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THE economy is performing better according to the
standard measurements and the administration never fails to say so
in every forum available.
The Philippine peso continues to
strengthen after having the second highest appreciation among the
currencies in Southeast Asia. Macroeconomic performance is strong
and the 7.3% GDP output last year was the highest in three decades.
Inflation is under control, the government is making headway in
reducing the budget deficit, and unemployment is well below double
digits.
The administration must be
wondering why there’s hardly any kudos from its citizens. The
economy is doing so well and yet there’s no applause and a great
many Filipinos are not “feeling” GMA and her administration. Are
they simply suffering from adjustment anxieties, from an economy
that’s just picking up? Perhaps the so-called trickle-down effect
has not trickled down yet? Or perhaps the economic indicators are
painting a picture that is markedly different from what most
Filipinos are actually experiencing?
The Philippines continues to have
a high poverty incidence according to the Asian Development Bank
report titled, “Philippines: Critical Development Constraints,”
and this is because of poor revenue collections and rampant
corruption. These are the “critical constraints” to sustainable
growth, the ADB said. The pace of poverty reduction has been slow
and income inequality remains stubbornly high because of corruption.
Even government statistics show
that there are more Filipinos living below the poverty line today.
The National Statistical Coordination Board said two weeks ago that
33 out of 100 Filipinos were considered poor in 2006 compared to
only 30 out of 100 in 2000. Not a few, of course, suspect that
poverty among the populace is higher than the 30% plus stats thus
provided.
How “rampant” is this
corruption that leads to poverty? The independent think tank Ibon
Foundation Inc. said that in the past seven years, the figure could
easily reach P7.3 billion, noting the allegedly highly anomalous
projects and otherwise unresolved scandals like the P720-million
fertilizer fund scam, the Northrail project, P400 million plus Jose
Pidal bank accounts, the Impsa power-plant project, the Macapagal
Boulevard project and the ZTE-NBN broadband project.
Yes, corruption is an economic
problem too—perhaps the economic problem which the political arena
seeks to address. So this administration cannot just resort to the
usual “let’s-move-on-and-focus-on-the-economy” argument.
Neither a strong peso nor a rising GDP will lead to sustainable
growth and poverty reduction if the money circulating in the economy
flows only among the political and economic elite, or if it just
lines the pocket of corrupt officials in government
Economic growth has many
dimensions. Ultimately, a country should gauge its economy on its
ability to provide its citizens with what they need to live a decent
life: enough food, adequate shelter and health services, a
well-paying job, leisure and family time and a good education.
The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) came up with a way to measure or calculate more
real indicators to measure growth and progress, which it called the
Human Development Index, which measures things like GDP per capita,
the literacy rate, life expectancy rate, school enrollment, the
purchasing power of the currency, and others.
In the 2007/2008 UNDP Human
Development Report, the Philippines’ Human Development Index
ranking dropped to 90th place, lower than a lot of our neighbors in
East Asia and the Pacific region.
Obviously the mere quantity of
economic activity, as measured by a common indicator like the GDP,
taken alone, says virtually nothing about whether life for the
common Filipino is getting better or worse. It ignores the
distribution of income and makes no distinction between workers with
top-paying jobs and those workers who can barely eke out a living.
It ignores the fact, for instance, that the record remittances which
makes economic figures so rosy have a heavy social toll in terms of
broken families. The booming mining industry which the government
touts? That has environmental costs too which should count for
something when you’re calculating economic balance.
Economics must be a means to an
end. It is not an end in itself. Real economic growth must benefit
the people. And when the economic figures are out of sync with the
everyday experience of most Filipinos, the government cannot simply
shrug its shoulders and say the figures are right, their (Filipinos)
experience is wrong.
mlatimes@gmail.com
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