Palace hits critics questioning 1st-quarter economic growth

(Update - 8:22 p.m.) Malacañang on Saturday hit back at critics who questioned government figures indicating a 7.3-percent growth in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2010. Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar questioned the “objectivity" of former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and IBON Foundation in contesting the GDP statistics. “Itong data lumabas 7.3 percent year-on-year first quarter ng GDP, 9.5 percent ng GNP, ito galing sa National Statistics Office at National Statistics Coordination Board na may professional statisticians. Sila ang kastiguhin ninyo, huwag ang Palasyo," he said on government-run dzRB radio. (This data of a 7.3-percent year-on-year growth in GDP and a 9.5-percent growth in GNP came from the National Statistics Office [NSO] and the National Statistics Coordination Board [NSCB], which have professional statisticians. You should direct your lectures at them, not at the Palace.)
He said any complaints about the techniques and methodologies used should go to NSO and NSCB. “Pero huwag pati yan sinisisi sa Palasyo (But don’t blame the Palace for that)," he said. In questioning the 7.3-percent growth, Diokno said the numbers may all be for show and that the high growth was mainly due to the low base caused by the effect of the global recession. “This administration’s credibility is low. Maybe it wants to leave Malacañang with a bang. First of all, it is preliminary and subject to revision. Manufacturing output growth is largely base effect," Diokno had said. Diokno served as budget secretary under the administration of former President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in 2001 through a people's uprising. Outgoing President and incoming Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo replaced Estrada in the wake of the revolt. “Si dating Sec. Diokno, you have to take your hat off sa kanyang persistence at sipag sa pagiging oppositionist. Once in a while, pasensya na Ben, but you have to avoid getting your objectivity affected," Olivar said. (You have to take your hat off to ex-Sec. Diokno for his persistence and diligence in being an oppositionist. But once in a while — sorry about this, Ben — but you have to avoid getting your objectivity affected.) Hitting IBON On the other hand, Olivar scored IBON, a nationalist think tank, for letting its “ideology" get the better of it. IBON said it is “puzzled" over continued underdevelopment in the Philippines despite a supposed 7.3-percent growth in gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2010. “The reported 7.3% growth in GDP in the first quarter of 2010 is seemingly good news especially coming from the steep fall in economic growth since 2008. However any enthusiasm has to be tempered by the persistence of unprecedented high unemployment and poor quality work," it said in its website. Olivar admitted it is possible the growth was not reflected in employment, citing the entry of many Filipinos into the labor force, or the economy’s improvement applying more to capital-intensive industries rather than labor-intensive sectors. “Please keep considerations in mind, the public expects you to do your work professionally and not ideologically," Olivar told the IBON Foundation. Felt by the masses? Economics professor Solita Monsod, for her part, said the government and the incoming administration are now faced with the challenge to make the GDP growth felt by the masses. Monsod said most Filipinos have already been burdened by unemployment and the El Nino phenomenon that the government has to make sure that the growth trickles down to common citizens. “Ang challenge ng gobyerno ngayon is how [it is] going to try to distribute the fruits of that growth para may ginhawa rin ang mga kababayan natin (The challenge faced by the government now is how it is going to try to distribute the fruits of that growth to provide some relief to our people)," she said in an interview aired over QTV 11's "Balitanghali."— With Andreo C. Calonzo, LBG/JV, GMANews.TV