SENATE leaders have proposed the creation of a panel tasked to craft measures to revive economic growth and cushion Filipinos from the impact of inflation caused by global crises.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano jointly filed a measure seeking to establish the Reinvigorate Investment and Sustainable Economic Growth Ad Hoc Committee.
”The problems facing our economy are clear, broad and interconnected,” Gatchalian said in his sponsorship speech on Tuesday.
This comes as lawmakers have raised concerns over sluggish consumer spending, elevated living costs, infrastructure spending and external pressures such as volatile oil prices and geopolitical tensions.
The proposed panel would study the economic slowdown and formulate recommendations to address both domestic weaknesses and the impact of geopolitical developments abroad.
If adopted, the panel would be composed of all senators, with Senate Economic Affairs Committee Chairman Risa Hontiveros as chairman.
The proposed vice chairpersons are Finance Committee Chairman JV Ejercito; Ways and Means Committee Chairman Panfilo Lacson; Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman Bam Aquino; Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies Committee Chairman Mark Villar; Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development Committee Chairman Joel Villanueva; Public Works Committee Chairman Vicente Sotto III; and Energy Committee Chairman Erwin Tulfo.
The broad membership is intended to bring together key Senate committees dealing with taxation, public spending, investments, trade, banking, labor, infrastructure and energy.
Gatchalian said the panel would allow lawmakers to respond more deliberately to changes in the global economy while ensuring that short-term shocks do not undermine the country’s longer-term development objectives.
”Changes in world events cannot be controlled or prevented, but we can control how we plan so that changes do not cripple our people’s lives in the short term and derail the economic goals meant to benefit future generations,” he said.
