Duterte dons investors’ promotion cap in Davao

By Riza Lozada

President Duterte deviated last Friday from his usual role as an anti-crime crusader to promote business confidence as he urged investors to come to the country because “the fundamentals of the economy are good.”

Speaking before a gathering of micro, small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in Davao City, Mr. Duterte also renewed his pledge to solve corruption and criminality during his six-year term to help uplift the economy.

He said the only factors that can bring down the economy “and us,” referring to the nation, are corruption and criminality.

More than 500 businessmen and Go Negosyo entrepreneurs from all over the country gathered for the launch of the Mentor Me Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao City that the President attended.

“Mr. President, allow us to call you Kuya Rody, our champion and big brother,” said Joey Concepcion, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, who together with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, led the launch of the program at the Marco Polo Hotel.

Mr. Duterte said he will consider it a huge achievement under his term if Filipinos are spared the usual ordeals they encounter as a consequence of corruption aHeDuterte said corruption permeates the bureaucracy whenever red tape is prevalent.

He particularly mentioned his observation even before he was elected President that Filipinos, even the professionals, have a hard time securing documents and other requirements from government agencies.
He said that he would do his best under his term to end corruption and red tape as he singled out online processing as one of the solutions.

“I am very angry” he said, as he remembered the Filipinos who he chanced upon in many instances lining up under the sun and even sleeping in the floors of government buildings to secure their documents.
Mr. Duterte said giving Filipinos a hard time to secure their government requirements “is a dishonorable act”.

He instructed Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez during the event to ensure the flow of investments to cooperatives.

The President said Lopez should ensure that cooperatives are “in the hands of trusted people.”
Mr. Duterte also sought the cooperation of people in the businesses, including the MSMEs, to identify the sources of graft and corruption and to report these to him for necessary actions.

He said that once the sources of funds have been identified, these funds will be made available for the MSMEs.

Noting that the country’s biggest problem is poverty, Concepcion asked Mr. Duterte to help MSMEs in the Philippines move up from survival to a sustainable state.

“The passion you have in solving drug problems is immense. We hope that the same passion that you have in fighting drug addiction will be the same passion you bring and help many of our micro and small entrepreneurs,” Concepcion said.

Mentor Me, which stands for Mentor Micro-Enterprise, is among the three components of the “Kapatid, Angat Lahat! Program” designed by the trade department in partnership with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc. – Go Negosyo (PCE-GN).

Mentor Me aims to help MSMEs in the country scale up their businesses through weekly coaching and mentoring by business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship in Negosyo Centers.

“I would see that after a visit in China, things would improve a lot. Maybe, or maybe not, I would have enough money to play around to fund things like Go Negosyo,” Mr. Duterte said.

He noted that when he assumed office, he did not have any capital outlay, only funds for operating expenses.

In next year’s budget, which is being prepared now, the administration will have the money to deal with the country’s drug problems, the President said.

“One thing worth watching is how China would respond to the challenges of our needs. If I get some loans I will give you some,” he added.

Mr. Duterte said that next year, he will first focus on additional funding for education, the rehabilitation of those into drugs, agriculture and the MSMEs.

He also told the MSMEs who would join the Mentor Me program to listen to business experts.

“When you learn from the learned then maybe something will come out of it,” he said.

“If I get to have additional money outside of government sources you will have a part of it.”

The President told the MSMEs that they are close to his heart as he, too, had experienced life’s difficulties, saying, “I, to, was a child of poor people.”

For his part, Lopez lauded the President’s campaign against drugs, saying that its end result would be the decrease of crimes in the country.

A decrease in crime and corruption, he said, are necessary fundamentals “before we go into the 10-point socio-economic agenda”.

The trade chief said queries on investment opportunities have been pouring in to his department as investors see the Philippines as a big market.

Investors are also seeing opportunities to expand their markets in the Asean region once they put up their business in the country, he said.