Noy at APEC, guarantees inclusive growth

BALI – Wealth for all, not only for the privileged few.

President Aquino gave the assurance yesterday shortly after his arrival on this Indonesian resort island for the start of the 21st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting.

Aquino, in a “summit conversation,” guaranteed inclusive growth across all sectors in the Philippines.

In the event held at the Westin Hotel, where Aquino and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala attended a forum moderated by Linda Yueh, the President said times have changed as the economy should no longer be measured based on “wealth collectively amassed.”

“More and more, the task of governments has become ensuring that this wealth is not concentrated in the hands of the few, but rather that it is equitably utilized to raise levels of human development,” Aquino told the crowd in a prepared speech.

Aquino cited his three-year administration as example, where endemic corruption has been and is still being addressed, and where reproductive health and sin tax laws have been passed, for the purpose of lifting the standard of living of the most impoverished.

“We engender a situation wherein the broader base of society can benefit from opportunities opening up through economic growth. Without these factors, a nation may perhaps experience periods of cyclical growth; any progress, however, will be prone to disruption,” Aquino warned.

“Why does inclusive growth matter? First: Inclusiveness matters because it ensures the stability of societies, and consequently, the sustainability of growth. The equation for sustainability is also integral to a second, perhaps, more important aspect,” he said.

Aquino pointed out that in the Philippines, his administration had focused a substantial amount of the national budget to fund social services in education, health and poverty alleviation in advocating inclusive growth.

The conditional cash transfer program benefits four million families and has expanded its scope to include families with children in high school as “there is a 40 percent increase in income for those who finished high school versus elementary graduates.”

Aquino added that providing the opportunity for all Filipinos to learn by providing more classrooms, textbooks, chairs and tables; and the introduction of a new school curriculum “will increase the competitiveness of our graduates in the global arena.”

“I signed into law two bills that have languished in Congress for years: The RH (Reproductive Health) law and the Sin Tax Reform Act. These will certainly accelerate our Universal Health Care agenda, which we continue to aggressively pursue,” Aquino said.

“These are direct government interventions that we are pursuing as a proactive way of encouraging the equitable distribution of wealth - part of a concerted plan to ensure that all sectors take part in economic growth and partake in the prosperity it brings,” he said.