Marcos gives investment adviser Frederick Go more voice in economic team

Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has given his investment adviser Frederick Go a bigger voice in the economic team as he rejigs the policymaking body that approves the government’s flagship infrastructure projects.

A Malacanang-issued directive, Administrative Order 37 (AO 37) dated Aug. 13, but released on Monday (Aug. 18), stated that the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA), which Go heads, is now a member of the so-called Economy and Development (ED) Council.

The ED Council is the successor of the NEDA Board, which is the premier socioeconomic development planning and policy coordinating body headed by the president. NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) was renamed the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) following a law – Republic Act 12145 – that was passed in April.

Before AO 37, that law retained the original members of the NEDA Board and added the secretaries of health, interior and local government and labor as new members.

The OSAPIEA is the latest addition to that ED Council, or former NEDA Board.

Marcos’ newest missive gives Go, a former CEO in one of the property companies of the Gokongwei group, a seat in the ED Council, representing Marcos and the executive secretary.

Go has also been designated as the chairperson of one of the eight committees under that council – the Economic Development Committee (EDCom) -- while DEPDev Arsenio Balisacan and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto will equally share powers as the committee’s vice chairpersons.

The eight committees assisting the ED Council are the following:

1. Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)

2. Investment Coordination Committee (ICC)

3. Social Development Committee (SDC)

4. Infrastructure Committee (InfraCom

5. Tariff and Related Matters Committee (TRMC)

6. Economic Development Committee (EDCom)

7. National Land Use Committee

8. Regional Development Committee

Go will also represent Marcos and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in the DBCC, ICC, InfraCom and SDC committees of the ED Council.

The reorganization’s effectivity is retroactive – began on April 27, or shortly after the new law renaming NEDA and the NEDA Board was enacted.