House eyes implementation of anti-inflation measures

Arroyo stressed the need to pivot from “mere policies to implementation” to “harvest the results” during the final three and a half years of Duterte’s term. (PNA photo by Filane Mikee Cervantes)

MANILA — As the House of Representatives pivots from policy to action, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday said the chamber will support the government’s implementation of policies to address inflation.

During a lunch meeting with House media, Arroyo said the legislative has done its part to enact a set of laws in support of President Duterte’s economic policies.

“This week, the House can report with confidence that it has already either passed or is in the final mile of the effort to pass, the President’s legislative agenda as he announced in his 2018 State of the Nation Address.

Thus, the country already has a good policy framework in place, supported by good legislation,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo stressed the need to pivot from “mere policies to implementation” to “harvest the results” during the final three and a half years of Duterte’s term.

“This cannot be done merely by making good economic policies and then stopping there – we need to take the extra step to implement those policies and transform them into actual business activity,” she said.

She noted that the issues of supply must be addressed to curb the rising prices.

“The solution, of course, is to increase the supply.

When applying this example to the economy as a whole, this means we have to generate the economic activity that will produce more goods and services for the economy, and in doing so, create pay checks for the people involved in producing them,” Arroyo said.

The Speaker vowed to help the executive branch in the implementation of laws as the 17th Congress nears its end.

“For the remaining months of the 17th Congress, the House is prepared to give the implementing departments and agencies the support that they may need, to the extent that they make this pivot from policy to action, such as by way of House resolutions from the elected representatives of the people, or through the helpful exercise of House oversight functions,” she said.