MAJOR business organizations are calling for the prosecution and imprisonment of big officials implicated in the flood control mess in a bid to restore public and investor confidence, which in turn boosts investments and reverses slower economic growth.
Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines president and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said Filipinos are currently waiting for concrete actions and legal convictions in cases that will be filed in connection with the flood control infrastructure mess.
“There should be someone to be sued and jailed and Filipinos need to see it (issue) addressed. The search is for a mastermind, not just anyone,” he said in Filipino in an interview on Net 25.
Ortiz-Luis said addressing the current political situation can help reverse the country’s slower growth.
“We can still catch up. Our GDP (gross domestic product) for the last 25 years has always been at five percent, no matter what trouble is happening in the Philippines,” he said. “That’s not irreversible, what’s important is to convince investors that we are solving the problem.”
The Philippine economy posted a four percent year-on-year growth in GDP for the third quarter of 2025, lower than the 5.2 percent recorded in the comparable period in 2024.
Ortiz-Luis also affirmed the business sector’s support for the Marcos administration despite corruption allegations hounding flood control projects.
“You know the business sector, we want stability (to the) economy and the citizenry, so we support the administration,” he added. “We just ask that this problem be solved immediately. We don’t have time to dilly-dally anymore; people are impatient.”
Meanwhile, Ortiz-Luis, also Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president, considered the exemption of several agricultural exports from the United States tariffs “good news” for the country.
Based on the US government announcement on Nov. 14, newly exempted products include, among others, coconut products, bananas, pineapples and pineapple products, dried tropical fruits and coffee / PHILEXPORT NEWS AND FEATURES