'Daang Matuwid Edition 2' if Mar is elected president in 2016

Former Interior secretary Mar Roxas on Tuesday told businessmen that he will lead the "Daang Matuwid Edition 2" to continue the reforms started by President Benigno Aquino III.

 

"Daang Matuwid Edition 1 has fixed the structural reforms, has given us a platform from which to spring. And Daang Matuwid Edition 2 will take that leap into prosperity and development for our country," Roxas said during the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries presidential forum in Pasay City.

 

In his opening speech, Roxas laid out the progress made by the Aquino administration through "Daang Matuwid."

 

"I think that you take a look at the last five years, there is soundness in our position that the principal premise of the campaign of Daang Matuwid is “ituloy.” Let's continue. Why is that?" he said.

 

He added: "For the first time in generations, a current government has been able to put in place structural reforms, has been able to show investments in our people and in our infrastructure and has been able to show the road ahead very clearly. Not just the destination but the means of how to get there."

 

Roxas said that under the current administration, the government invested heavily on people and infrastructure.

 

He said that when the Aquino administration took over in 2010, the government's total capital outlay was at P175 billion or about 1.8% of the GDP.

 

"This year, our budget for capital outlay is P570 billion. Three times the original amount, now roughly about 4% of GDP. Next year, once Congress passes the budget, the capital outlay of our government and of our country, is going to amount to in excess of P800 billion approximating 5% of GDP," he said.

 

Roxas attributed the administration's achievements to the people's support to "Daang Matuwid" and their trust "in an honest man as President in 2010."

 

"Nobody is saying, least of all us, that everything is perfect. Nobody is saying that we have arrived at the promised land or in paradise. But clearly, I think we are, safe to say, that we have come quite so very far, and quite a ways to go, he said.

 

Roxas said that the 2016 elections will be a "major crossroads" in the country's history.

 

"But for the first time, unlike all other elections in the past where the cry was 'Pagbabago! Palitan! Patalsikin!,' there is a legitimate valid affirmed reason to say 'Ituloy—ituloy ang tapat at tuwid na pamamahala. Ituloy ang mga programa na siyang naghatid satin sa ating kinalalagyan ngayon. Ituloy ang Daang Matuwid,'" he said. —ALG, GMA News