Economic reforms being pushed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will likely continue with administration candidates dominating the race for 12 Senate seats, Maybank Securities Inc. said.
“Based on the current polls, the majority of the current administration’s senatorial bets are within the top 12 ratings,” it said in a report released on Monday.
“If this continues to the mid-term elections, then we could see a continuation of a legislative body supportive of BBM’s (Bong-bong Marcos’) economic reforms, similar to what we’ve seen in the first half of Marcos’ term,” it added.
Filipinos will vote for 12 senators, 254 congressmen and officials at the provincial and city/municipal level on May 12. The outcome of the mid-term races is seen by some as an indicator of how Marcos will fare in the last three years of his six-year term, especially given a mounting row with Vice President Sara Duterte who is seen gunning for the presidency in 2028.
Based on a Nov 26-Dec. 3, 2024 Pulse Asia survey, almost all of the likely winners in the Senate elections are administration candidates: Erwin Tulfo, Ben Tulfo, Vicente Sotto, Pia Cayetano, Abby Binay, Ramon Revilla, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquao, Imee Marcos and Lito Lapid.
The non-administration bets in the top 13 are former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sara’s father, and reelectonist senators Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa.
“For the past 3 years, President Marcos’ reforms were focused on inviting more investments into the Philippines,” Maybank Securities said, starting with the establishment of the country’s first sovereign wealth fund.
Other approved reforms include the East of Paying Taxes Act, the Create More law that streamlined and provided more incentives to investors and the modernization of the tax system.
“These are in addition to the 99YR Land Lease for foreigners bill that was recently approved by the House of Representatives,” Maybank Securities said,
“Note that there are other priority bills by the Ledac (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) such as reform of the Philippine capital markets and the Right-of-Way Act,” it added.
It also noted that Marcos had managed to sign the 2025 national budget before the end of last year, avoiding a re-enacted outlay that would have constrained spending and economic growth.
The May 2025 elections, however, are not expected to provide a significant boost to gross domestic growth, unlike the 2022 presidential elections.
“In 2025, which is mid-term elections only, we don’t expect this to have a material impact on economic growth,” Maybank Securities said.
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