Drilon wants to find out what’s wrong with economy

Senators of the land want to find out what is wrong with the country’s economy.

Senate President Drilon said yesterday he is disturbed by the findings of the United Nations that the Philippines has slipped eight notches down, from No. 77 in 2001 to No. 85 in 2002, in terms of quality of life.

The findings mirror a "deplorable deterioration in the quality of life of Filipinos," he said.

Senators Tessie Aquino Oreta and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also expressed dismay with the UN ranking, saying the human development index showed serious weaknesses in the administration’s approach in alleviating poverty.

"More worrisome is the observation of Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, assistant administration for Asia and the Near East of the United States Agency for International Development, that the Philippines is the only market economy in Asia that has never achieved a sustained period of rapid growth," Drilon said.

Chamberlin has pointed out that while the country’s per capita or family income rose by 89 percent from $568 in 1975 to $1,075 in 2002, that of other countries in the region grew even faster.

In the same 27-year period, Thailand’s per capita income grew by 276 percent from $557 to $2,092. That of Malaysia jumped from $1,253 to $3,441 (176 percent); Indonesia, from $109 to $583 (435 percent); China, from $265 to $900 (240 percent); South Korea, from $1,461 to $9,471 (548 percent); and Singapore, from $4,557 to $26,076 (472 percent).

Drilon said the Philippines had the slowest growth in family incomes, growing only by less than 100 percent, while others grew by more than 200 percent to more than 500 percent.

He said he is also worried about the downgrading of the country’s creditworthiness, which would make it more difficult and costly for the government to borrow money abroad.

Lenders would charge higher interest rates and this would translate into more loan payments and a bigger budget deficit, he added.

"What are the reasons for the country’s incredible lag in economic growth compared to neighboring countries? It could not be due to corruption alone, because other countries like South Korea, China, Indonesia, and even Thailand are reported also to have widespread corruption, but these countries continue to grow two or three times more rapidly than the Philippines," he wondered.

Drilon asked the National Economic and Development Authority to conduct a "thorough, objective and detailed" study on what is wrong with the economy.

He said policy makers should take stock of the problem and act.

"We cannot just toss the problem to future generations, for that would be shirking on our responsibility to them. We must take action now to prevent a bigger catastrophe," he stressed. — With Jose Rodel Clapano