Bongbong Marcos’ foreign trips yield P427B investment pledges in Q3

Metro Manila skyline at night (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JILSON SECKLER TIU)

(Editor’s note: We are updating this story to correct the earlier figure on investment pledges the Philippines got from President Bongbong Marcos’ foreign trips. The correct figure is P427 billion, not P734 billion. We regret the error.)

MANILA, Philippines — The foreign trips of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. brought in P427 billion worth of investment promises so far, an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.

“Kung titingnan ho natin iyong foreign component ho mismo, ang total approved registrations po sa BOI (Board of Investments) ay umaabot ng P427 billion. Kung ikukumpara ninyo ho iyon sa same period of last year, it’s actually a 4,150% increase,” DTI’s Board of Investments (BOI) member Ceferino Rodolfo said during a Palace briefing.

(If we look at the foreign component itself, the total approved registrations at the BOI reached P427 billion. If you compare that to the same period of last year, it’s actually a 4,150% increase.)

According to Rodolfo, investment pledges were made by host countries and other countries and businessmen that the President directly engaged with during his trips. One example is Germany, which Marcos directly engaged with during his trip to Belgium.

Rodolfo also explained that 80 percent of foreign investments are processed through the DTI-BOI.

READ: Lawmakers weigh in on Marcos’ P1.4 billion travel kitty

He likewise said that the total investment approvals so far is a 102 percent increase from the same period last year.

“Kung ico-compare po natin from January to September of 2022, umabot lang po tayo ng P362 billion,” he said.

(From January to September of 2022, we just reached P362 billion.)

READ: Marcos defends foreign trips: ‘Kailangan natin magpakilala’

When asked how much of the investment pledges since 2022 became concrete projects, Rodolfo said: “Ang track record ho natin sa Board of Investments over the past 10 years is that about 80% of the projects that register, actually continue on to implement their projects – iyong mga nagkakatotoo.”

(Our track record at the Board of Investments over the past 10 years is that about 80% of the projects that register actually continue to implement their projects – those that come true.)

READ: P4.8-B foreign investments materialized so far from Bongbong Marcos trips — DTI

But Rodolfo could not disclose the cost of President Marcos’ foreign trips where he could clinch the investment pledges, noting that such information is not available to his agency.

Marcos is again scheduled to leave the country this week for a summit. He is set to fly to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 19, to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit.

kga/abc