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Poverty down by only over 1% despite fast growth rate under PNoy


Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia since President Benigno Aquino III assumed office, the poverty rate only dropped by a little over than one percent since 2006, Minority Leader Rep. Ronaldo Zamora said Monday.
 
In a privilege speech to counter Aquino's State of the Nation Address last week, Zamora took the Aquino administration to task for its failure to make a huge dent on the country's poverty rate even as its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeded seven percent for several quarters since 2013.
 
“Poverty remains at high levels of 19.7 percent, a miniscule improvement compared to the 21 percent [recorded] by the [National Statistics Coordination Board] in 2006. In short, in eight years, we have reduced poverty by only a little more than one percent,” Zamora said in the House plenary.

The annual GDP growth rates under the Aquino administration are 7.6 percent in 2010, 3.7 percent in 2011, 6.8 percent in 2012,  and 7.2 percent in 2013.
 
And while several debt watchers have raised the Philippines’ sovereign credit rating to investment grade, the lawmaker said that the country’s unemployment rate remains high.
 
Based on the latest labor force survey (LFS) released by the National Statistics Office last January, the jobless rate in the Philippines stood at 7.5 percent, up from 7.1 percent reported a year earlier.
 
 
Non-inclusive growth
 
In a separate privilege speech, Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares likewise scored the government for boasting about the country’s high GDP when economic growth has not been inclusive.
 
“[T]his rapid growth is shallow, artificial and unsustainable, according to economic analysts. Worse, the growth is exclusionary. The real estate and construction boom are the biggest contributors to growth, yet these sectors account for a small percentage of employment, are weakly integrated to the rest of the economy...," Colmenares said.
 
The militant lawmaker said the Aquino administration couldn't claim the economy had grown exponentially since its development had been dependent on debts and remittances of overseas Filipino workers. 
 
Citing figures from the Bureau of Treasury, Colmenares said the national government's outstanding debt had jumped 4.5 percent to P5.681 trillion ($127.67 billion) as of the end of 2013. 
 
Of the $28 billion foreign portfolio investment that entered the Philippine economy last year, only $4.2 billion remained in local markets, Colmenares claimed.
 
"The problem with this money is all of it can go out of the country anytime, which in turn may even cause our economy to collapse," the lawmaker said in Filipino.
 
Overhaul DA, DAR
 
Zamora said it was high time for Aquino to overhaul the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in light of the "anemic" growth of the agriculture sector.
 
According to the Minority Leader, the agriculture sector had only grown by a "miserable" 1 percent over the last four years, with an estimated 70 percent of poor Filipinos living in the rural areas.
 
"There is now a need to overhaul the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Reform in light of the disappointing agricultural growth, the low levels of family income among our farmers and our fishermen, the corruption in the NFA (National Food Authority), the rice smuggling scandals, and the Napoles scandals involving DA and its related agencies," Zamora said. 
 
Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala is facing a plunder case before the Office of the Ombudsman for his supposed involvement in the alleged misuse of P36 million Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation through its transfer to certain non-government organizations during his term as Quezon representative. 
 
He has also been tagged in the alleged transfer of P39 million in public funds to NGOs linked to alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.
 
Ready for ASEAN integration?
 
Aside from making the country's economic growth inclusive, the government needs to prepare for the single market integration targeted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015, Zamora said.
 
Tariff rates on all goods traded within the 10-nation bloc will drop to as much as zero once the planned economic integration of the ASEAN is in motion. 
 
"Are we ready for these opportunities? Are our companies ready to compete with ASEAN companies aside from local ones?" Zamora asked. 
 
The Minority Leader said the Philippines ranks the lowest among ASEAN nations in terms of foreign direct investments
 
"This is an indicator of our country's low desirability as a direct investment destination, high power costs, poor infrafstructure and inconsistent government policies regarding mining and non-agriculture industries," Zamora said. —NB, GMA News

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