House reps: Let’s give ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ a chance

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers in the House of Representatives debunked on Thursday the claim that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Bagong Pilipinas campaign brand was only an empty promise.

According to Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo, the platform did not guarantee that all the country’s problems would be fixed instantly.

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“If you are asking me, Bagong Pilipinas was launched by the president not to resolve the problems of the Philippines overnight. What the president did in Bagong Pilipinas’ launching was to aim to lift our countrymen from poverty,” Tulfo, an ACT-CIS representative, said, speaking partly in Filipino.

Tulfo made the statement in response to comments that the Bagong Pilipinas failed to live up to its promises.

“It is not the way I look at it as a journalist. Bagong Pilipinas was launched to help people, as the Marcos administration promised, even during the campaign, is for all of us to rise at the same time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin said that the theme of Bagong Pilipinas is responsiveness and the availability of the government and its services.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. If you apply for a passport, how many times will you return? If you apply for a driver’s license, how many times will you return? There are government services that you need to return to obtain, and those are being responded to and served quickly. In Bagong Pilipinas, the government is responsive and will always be there,” Garin, representative of the 1st District of Iloilo, said, speaking partly in Filipino.

Garin added that the general public should judge whether they feel the effects of Bagong Pilipinas.

“There will always be people who are happy with what you’re doing, but there will always be people who criticize you. What’s important is that we see by the end of the year what the public has to say. Do they feel it, or do they not?” she added.

READ: Marcos says ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ serves no narrow political interest

Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes added that the campaign should be given a chance to prove its performance.

“When did Bagong Pilipinas kick off? Around January or February this year? So, it’s hard to say that it’s all empty promises when only one or two months have passed. It has not been given a chance to see the performance of this Bagong Pilipinas that we are establishing,” he said.