Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Perry Ferrer has urged the Marcos administration to pursue decisive procedural and policy reforms that go beyond prosecution to address systemic corruption and abuses in government.

In a statement on Monday, Ferrer said corrective measures must be instituted and institutionalized to prevent massive abuse of power and the loss of public funds from recurring.

“While corrective measures in budgeting and accountability are underway, there have to be policy changes that should stop corruption in government,” Ferrer said, adding that reforms must go beyond putting people in jail and bringing them to court.

The PCCI chief said corruption has indirectly affected business operations across sectors.

“We continue to run our businesses as resilient and as cautious as possible, but our people, the people in the operations, have really been affected and dismayed over this massive corruption issue that has, at times, affected their productivity and ultimately, our overall operations,” Ferrer said.

He stressed that billions of pesos lost to corruption could have been channeled toward improving digital connectivity and infrastructure, which could help restore the Philippines’ standing as an investment destination.

“The future is digital. Our MSMEs, which comprise 99 percent of businesses in the country, are not reliably connected to the internet. We need to ensure they are connected and can use e-commerce faster and efficiently. If we improve their economic standing, the country improves,” he said.

Ferrer, however, noted that cybersecurity remains a critical concern, requiring close cooperation between the government and the private sector to ensure that MSMEs can operate safely and efficiently in the digital space.

He added that digitalization is also key to improving the ease of doing business by enhancing transparency and efficiency, reducing human intervention, and aligning regulatory systems with global best practices.

“Starting a business is easy and simple, but sustaining operations remains difficult due to regulatory inconsistencies. But there is a spark of hope at the end of the tunnel. Agencies are pushing hard for simplification,” Ferrer said.