Meaningful growth

After the positive news about increased BIR revenue collections, May seemed to be a month of good news for the PNoy administration. Our country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), grew by 7.8 percent according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) last May 30.

According to NSCB, while construction and manufacturing industries were the major drivers, consumer spending, government expenditure as well as expansion in the services (7%), industry (10.9%) and agriculture (3.3%) all contributed to the unexpected high growth rate. Not to be forgotten, our overseas Filipinos and their remittances continue to be our most important source of support for our people and our economy.

The Philippines posted a higher GDP growth rate than many countries. Some of these which showed lower growth rates than the Philippines included: Nigeria (6.6%); Indonesia (6.02%); Thailand (5.3%); China (7.7%), Malaysia (4.1%), Hongkong (2.8%), United States (1.8%), Taiwan (1.67%), South Korea (1.5%), Japan (0.9%), Singapore (0.2%).

The 7.8 percent growth rate is higher than the 6.5 percent expansion in the first quarter last year, higher than the forecasts, and, higher even than the expected growth rate of NEDA Director-General and Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Balisacan, however, recognizes that growth rates still have to reckon with income distribution. He realistically points out that there is still the need for inclusive growth.

Meaningful growth has to address widespread and unchanging poverty incidence, about 27.9 percent for 2012. This translates to about three out of 10 Filipinos or 22 out of 100 families below the poverty line.

It is refreshing to have a NEDA director-general who is honest and realistic and an expert about poverty. Balisacan suggests that the faster “conditions for sustained growth in other sectors or areas with high growth potential are created and the poor linked to these growth centers, the better it will be for the greater number of our people.”

Growth rates should also urgently translate to more jobs for about a million unemployed among our people.

To address this, Balisacan saw the need to "facilitate the improvement in labor productivity by investing in human capital and providing the capacity for the labor force to engage in higher value activities.” To do this, he reported the plan of the government “to focus the economy on priority sectors that are potential growth drivers and job-generators such as infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, logistics, business process outsourcing, information technology, ship building, housing, and the halal food industry.”

We pray that Balisacan will be allowed to have his way - that this government should be genuinely committed to aim for inclusive growth together with economic stability.

Oh, if only growth rates can be sustained and can really be translated into better lives, especially for the most vulnerable among our people, if only inclusive growth can really be attained, also without compromising our environment and our sovereignty!

If we all act and unite together to do our share to sustain or even surpass the present growth rates and to ensure that the growth will trickle down to our country's most needy, we can certainly bring our country and our people to live better lives soonest.

Never mind if this will seem like nagging but let us prioritize our food production, ensuring accessible, affordable, and steady supply of healthy, eco-friendly food for our people. Let government employ and sufficiently pay our food producers, not only for ensuring food supply but also for sustainably maintaining and taking best care of our farms, our seas, our forests.

Let us convert so much funds that go for truck-based waste disposal and collection as wages to pay waste segregation teams in every community. Not only will this ensure a more rational and effective waste segregation and disposal system, it will also address the problems of unemployment and health among our people.

Surely, there are countless creative ways to allow the growth rates to immediately benefit every Filipino, especially those urgently in need.

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Email: cherryb_thefreeman@yahoo.com.