There is nothing original in the plan of President-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte to disperse economic activity outside the capital region. There is also nothing wrong in pursuing this investment strategy to achieve inclusive growth and generate employment in the countryside.
Past presidents from the late Ferdinand Marcos to outgoing Benigno Aquino III promoted industry dispersals to decongest Metro Manila and create new economic hubs in the provinces, mainly through the creation of economic zones, industrial parks and free ports, with tax incentives dangled before prospective investors.
Mr. Duterte promised to spread economic activity beyond the “dead” capital region by establishing economic zones outside of the metropolis to create new jobs and prohibiting the construction of more factories in “saturated” Manila.
The incoming chief executive obviously noted that the lack of employment opportunities in the countryside had forced many of the poor in the provinces to seek jobs in the capital region. Manila has probably lured millions away from poor provinces, resulting in urban decay.
Past administrations have built economic parks, export processing zones and free ports in strategic areas outside of Metro Manila. But they appear to be not enough to discourage the jobless in the countryside to migrate to the capital region.
Mr. Duterte, instead, should seriously consider economic policies that will improve the income of farmers and fisherfolk alike. Filipino farmers and fishermen, who account for a significant part of the population, often fell prey to middlemen or traders because they are immediately forced to sell their produce at cheap prices amid the lack of storage facilities.
Cold storage or facilities for the fishermen are lacking, while farmers have nowhere to go for their perishable crops.
These farmers and fishermen, with no credit support from the state, have little chance of breaking the poverty cycle, unless real economic reforms are introduced in the countryside. The government should find ways to significantly improve their income and eventually stem the tide of migration to Metro Manila.
