growth-poverty-reduction/