Development

November 13th, 2005 at 5:36 am (General, National Politics, Economics)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is said to be gloating that RA 9337 or Reformed VAT is yielding “positive” results for the country’s economy. Fuel prices are down, the peso is up. I must concede that the economy is looking good.

But are the lives of Filipinos doing better??? I doubt it.

Arroyo’s attitude towards the RVAT and its results is indicative of how she and most other government officials “serve” the country. They look at the statistics; they pore over ratings and numbers. But they fail to see the real, actual effects of their governance. They push for economic development but they miserably fail in upholding and working for the more important thing, human development.

Sadly, our government and politicians care more about economics. They say healthy economics translate to better lives. But that is not true in the Philippines. It might be so for the socio-economic upper classes, but not necessarily so for the lower socio-economic classes. Because of the RVAT, the greater number of Filipinos have become more desperate, unhealthy and generally, poorer. The unemployment rate is still up and a great number of the employed is underemployed. More people are eating noodles, canned sardines and other cheap but unhealthy foods, or none at all. A great number still can’t buy medicine, or afford quality medical, dental and legal services. No, I and the rest of the Philippines do not need numbers, statistics and hard figures to know these things. I only need to look around me.

Yes, the economy might be bullish, but the country and its citizens are definitely not doing better.

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7 Comments

  1. John Rogers said,

    November 14, 2005 at 2:54 am

    Yes, it may be slow.

    But how are the poor supposed to get anywhere WITHOUT economic growth?

  2. paul said,

    November 14, 2005 at 5:03 am

    The same phenomenon is happening in the United States. Supposedly the economy is robust, but ordinary people are seeing their wages stagnate or fall. And the wealth gap is only getting wider. The current US economy may be growing, but only those at the top seem to be benefiting.

  3. lito said,

    November 16, 2005 at 9:52 am

    What do you suggest should the president do to make you happy? bcoz anything she does never pleases you. the country’s economy is improving, but you throw it back to her face like it’s rubbish. she’s not going anywhere for the next few years. it’s better we stick with her than continuously destroy her like she’s the next anti christ. or do you prefer the other self serving trapos in the opposition?

    a good economy is always a good sign of things to come. you can’t dispute that. of course you’ll see misery in your surroundings. that needs work, a lot of it. you can’t expect miracles to happen a few days after the evat/rvat is implemented. to blame everything on arroyo for the country’s ills is wrong and narrow minded.

  4. JP said,

    November 16, 2005 at 2:17 pm

    Sometimes, veteran economists fail to look beyond the statistics. In retrospect, the new VAT law will in fact yield long term profitable results for the country. Unfortunately, it is similar on how the Philippine government reads the GDP. They are proud to announce that it is increasing every year. The funny thing though, jobs are not as abundant as the figures state. This is because part of the Philippine GDP is the export of skilled labor. The OFW’s, the Unsung Economic Heroes so to speak. Therefore, if your economy is focused on placing talents abroad and not drawing local and foreign investors, things will be a disaster. I believe the new tax reform law will prove its ground if and only if effective tax collection is implemented. Of course, corruption needs to be eradicated as well. But let’s start with collection per se. Unless these so-called added revenues will be used in a manner that will secure the nation’s future, the data will just remain a paper where you can wipe your ass with.

  5. Arbet said,

    November 20, 2005 at 12:43 pm

    And to credit all good things to Arroyo is also wrong and narrow-minded, too.

    Taxation is regressive. The problem, as usual, remains with the policy on appropriation. Arroyo tried to be populist - when the budget gap was widening, she tried to close in on the deficit by borrowing (apparently Camacho is being blamed for this). Because she was thinking of 2004? Maybe.

    The net effect of that borrowing is that the country is further indebted. And one major reason we are in a deficit is that we are paying a large debt. Add tax collection shortfall and corruption in the mix, and we are in a hole called hell.

    And an economic growth that benefits only a section of the country is rather undemocratic.

    Comment # 3, unfortunately, is the standard line from the Arroyo text.

  6. SCV said,

    November 27, 2005 at 11:30 pm

    Why is Dr. Duque holding two portfolio, as health secretary as well as president/ CEO of philhealth. I look at this as cover-up of corruption. Why Philhealth is suspected to run out of funds by next year? What’s management failure is there to address. Its about time that Congress should look into this.
    SCV

  7. JDEspaldon said,

    October 30, 2006 at 9:28 pm

    Do you know that the unemployment in the Philippines which hovers around 11 to 12% is actually lower than the truth? Why? Because the Department of Labor and Employment defines unemployment as the condition of an individual belonging to the working force or working age who is looking for work but could not find one. So even if you are unemployed but are not looking for work, then you are not considered to be unemployed. Kaya huwag tumigil ng kahahanap ng trabaho para hindi kayo makasama sa mga “employed” na kuno.

    Even the poverty level is lower under PGMA administration because the administration lowers the threshold level of those who are poor. For example, if those families who are earning should we say $2,000.00 per annum are considered poor then, the administration just be lowering the threshold level to should we say $1,500.00 per annum has instantly lifted the status of million families from poverty. Well, what can we say but “damn statistics”. On the other hand, tingnan mo nga naman, by stroke of pen a single individual has lifted million Filipinos from poverty. Magic!

    This administration has also mentioned that by P36.00 a day an individual can already survive. Could be, if that individual will subsist on “kamoteng kahoy” everyday for the rest of his life assuming that he will not die early because of diabetes.

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