On EO 108, the Office of the Executive Secretary, and sustained growth challenge

On Feb. 5, the Presidential Communications Office announced that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had issued Executive Order (EO) 108 that abolished the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA) and transferred its powers, functions, and duties to the Office of the Executive Secretary.

The OSAPIEA was created in 2023 under EO 49 and it was headed by Secretary Frederick D. Go. Mr. Go was appointed Finance Secretary last November and he has more duties and powers there.

Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who was the former Finance Secretary, will now have more duties. Aside from overall monitoring and evaluation of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch, the OES will also streamline the Office of the President’s investment and economic affairs functions and promote comprehensive approaches to address current and future economic challenges.

SUSTAINING GROWTH
I checked the growth numbers of East Asia in contrast with those of Europe. I averaged the GDP growth rates into three-year clusters from 2011-2013, 2014-2016, etc. until the last three years. The results are contained in the accompanying table. The highlights are:

1. From 2011 to 2019, the Philippines’s trend was that of high growth along with Vietnam — we were the two fastest growing economies in the ASEAN-6 and just trailing China in the rest of East Asia.

2. Our draconian lockdown from 2020-2021 was horribly wrong. Vietnam and China, along with Taiwan, were able to grow in those years while the Philippines shrank by 9.5% in 2020, the worst in Asia, and the worst in Philippine economic history since post-WW2. Our average growth in 2020-2022 was only 1.3%.

3. We managed to grow above 5% in 2023-2024, but the infrastructure corruption scandal has dragged on 2025’s growth. Nonetheless our average of 5.2% growth in the 2023-2025 period was higher than the rest of the ASEAN-6 and other East Asian dragon economies. The detractors and pessimists are wrong in belittling our recent economic performance.

4. Degrowth is the trend in several European countries, particularly Germany and Austria, while Italy, France, and UK may fall into that trap soon.

Many European nations are focused on globalist agendas like saving the planet; saving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; saving Ukraine; and saving illegal immigrants. High growth, saving their jobs, businesses, and industrialization seem to have taken the back seat.

The main economic challenge for the Philippines is how to sustain an average GDP of 5-6%, if not attain 7% and not slip to 4% or lower. To help attain this, here are some Do’s and Don’ts that we should take note of.

1. There should be no more lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations regardless of how strong the globalist medical community and pharma lobby would be, should another big virus emerge.

2. We should not save the planet or save DEI, but rather save our jobs and businesses in order to save the hungry. The national agenda of promoting economic prosperity should not be subsumed under the globalist agenda of promoting ecological central planning.

3. We should follow the growth path, the economic and energy policies, of our East Asian neighbors and not that of Europe or North America. In 2025 all major East Asian nations grew above 3% except Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. This is an indicator that our region remains the most dynamic, the most prosperity-oriented in the world.

4. Finally, promoting the rule of law — that the law applies equally to unequal people and sectors, that no one is exempt and no one can grant an exemption — should be the single biggest function of governments.

In the “social contract” theory elaborated by the philosophers John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the main purpose government was invented was to secure people’s three basic rights — the right to life, the right to private property, and the right to liberty. There was no right to healthcare, right to education until university, right to monthly cash and food aid, and so on.

These new “rights” are modern inventions developed after societies progressed as a result of the protection of people’s three basic rights. These three basic rights made people very productive, very self-reliant, and not state- or welfare-dependent.

The infrastructure corruption scandal, the endless welfare-subsidy programs that lead to the endless expansion of our public debt, the ever-rising annual interest payments, and ever-rising taxes someday can be addressed if we have more rule of law.

The Office of the Executive Secretary, which is in charge of monitoring that all departments and agencies do their mandated tasks, and as head of overall investments and economic liberalization policies, has to meet high expectations from the public and from key investment actors. It has limited leeway given limited time, but it is working silently and efficiently to meet such expectations.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Research Consultancy Services, and Minimal Government Thinkers. He is an international fellow of the Tholos Foundation.

minimalgovernment @gmail.com