PRESIDENT MARCOS: Okay. Well, that was the trip to Davos. I think the — as I said doon sa Filipino community na meeting, I think most if not all that we wanted to do for the conference nagawa naman natin at nadagdagan pa. So we…

Again, you know, this is a process. You don’t go one time and you come home and you know, everybody is going to invest one trillion dollars already. Hindi ganun. We have to introduce them to the Philippines again. We have to ask them to come to the Philippines, send the team to make assessments on the business side et cetera. And then eventually kung magkaintindihan, magkakaroon ng bagong investment.

So this is how it works and so that’s why the conference was important because you meet the CEOs of the top 100 — Fortune 100 companies here. And you also run into other heads of state and heads of the World Bank, the IMF. It’s all about the economy, the global economy itong Davos.

So if we are — they keep saying that we have to position ourselves properly for the new global economy, ito ‘yun. This is what — that’s what we are doing now.

We are trying to find — we’re positioning ourselves so that we are ready to respond to the needs of the new economy. Para pagbukas niyan, pag-akyat niyan sabay tayo.

And so there, I think that pretty much sums it up. So I’ll open the floor to questions.

Q: Sir, magandang hapon po.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good afternoon.

Q: Sir, there are criticisms back home na masyado daw pong malaki ‘yung contingent na kasama niyo po dito sa Switzerland. Masyado daw pong magastos and this trip is actually out of touch daw po sa nangyayari sa Pilipinas. So how do you answer these criticisms?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, the delegation was large. But half of it was private. They came here on their own. They stayed in their own places. They made their own arrangements. Although they are technically part of the delegation. So the delegation essentially just consists of the Cabinet secretaries, myself, the Speaker, and of course the staff that support them. Those are the — nakita naman niyo ‘yung eroplano, walang laman halos eh ‘di ba because it’s — we don’t need — we didn’t fill it up. We don’t have that many people who — that the government is paying for.

In regards of the plane, kahit naman ilan ang isakay mo ‘yan, pareho lang ibabayad mo. So doesn’t make any difference kung how many people came on.

And we try to be complete. When is the next chance we will get to speak to CEOs of top Fortune 100 companies in the period of two days? So whoever we get to talk to kailangan nandoon ‘yung secretary na pwede niyang sagutin, pwede niyang kausapin.

May tao doon na nakakaalam tungkol sa mga bagay na kailangan gawin. He has to have a staff so that if there is something that needs to be done, they can do it immediately. And so we try to be complete. We have to be thorough because these chances are — they last for two days, tapos na.

So if you haven’t done it in two days, you haven’t done it. So that’s why we tried to make sure that whatever comes up, we’re ready to process it, we’re ready to negotiate, we’re ready to do what needs to be done.

Q: Sir, pero kasi there are a number of officials doon sa delegation na sabi po ng iba, parang hindi clear kung ano ‘yung function nila dito, like why do you need the Speaker here? Why do we need the…

PRESIDENT MARCOS: That’s easy to answer. For example, the Speaker needs to be here and that also includes Senator Mark Villar because we have to present members of the legislature because all of these changes in policy that we are talking about.

Let’s say you talk to a potential investor, sasabihin niya ‘yung batas ninyo hindi maganda eh, kami naiipit. And it’s not a good law, et cetera, et cetera. So at least we have the legislators here who can say: Well, we can do something about it or no, that is important to us that we maintain it, et cetera, et cetera.

Because legislation is an important part of what we are doing. So there’s always a legislator. And in the case of former president GMA, we’re lucky to have her onboard.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. Na-interview po si Congressman Salceda sa Headstart. Sabi niya po, after Christmas we were commissioned together with the others to rewrite the Maharlika Investment Fund. And sinubmit (submit) daw po ‘yung recommendation sa inyo and inapprove niyo.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: ‘Yung?

Q: ‘Yung recommendation po nila, ‘yung sa — sa pag-rewrite po ng Maharlika. So sabi niya po, definitely it is an…

PRESIDENT MARCOS: I’m not sure what did I approve? It’s a law that’s in the process of legislation. I have no… Wala akong role muna hanggang…

Q: So it is true na…?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: I don’t know what he is saying that I approved. Baka the original language for the bill. There were consultations on that.

Q: Sabi niyo daw po President, with the IPO ang Maharlika fund?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: That’s one of the suggestions. That suggestion came from one of the CEOs.

Q: And you’re open to…?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Sabi niya… Sabi niya, isipin natin. We’ll see kung bagay sa Pilipinas. Because some people — some funds have done it. You know, going on about the fund, the more we study it, the more it’s clear that the — although the sovereign wealth funds around the world have the same name, they’re all very different. They’re different in purpose, they’re different in methodology and of course, they operate in a different context of law.

So we have to design it very specifically to the Philippine condition and that’s what the legislators are trying to do now to make sure na babagay para sa atin and it will be a good thing for us. So that’s the process that we’re undergoing now.

So maybe Cong. Joey is referring — ‘yun na nga, our exchange of communication. Before the bill pa was filed to see if that’s the direction that we wanted to do. So we came naman to a consensus.

Q: Good afternoon sir.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good afternoon.

Q: Ano po ‘yung balak niyong gawin sa POGOs? Kasi ‘di ba may mga proposals to — na paalisin na sila sa Pilipinas and even Secretary Diokno is in favor of coming up with a policy to — so that we don’t have to depend on POGOs.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: It depends what the purpose is of banning them or removing them because the problem naman when — in reference to POGOs, the problem are the illegal ones, not the legal ones.

The legal ones pay their bills, pay their taxes and you know those — ‘yung mga video na nakikita natin nagpapatayan na — ‘yun mga illegal ‘yun. Kaya ang dami na natin pinaalis na illegal. Nagsara kami ng mga illegal POGO at dineport (deport) na lahat nung mga kanilang tao.

So I don’t know what would be the point. It’s not a huge part of our economy. And if it’s adjudged that there is a social cost, it might not be worth it. The cost might not be worth what they’re paying in taxes anymore.

So this issue came up a while back but when it came up, it was aresponse to all of those killings and violence, those illegal POGOs were doing.

So yeah, I think — all of these things we should be continuously examining to see if it’s still continuous to be a good idea for the Philippines.

Right now, I have no great — there’s no for me… I’d like to know what the motivation is for that, to ban them. There may be a good reason.

Q: ‘Yung sa China yata po — China is ayaw nila, illegal ang…

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ayaw nila ‘yung POGO.

Q: Kaya ika-crack down… ‘yun nga, kaya…

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, if we can — if China wants us to do that, we’ll see what the arrangement could be ‘di ba.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good afternoon.

Q: Ano po ‘yung masasabi niyo doon sa sinabi ni former National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos that her critics wanted her out ‘no from day 1 and sinisiraan daw siya habang nasa pwesto siya and then was it a factor in accepting her resignation. Ano ho ba ‘yung talagang nangyari doon?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, she felt that there were people who were moving against her in government. Ako I didn’t — I kept telling her, I don’t really think so.

And I guess she just found it too much na hindi niya — she didn’t enjoy her time in government which — you know, if we think about it, it’s not really surprising because that’s not her natural habitat. Her natural habitat is the academe. And so now, she will be in a thinktank which is perfect for her.

Q: So hindi kaya mangyaring susunod baka may mga ganun din mangyari sa mga susunod na Cabinet, baka magkaroon din mga ganung criticisms and then they will be forced to leave? Hindi kaya magkaroon ng ganung trend, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, just because they’re criticized, they’ll have to leave?

Q: ‘Yung mga ganun…

PRESIDENT MARCOS: How much — how many of the Cabinet… Marami ng criticism ‘yun, hindi naman ako ganon, ‘di ba.

I asked them to join the Cabinet. I asked them to join the government because I have belief in them. I trust them. I believe in their capabilities and I believe that they are — their love of country. And so, somebody criticizing them for something is not enough to change my opinion.

Q: Thank you po.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. There’s this statement po from former NSA chief Norberto Gonzales and former senator Kit Tatad that ‘yung mga appointment niyo daw po ng new defense chief and NSA may have quelled daw po the growing unrest within the military for now and you must look daw po beyond issues of leadership to stabilize this situation. How do you intend po to deal with the disgruntled military permanently?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: I think that’s what exactly what we have done. We have dealt with the problem permanently. This is not — what we did, in what I refer to as rationalizing the seniority within the officer corps, what we did was the solution to the problem that was the disgruntlement that was going on in the ranks.

And so we asked what… We are obviously in consultation with the military. This is the way we were told that we could fix it. So that’s what we’ve done.

Q: Good afternoon, President.

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good afternoon.

Q: Sir, balikan ko lang po ang issue ng agrikulutura. Ang sentimiyento kasi ng mga tao ay palala nang palala ‘yung ating problema partikular na sa mataas na presyo ng pagkain at kailangan na magtalaga ng permanenteng kalihim sa DA. Pero sabi niyo nga po, marami pang kailangan ayusin sa ahensya. Ikinokonsidera niyo po ba na isa ring retired military or police general ‘yung ilagay sa DA para mahusay sa management at pagdidisiplina ng tao?

PRESIDENT MARCOS: Hindi, kailangan eksperto sa agrikultura. Agriculture is a very complicated subject. Hindi lang kung sino-sino basta’t magaling mag-manager. They have to understand the science… They have to understand the [solution?]. They also have to understand the system. So it’s no. So I don’t really think that it is the right place for a military man to go because…

Unless, they’re involved in agriculture. Mayroon naman nag-retire diyan, they got heavily involved in agriculture, baka marunong na talaga sila, why not.

But we, whoever going to be able… Because what we’re trying to do now are old the hard things while I’m still there, all the hard things, ‘yung mahirap gawin ngayon namin gagawin.

Pag nagawa na namin ‘yung mga — ‘yung bucket list namin natapos na namin, aalis na ako then I will give it to somebody else.

That’s it? All right. Thanks guys.

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