PH needs to shift from COVID-19 economy to making structural changes – Marcos

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  (Photo from the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office)

TOKYO, Japan — “Well, I think this year, this 2023, was really the year of structural changes,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. replied when asked by media how to describe the year as he was wrapping up his trip to Tokyo for the Asean-Japan Summit on Monday.

Marcos — whose Japan visit was the 17th trip he made in 2023 — said it was important to shift policies away from the COVID-19 economy.

“We studied the government, we studied the economy and started to come to a few answers, some of it is structural that we have had to do,” said Marcos.

According to Marcos, some significant reforms this year included the ease of doing business, as well as changes to the tax structure.

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“We have changed the structure of the different agencies and, equally importantly, we are beginning to find the best people for each of those positions,” Marcos said.

“We continue to modernize. We continue to be responsive to the new economy [so] that we position ourselves properly. Again, we’re moving — we’re moving in the right direction. But if you ask me, I’m always — I always say it’s too slow. It’s too slow, it’s too slow. So, we will just keep pushing.”