Photo credit: PCO

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is making sure the country's most important projects are on track. He recently ordered economic managers to ensure that priority initiatives, essential to achieving his administration’s medium-term goals, get the funding they need in 2025.

In a Palace briefing on Thursday, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan explained the President’s directive. “The President wanted to get the assurance that the priority projects of this administration, projects that [have] been so well identified as critical to achieving that social and economic transformation that it wants to achieve in the medium term are funded in 2025 and that is sustained also in the coming years,” he shared.

Balisacan reassured everyone that Congress and the administration are aligned when it comes to funding and implementing these key projects in the coming years.

What about new taxes? Not needed for now, according to the NEDA chief. While the Department of Finance (DOF) has identified some potential new measures, the focus is on improving the current tax system. “We have a few of those new measures that had been identified in several fora and by (Finance) Secretary Ralph Recto and the DBCC. But the key to enhancing our revenue now is the improvement in the administration of our tax laws,” Balisacan emphasized.

For now, the President’s team is prioritizing the efficient use of resources to support projects that will drive economic and social transformation. This ensures not just progress in 2025 but sustained growth in the years to come.