Philippine National Day | Community optimistic on economic development after Duterte’s first year

Lilybeth Deapera (left) and Sonia Chan

A small group from Macau’s Philippine community celebrated the 119th anniversary of Philippine’s National Day with traditional folk dances in colorful attire this week.

At the event, Philippine Consul General Lilybeth Deapera paid tribute to her president’s social and economic policies and said that her country’s new foreign policy direction was heralding closer ties between China and the Philippines.

Deapera also said that the economic initiatives introduced by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who was formally inaugurated one year ago, have the aim of improving the living conditions of overseas workers and creating the employment conditions for them to return to the Philippines in the future.

“It’s very relevant because the new administration, which is celebrating its first year, [has the aim of] economic development for everyone so that Filipinos will have a better life, and those who are working abroad will be able to go back home and [find] employment in the Philippines,” she said at the event, as cited by public broadcaster TDM.

“All of our programs and plans of the government are [toward] achieving this objective of economic development; eliminating poverty, eliminating drugs and making the country a peaceful place.”

In its ascendance to ‘membership’ of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Philippines is hoping to attract Chinese investment for its economic development.

This was a point stressed by Deapera during this week’s celebration and reinforced by Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan.

“President Rodrigo Duterte acknowledged during his meeting with President Xi Jinping last month that the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative will effectively promote the connectivity and economic growth in Asia and will also bring job opportunities and prosperity to the Philippines,” she said, according to a statement published on the Government Information Bureau’s platform.

“It is envisioned that the Philippine Government’s decision to participate in the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative will enable the country to sustain its growth momentum,” added Chan.

Regarding Macau’s role in economic cooperation between the two countries, Chan said that the MSAR would “grasp the upcoming opportunities” to advance social, economic and cultural cooperation with the Philippines on a regional level.

This year on June 12, the Philippines commemorated 119 years of independence from Spain. The proclamation of Philippine independence was made in 1898 at the home of revolutionary general Emilio Aguinaldo, when the flag of the First Philippine Republic – made by Filipino patriots in Hong Kong – was unveiled.