A Retrospect of 2023 and Looking Ahead to 2024 in the Philippines
The year 2023 saw many political,economic and diplomatic policy changes in the Philippines under the Marcos Jr.administration,whose influences have exceeded domestic boundaries and extended to regional and global levels.The domestic political landscape was in rapid evolution marked by the conflicts within the UniTeam;Duterte's political allies decreased sharply in numbers as the opposition and left-wing legislators vigorously promoted"anti-Duterte"agenda;Marcos Jr.continued rebrand-ing his family's political image through the introduction of"Bagong Pilipinas"and other policies which are reminiscent of his late father's administration.The Philippines'economic recovery remained stable and its growth rate was among the highest in ASEAN.The service sector is recovering strongly.Tourism,business processing outsourcing and overseas Filipino workers expe-dite the economic recovery.However,inflation is higher than expected and it leads to discontent among the public.Policies in the agriculture and energy sectors are in implementation but have yet to materialize and take effect.Marcos Jr.'s state visit to China created a good start for the Philippine-China relations.Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries grew,but terri-torial disputes in the South China Sea remained a challenge to both countries.The Philippines developed its relations with the United States,Japan and Australia,which resulted in deepening bilateral and multilateral security cooperation and more joint mili-tary exercises and patrols.Development assistance to the Philippines from these three countries also increased significantly.In 2024,the political landscape change will accelerate,the management of the Maharlika sovereign fund is likely to become another focus for political disputes,and the corruption and violence brought by the coming election will pose a challenge to governance;the momentum of economic recovery will continue to be jeopardized by global uncertainties.Coping with inflation will be a com-mon concern among the public,and service industry will be challenged by the regional tension and the development of AI.In ad-dition,the effectiveness and sustainability of policies in the agriculture and energy sector remain questionable;the Philippines will continue to bind with the U.S.alliance system and Philippine-China relations will be affected by maritime conflicts in the South China Sea,making it difficult for the Philippines to maintain a self-proclaimed independent foreign policy.
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NSTL
万方数据
维普
