Malacañang on Tuesday pledged to further accelerate the growth of the country’s semiconductor and electronics (S&E) sector, recognizing it as a key driver of exports, employment, and overall economic expansion.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Monday convened a meeting with the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC) at Malacañan Palace, where he expressed the Marcos administration’s commitment to fully implement the roadmap aimed at expanding the S&E industry.
Recto made the commitment, acknowledging that the sector plays a key role in the Philippines’ economic progress, generating an estimated PHP3 trillion in annual revenues and accounting for a significant share of the country’s export earnings.
He emphasized the importance of maximizing the potential of the S&E industry, which directly and indirectly employs about three million Filipinos and contributes nearly three-fifths of the country’s total exports.
“Government must maximize the S&E industry, because this industry can maximize the country,” Recto said, as quoted by the Office of the Executive Secretary in a news release, adding that all commitments under the roadmap will be “fully and forcefully complied with.”
He also backed initiatives to move the industry up the value chain, including expansion in integrated circuit design and advanced packaging, with the long-term goal of establishing wafer fabrication capability in the Philippines.
To support these goals, the government is pushing for the establishment of at least three specialized national laboratories that will serve as central hubs for research, innovation, and talent development in partnership with the academe and industry stakeholders.
Recto said the progress of the industry roadmap will be closely monitored, with clear timelines, defined responsibilities, and coordinated action across agencies.
“Let us adopt it with discipline. Let us attach deadlines. Let us assign responsibilities clearly. Let us identify which reforms require legislation, which need executive action, which need budget support, and which can be done immediately,“ he said. “Otherwise, it is just paper with ambition printed on it.”
Recto stressed the need to maximize incentives under the CREATE MORE Law, including income tax holidays, duty exemptions, and enhanced deductions available to qualified firms.
He also emphasized the importance of addressing operational bottlenecks through improved coordination, faster processing, and more efficient systems.
“Many problems do not need a new law. They need clear instruction, better coordination, shorter processing time,“ Recto said.
“The green lanes must work. Incentives must be predictable. Customs processes must be efficient. Skills development must anticipate the needs of the industry, and not trail behind them.”
Recto said that the SEIAC, created through Administrative Order 31 issued in 2025, gathers government and industry leaders to map out the growth, development, and global competitiveness of the sector.
He said the council is tasked to deliver concrete results, describing it as a “problem-solving council with an economic mission,” rather than a mere discussion forum. (PNA)
