REYES, MHAYDEL G.

BSA2-1

Declaration of President Duterte in his SONA 2019 that affects Philippines’ Development
Development is a multi-dimensional process about the improvement of a nation including its economics,
political, cultural, environmental, social, and welfare and living standards of its citizens. A developed
country is a sovereign state with high industrial and Human Development Index compared to other
countries. It must also have a technologically advanced infrastructure, and its economy must be highly
developed. It is also referred to as industrialized country or more developed country. To be developed
is very important to be able to achieved good quality of life, for that reason every country who are
undeveloped desire to obtain economic growth and overall improvement of its nation.
President Rodrigo Duterte used his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22, to tell
Congress what laws he wants passed and what Filipinos can expect in the last half of his term.
Here are his declarations in SONA 2019 which can affect the development of the Philippines:
1. Death Penalty for Drug Lords and Corrupt Politicians

The existence of illegal drugs is a very common characteristic of a less developed country. Drugs
is also one of the main reason why there are many crimes happening in the country. In the
Philippines alone, an estimated four to seven million of its 104 million population are said to be
using prohibited drugs.

As a campaign promise, President Rodrigo Duterte has made the crackdown on illegal drugs a
centerpiece of his administration -- for which he has been chastised from all fronts, in and out of
the country.

Drug addiction, no doubt, has severely affected society, cutting across all socio-economic
echelons and demographics. No one can deny that drug addiction is a societal menace, resulting
in countless crimes, financial problems, and broken relationships, both with families and friends.

On the other hand, economies that are afflicted by a high level of corruption—which involves the
misuse of power in the form of money or authority to achieve certain goals in illegal, dishonest
or unfair ways—are not capable of prospering as fully as those with a low level of corruption.
Corrupted economies are not able to function properly because corruption prevents the natural
laws of the economy from functioning freely. As a result, corruption in a nation's political and
economic operations causes its entire society to suffer.

Therefore I conclude that death penalty should be imposed in able to eliminate the existence of
drugs and corruption in the Philippines. In that way, people will be afraid to do those things
prohibited by the law as a result there will be less crime rates, and a right politician will handle
the functions in the government and therefore we can achieve growth.
2. Philippines will be open for foreign investors

Developing countries, emerging economies and countries in transition have come increasingly
to see FDI as a source of economic development and modernisation, income growth and
employment. Countries have liberalised their FDI regimes and pursued other policies to attract
investment. They have addressed the issue of how best to pursue domestic policies to maximise
the benefits of foreign presence in the domestic economy. The study Foreign Direct Investment
for Development attempts primarily to shed light on the second issue, by focusing on the overall
effect of FDI on macroeconomic growth and other welfare-enhancing processes, and on the
channels through which these benefits take effect.

The overall benefits of FDI for developing country economies are well documented. Given the
appropriate host-country policies and a basic level of development, a preponderance of studies
shows that FDI triggers technology spillovers, assists human capital formation, contributes to
international trade integration, helps create a more competitive business environment and
enhances enterprise development. All of these contribute to higher economic growth, which is
the most potent tool for alleviating poverty in developing countries. Moreover, beyond the strictly
economic benefits, FDI may help improve environmental and social conditions in the host
country by, for example, transferring “cleaner” technologies and leading to more socially
responsible corporate policies.

FDI and growth

Beyond the initial macroeconomic stimulus from the actual investment, FDI influences growth by
raising total factor productivity and, more generally, the efficiency of resource use in the recipient
economy. This works through three channels: the linkages between FDI and foreign trade flows,
the spillovers and other externalities vis-à-vis the host country business sector, and the direct
impact on structural factors in the host economy. Most empirical studies conclude that FDI
contributes to both factor productivity and income growth in host countries, beyond what
domestic investment normally would trigger. It is more difficult, however, to assess the
magnitude of this impact, not least because large FDI inflows to developing countries often
concur with unusually high growth rates triggered by unrelated factors. Whether, as sometimes
asserted, the positive effects of FDI are mitigated by a partial “crowding out” of domestic
investment is far from clear.

Regardless, even where crowding out does take place, the net effect generally remains
beneficial, not least as the replacement tends to result in the release of scarce domestic funds
for other investment purposes particularly in the least developed countries, where low
educational and technological standards and weak financial markets can hold back the benefits.
In the least developed economies, FDI seems to have a somewhat smaller effect on growth,
which has been attributed to the presence of “threshold externalities”. Apparently, developing
countries need to have reached a certain level of development in education, technology,
infrastructure and health before being able to benefit from a foreign presence in their markets.
Imperfect and underdeveloped financial markets may also prevent a country from reaping the
full benefits of FDI.

Weak financial intermediation hits domestic enterprises much harder than it does multinational
enterprises (MNEs). In some cases it may lead to a scarcity of financial resources that precludes
 them from seizing the business opportunities arising from the foreign presence. Foreign
investors’ participation in physical infrastructure and in the financial sectors (subject to adequate
regulatory frameworks) can help on these two grounds.

Trade and investment

While the empirical evidence of FDI’s effects on host-country foreign trade differs significantly
across countries and economic sectors, a consensus is nevertheless emerging that the FDI-
trade linkage must be seen in a broader context than the direct impact of investment on imports
and exports. The main trade-related benefit of FDI for developing countries lies in its long-term
contribution to integrating the host economy more closely into the world economy in a process
likely to include higher imports as well as exports. In other words, trade and investment are
increasingly recognised as mutually reinforcing channels for cross-border activities. However,
host-country authorities need to consider the short and medium-term impacts of FDI on foreign
trade as well, particularly when faced with current-account pressures, and they sometimes have
to face the question of whether some of the foreign-owned enterprises’ transactions with their
mother companies could diminish foreign reserves. Summary and Conclusions 11 © OECD
2002 FDI generally occurs in tandem with greater international trade integration, which may
reflect increasing vertical integration as well as the establishment of transnational distribution
networks.

As countries develop and approach industrialized nation status, inward FDI contributes to their
further integration into the global economy by engendering and boosting foreign trade flows (the
link between openness to trade and investment is illustrated by Figure 2). Apparently, several
factors are at play. They include the development and strengthening of international networks of
related enterprises and an increasing importance of foreign subsidiaries in MNEs’ strategies for
distribution, sales and marketing. In both cases, this leads to an important policy conclusion,
namely that a developing country’s ability to attract FDI is influenced significantly by the entrant’s
subsequent access to engage in importing and exporting activities. This, in turn, implies that
would-be host countries should consider a policy of openness to international trade as central in
their strategies to benefit from FDI, and that, by restricting imports from developing countries,
home countries effectively curtail these countries’ ability to attract foreign direct investment. Host
countries could consider a strategy of attracting FDI through raising the size of the relevant
market by pursuing policies of regional trade liberalisation and integration.

([Link]

3. Universal Health Care Law

For the National Economic and Development Authority, which led the crafting of the Philippine
Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the signing of the law is a big leap towards reforming the
country’s health care system.

“Our medium-term plan recognizes human development not just as a means to economic
development but as an end in itself. That is why the signing of the UHC law is a victory scored
for the health sector. We are glad that we have reached this milestone halfway into the term of
the Duterte administration,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.
 The law aims to address a number of recurring problems in the health system. First and
foremost, it assures 100 percent population coverage of PhilHealth—from the 98 percent
population coverage in 2018 based on the same year’s Socioeconomic Report by NEDA.

According to the law, PhilHealth members will be classified into two groups: contributory
(premium contributors from payroll) and non-contributory (fully subsidized from tax collections).

The law also addresses the fragmented and overlapping roles and responsibilities of various
health agencies. For people who have low access to health programs and have many financial
problems, this means that they will no longer have to hop from one charitable institution to
another. For instance, the Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGU) will
be responsible for population-based interventions and health services (e.g., immunization
programs and health promotion programs) while PhilHealth will be responsible for financing
individual-based health services.

4. Modernize Military Systems

Military is very important to society. The purpose of the armed forces, in the Philippines, is to
protect the nation's citizens and territory from threats. While this is usually defensive in nature,
the government also employs the military in what's known as "preemptive strikes" (attacking a
nation or organization that intends to do the Philippines. harm but hasn't actually done it yet.)

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Act also known as Republic Act No.
7898 was first made into law on February 23, 1995, under the leadership of President Fidel V.
Ramos. It was aimed to modernize all branches of the AFP such as the Philippine Air Force,
Philippine Navy and the Philippine Army. The law was intended to last for 15 years with an initial
budget of 50 billion pesos for the first five years, but the funding was stopped due to the 1997
Asian financial crisis. After the financial crisis, the funding for the AFP modernization was halted
and later neglected by successive administrations until the law expired in 2010.

Modernization of military systems is very important to development. As the time continues to

5. Build, Build, Build Program

Infrastructure is the term for the basic physical systems of a business or nation—transportation,
communication, sewage, water, and electric systems are all examples of infrastructure. These
systems tend to be high-cost investments and are vital to a country's economic development
and prosperity. Projects related to infrastructure improvements may be funded publicly, privately,
or through public-private partnerships.

On one hand, infrastructure has been a major source of concern for foreign investors, who have
been discouraged by the country’s weak infrastructure and heavy utility costs. Those
investments are crucial to create well-paying jobs for the millions of poor and unemployed
Filipinos.
 Under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the Southeast Asian country is experiencing an
infrastructure boom unseen since the time of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Over the next decade, the government is set to embark on an ambitious $180 billion
infrastructure spending bonanza, set to transform the Philippines’ economy.

Infrastructure is the backbone of economy, to be developed there must be good quality of

6. Third Telco Player to Fasten the Internet

Communication is very important in our daily lives and as the time goes by internet becomes a
necessity. Due to its many benefits to us. In fact, internet becomes the fastest way of connecting
with others, sharing information with other, buy, sell and etc. For this reason, we do not want to
settle to a slow internet connection because it affects our daily transaction.

7. Expand Malasakit Centers for Poor

The Malasakit Center is the one-stop shop program of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to hasten
the delivery of medical services and give poor patients access to free medicines.

Under the program, patients are assisted in availing themselves of the services and financial
assistance provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Philippine
Amusement and Games Corporation (PAGCOR), Department of Health (DoH), and the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Go has been instrumental in putting up Malasakit Centers all over the country. Currently, there
are centers in Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Bacolod, Palawan, and the Philippine General Hospital
(PGH).

In a recent media interview, Go said the Centers allow the public to get quality medical services
for free.

Health is one of issues in development that we need to address. It is one of the average
achievement in HDI. Therefore having Malasakit Centers can improve health of citizens because
less document requirements, and services will be available for free for the poor. This program
somehow may help them in their financial needs.