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AL JAZEERA
After five months of aerial bombardments and close-quarter fighting between ISIL and government forces, the city of Marawi lies in ruins. The government estimates it will take more than $1 billion to rebuild the city.
MANILA – The one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao will be neutral at worst for the region as it has been proven to be slightly positive for the local economy, Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia said Thursday.
“I think if we go by the experience in Marawi, it’s probably going to be neutral at worst. It could boost investor confidence if it’s done [like] what happened in Marawi,” he told reporters in a briefing in Pasig City.
On Wednesday, voting 24-27, Congress approved President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2018.
“What happened up to the end of the year seems to be well-administered, well-managed,” Pernia said, noting that the declaration of martial law in the region was “more positive than negative.”
NEDA undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon noted that while recent developments in Mindanao was neutral in general, it was positive for inflation and investments in the country.
“Our best indication is really what happened during the current situation where you have a martial law in Mindanao, and then we look at what happened in the goods market in terms of inflation, in terms of tourism, in terms of construction, in terms of shipping. And from these indicators, we see that there was really no discernible impact of the martial law declaration on Mindanao,” she said.
“In fact, if it is with respect to inflation in Mindanao, there was even a slight decline. So if you look at the period January until May – that was the period before Martial Law declaration – and then June until November, there was even a slight decline. Whereas, in Luzon and Visayas, you see inflation as just being the same,” she said.
Edillon said more investments came into the Mindanao region, particularly in Davao, after martial law was declared.
“We also looked at the investments in Mindanao versus in Luzon and Visayas. So, again, looking at the period before martial law declaration and afterwards, there was no difference. In fact, there was even a slight uptick for the second period, which was after martial law declaration in Mindanao,” she said.
“A lot of that is mainly because of Davao. But again, this also goes to show that the rest of investors actually were able to isolate the Marawi crisis from the martial law declaration and that it did not affect their decision,” she added. (GMA News)
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