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November 29, 2025 | 12:00am

When Frederick Go was asked to join the administration of President Marcos first as presidential adviser and then next as Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) in December 2023, a role and office specially created for him, there was no doubt in everyone’s mind that he would deliver results.

After all, Go was already running a highly successful business enterprise. Before joining government, he was already CEO of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) and served various leadership positions in six listed companies and more than 100 corporations across various industries such as retail, banking, media, real estate, food, finance and airlines among others.

Go perfectly understood how ideas from business could improve efficiency and effectiveness in government.

As SAPIEA, he worked on several key initiatives. To boost the capital markets, several measures were undertaken to encourage listing and participation in the PSE by allowing short selling 27 years since it was first proposed, allowing after-hours volume weighted average price trading on the same day, shortening the settlement cycle from three to two days and the IPO review timeline from four to six months to just 45 days, and removing the minimum broker’s commission fee and reducing the stock transaction tax from 0.6 to 0.1 percent aligning our practices with the best in the world.

Under his leadership, the New Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code was enacted, replacing the decades-old Build-Operate-Transfer Law. The new Code is investor-friendly and encourages greater private sector participation and the submission of unsolicited proposals. Proof that it works? Three airports PPPs covering NAIA, Laguindingan Airport and the Bohol-Panglao International Airport were approved in under three years.

Go also championed other pieces of legislation – the CREATE MORE Act, the Enhanced Mining Fiscal Regime Act, the Accelerated and Reformed Right of Way Act – and other initiatives, including the digitalization of the national ID, the creation of the Luzon Economic Corridor, VAT refund for tourists, the rolling out of the e-visa system and the passage of the New Investors’ Lease Act.

He likewise worked on the entry of a number of major foreign investments, including the $200-million investment of global digital infrastructure company US-based Equinix; that of Malaysian dairy brand Farm Fresh with its inauguration of a state-of-the-art dairy processing facility in Pampanga and its plan to invest several billions of pesos more; US-based global infrastructure investor Squared Capital’s $130 million new investments to bring to $2 billion its total investment commitments in the Philippines; the P50.7-billion investment from Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippine Corp. which is the first project to be granted presidential incentives under the CREATE More Act; Vietnamese multinational automotive company Vinfast which launched the Green and Smart electric taxi fleet and initially invested $500 million with plans to invest an additional $1 billion within the next five years; US-firm Cerberus which has committed P15 billion over the next 12 months; HD Hyundai Heavy Industries which invested $130 million in its Philippine operations and plans to invest up to $500 million; that of Steel Asia which is investing P10.7 billion in a rebar facility in Cebu; the $400-$500 million manufacturing facility of Panhua Steel; Terra Solar’s P200 billion solar and battery energy facility; Dyson UK which is investing P11 billion in an R&D plant in Batangas and Charoen Pokphand Foods which is investing P10.55-billion for new swine projects.

Go’s appointment as the new secretary of finance would of course allow him to accomplish much more. As DOF chief, he is ready to help sustain growth, maintain fiscal stability and drive reforms that generate new and more jobs and attract more and better investments in the country.

Contrasting views

Two big rallies will be held this Sunday on the occasion of Bonifacio Day, but with different agendas.

The Trillion Peso March Part 2 which will be held at the People Power Monument in Quezon City is the baby of the Trillion Peso March Movement (TPPM), the Catholic Church-led coalition seeking a lawful and peaceful end to large-scale corruption and to hold accountable the lead characters in the flood control scam.

Baha sa Luneta 2.0, meanwhile, is being spearheaded by Kilusang Bayan Kontra Kurakot (KBKK) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan which in a press conference ahead of their Sunday event demanded that both President Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte resign and be thrown in  jail.

This is not Part 2 of the recent Iglesia ni Cristo rally for transparency in Rizal Park held last Nov. 16-18.

In sharp contrast, TPMM leaders have held their own press conference to invite the faithful to join their upcoming rally not to call for President Marcos’ resignation, but just to appeal to hold accountable all those involved in the alleged ghost flood project kickbacks.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier reiterated its rejection of unconstitutional means to change the country’s leadership.

Caritas Philippines president and Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo and Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes have rejected calls for extra-legal or unconstitutional action.

For these Church leaders, a leadership transition is not the solution, adding that there should not simply be a change of guards, but a change in the system.

CBCP president Cardinal Pablo David, in pushing for accountability and transparency, has reminded Filipinos to choose the path of non-violence and constitutional order.

There is sense in the TPMM call for constitutional and legal processes to take their due course, given that there has been positive progress at this point in the government’s efforts to run after the flood control scammers.

Like the INC, the Catholic Church is calling for serious investigations into the flood control scandal and for accountability and is not calling for President Marcos to step down.

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