SWS Poverty and Hunger Survey
Growling Stomachs
The domestic economy grew just 4.8% in the third quarter, the same pace of expansion a year ago. The slow growth was a result of restrained public investments under a re-enacted national budget, in addition to constraints in government procurement. This was reflected in the drop in overall construction growth to 1.0% from 6.0% in the same quarter last year, dragging down industrial growth to 4.0% from 5.3%. On the demand side, government investments in construction expanded by a mere 1.7%, down from 7.6%.
Meanwhile, growth in the agriculture, fishery, and forestry sectors stepped up to 4.1% from 1.7% a year ago, backed by a strong recovery in the forestry subsector. In industry, on the other hand, growth in mining and quarrying declined to 2.8% from 3.1%. Manufacturing growth also went down to 4.8%, down from 5.7% the year before. According to the National Statistics Office, manufacturing production volume has continued to decline for nine straight months.
By expenditure share, personal spending grew faster at 5.3% in the third quarter from 4.9% the previous year, while government spending posted a slight recovery at 0.4% from 0.2%. A 10.3% growth in merchandise exports pushed overall exports growth to 9.1%, up from 6.7% a year ago. Conversely, the growth of merchandise imports weakened to 0.9% from 8.0%, pulling down overall imports growth to 1.2% from 7.5%. The appreciating peso failed to dampen external trade, which reflected the rising demand for electronics and the weakening of the U.S. economy, the country’s top trading partner.
Backed by strong inflows of overseas Filipino workers’ remittances, third-quarter GNP growth accelerated to 5.8% from 4.8% the year before.
Global Corruption Ranking
Idling War Versus Corruption
The Philippines is far from winning the war against corruption if one is to judge from Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2006. TI’s recent report placed the country at 121st in a list of 163 countries, four places lower than last year’s ranking of 117th.
| No Improvement |
The trend in the Philippine ranking in Transparency International’s corruption perception surveys is not encouraging |
Year |
RP Rank |
No. of Countries |
RP Score |
2001 |
65 |
91 |
2.6 |
2002 |
77 |
102 |
2.6 |
2003 |
92 |
133 |
2.5 |
2004 |
102 |
145 |
2.6 |
2005 |
117 |
158 |
2.5 |
2006 |
121 |
163 |
2.5 |
| Source: www.transparency.org |
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Unresolved “big fish” corruption cases, as well as transparency and accountability issues in matters of governance, are pulling down the Philippines’ ranking. For instance, more congressmen and senators did not disclose how they allocated their pork barrel funds (P40 million for each congressman and P120 million for each senator). Likewise, line agencies were not as accommodating in granting public access for the monitoring of their large-scale procurement projects.
If the Philippines’ ranking is to improve in 2007, more cases have to be vigorously prosecuted. The case surrounding the P1.2 billion Comelec election automation project is a notorious example where the government has been perceived as handling discredited officials with kid gloves. The P728 million fertilizer fund scam remains unresolved and the extradition of former agriculture undersecretary Joc-Joc Bolante has not been acted upon.
By the Numbers |
| 776,562 Pneumonia cases in 2004, the leading cause of death in the Philippines |
| 4 Filipinos infected with HIV in 2004 |
| 0 Avian flu cases in the Philippines |
| 1,136 Private hospitals in the country as of 2005 |
| 702 Public hospitals |
| 2,969 Doctors serving in public hospitals in 2005 |
| 4,435 Nurses in public hospitals |
| 500:1,000 Ratio of nurses to Filipinos, but 90% of those nurses seek work abroad |
| 17,323 Nursing licensure exam passers in June 2006 |
| 126,000 Job vacancies of nurses in American hospitals |
| Sources: National Statistical Coordination Board, Professional Regulatory Commission, Mercury Drugstore |
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On a positive note, however, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission dismissed 10 presidential appointees, including a public works undersecretary, two assistant secretaries, and three regional directors for various violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
To assist the Philippines in its anti-corruption efforts, the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation created to support developing countries, approved in June 2006 a US$21 million program towards stamping out corruption in the country’s tax and customs administration. The fund will be channeled toward strengthening the Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs, and Bureau of Internal Revenue. As her administration’s counterpart to the MCC pledge, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also earmarked P1 billion for the government’s anti-corruption campaign. The agencies that will tap into the fund include the PAGC (which will act as the fund administrator), BIR, BOC, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Department of Education, and Commission on Higher Education.
With all these funds being thrown into the effort to fight corruption, the government’s idling war versus corruption may yet get into full gear. And with the right dose of political will, we may yet see the Philippines rise up the TI’s rankings.
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