MANILA — While conceding that early politicking could take place in the Senate in the run-up to the 2010 presidential elections, Malacaang remains hopeful that all parties would move “forward in a united way to stay on the path of economic reform and fiscal discipline.”
“We have barely proclaimed the winners in the last elections but in the Senate, at least, it is an open secret that eyes are already on the presidential elections of 2010,” Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said in his weekly column, The View from the Palace, which comes out tomorrow in the Manila Bulletin.
“But we hope that presidentiables can set aside political ambitions for now and continue to vote for programs that have made our nation a new destination in Asia for business and investment,” he added.
Bunye warned that “it would be foolhardy to slide back into the days of finger pointing and mudslinging when what we need to do now is to nurture and advance our national competitive advantages.”
“Our competitors in the global market have managed to keep their democratic spirit alive and their economies growing. We must be able to do the same by keeping the peoples best interest as the best common denominator in our policies and actions as public servants,” Bunye said.
He pointed out that “embedded in every ballot cast in the May 14 polls was the fervent hope of every Filipino voter for a better future.”
He said the country has moved closer to reaching its goal of a better future, “but we need to sustain our momentum. Already, we have moved mountains with our macroeconomic condition, through fiscal discipline, working toward a balanced budget by 2008, paying off our debts and investing billions in human and physical infrastructure.”
The Arroyo administration, Bunye said, has so far “delivered 26 consecutive quarters of economic growth.” Such fundamentals, he said, are now “paying off in huge increases in foreign direct investments, six million new jobs, a strong peso and a strong stock market.” (PIA Dispatch)
