‘Bold reset’ signals need for crucial reforms – experts

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

May 23, 2025 | 12:00am

“No matter how many times Cabinet members are changed, the public sector and economy will not be transformed unless real reforms for social and economic transformation are undertaken.”

Amid courtesy Cabinet resignations

MANILA, Philippines — The economic team of President Marcos is on a wait-and-see mode after he ordered his entire Cabinet to resign, as experts noted that the “bold reset” is a signal that crucial reforms in economic policies are needed.

Marcos greeted his Cabinet yesterday morning with an order to submit their courtesy resignations, to give him elbow room to evaluate their performance and decide who will stay and who will go.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto heeded the call, emphasizing that they both serve at the pleasure of the President.

Pangandaman said she supports Marcos’ decisions, knowing that they are always made with the best interests of the Filipino people in mind.

In a Viber message, Pangandaman said she would continue working until Marcos makes his decision, especially as the government has a timeline to follow with regard to the upcoming budget season.

Recto, for his part, maintained that the President’s “bold decision” was made with the desire to put the people and country first.

“The President carries the heavy burden of leading the nation through complex global and domestic challenges,” Recto said.

“That I serve at the pleasure of the President is a thought that has never been lost on me from the day I assumed office,” he added.

Those closely working with the economic team have mixed opinions on what is to come.

Some said members of the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee will be spared, given its relatively good performance. Others, however, said Marcos is looking for a clean slate.

Experts outside of the government likewise have varying stands on the future of the economic team.

De La Salle University economist Ma. Ella Oplas argued that the call for courtesy resignations is more political than economic, coming on the heels of the midterm elections wherein administration bets had a dismal performance.

Oplas said members of the economic team were hired because of their competence rather than their political affiliation. She expressed hope that their courtesy resignations will not be acceped.

“The country is in a delicate situation, taking into consideration the challenges, both locally and internationally, that are in front of us. It’s difficult to change right now,” Oplas told The STAR.

“Change is hard to manage. Adjustments and absorptive capacities are quite hard,” she added.

Oplas noted that the move was also a way to check the Cabinet’s loyalty, especially with Marcos’ conflict with Vice President Sara Duterte.

“What is important in the economic team is that they have the trust and confidence of the President. And I think the team right now is working well together,” Oplas said.

Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo Lanzona, on the other hand, said Marcos’ intention to let some of the Cabinet members go is the reason he asked for their resignation.

“The problems in finance and economic management are quite obvious,” Lanzona told The STAR.

“I think he (Marcos) is humble enough to admit that there is a need for change. That will be good for the economy,” Lanzona said.

He argued that the change in the Cabinet is an admission that the government has failed to solve certain economic problems.

Research and advocacy group IBON Foundation, for its part, said the administration is concerned about its image to foreign investors.

As such, IBON executive director Sonny Africa said it is hard to imagine that any of Marcos’ core economic team will be changed because it might signal deeper problems than the government wants to admit.

“If one of the objectives is to address economic failures, the President will probably have to change at least a secondary member of the economic team – perhaps from among departments closely linked to people’s frustrations about prices, incomes, jobs and social services,” Africa told The STAR.

“This would mean the departments of agriculture, labor, trade and industry, health and maybe even social welfare,” he said.

Africa argued that it is unlikely that Marcos would replace his economic team as this could reflect poorly on his choice of the members as well as his management of them while they were in office.

Still, Africa maintained that no matter how many times Cabinet members are changed, the public sector and economy will not be transformed unless real reforms for social and economic transformation are undertaken.

At the end of the day, Africa noted that the Cabinet revamp would give Marcos room to do a number of things to consolidate his position.