According to latest report by the National Statistics Coordination Board, the Philippine economy grew 7.3% in 2007, the fastest growth in 31 years.

Check this link for more info:
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstor...est-in-31-years

Am I the only one who think this is great? ZERO replies? Hello?!

I bet if someone posted a thread that states "Philippine ecnonomy declined - 7.3%" people would be bombarding the thread.

huh? why a lot of Filipinos didn't notice this at all?

numbers dont mean jack $hit. until philippines starts looking like singapore, then thats when we know things are getting better. for now i still see lots of families with tin cans for their roof and the backyard for their bathroom.

Rome wasn't built in one day.

indeed.

While I certainly don't think the Philippines will reach "First-World status" by 2020, it's quite an achievement and it's good news for the country.

i agree too... haha macapagal declared Philippines as second world

So why is singapore successful and philippines is not?. Thats a poor excuse.

common sense. corruption/political instability + poor public cooperation = lack of discipline.... u could go on and name all the issues involved, but i think the ones that ive pointed out are the main reasons why our country's development have been hindered for a long time IMO. not all countries progress at the same rate, but each country goes through the same process and the philippines is currently in progress. kurt123 was right in general.

a great stride has been accomplished by the philippines, i hope it would boost public awareness and cooperation for continual development.

For those who think all GMA doing to economy is crap look at this drastic increase:

(Year)
1980 7.51 = US$1 approx.

1985 18.60 = US$1 approx.

1990 24.32 = US$1 approx.

1995 25.23 = US$1 approx.

2000 44.19 = US$1 approx.

2005 55.08 = US$1 approx.

2006 49.23 = US$1 approx.

2007 40.39 = US$1 approx.

2008 39.89 = US$1 approx.

Report for Selected Countries and Subjects

I still find it amazing during 1980 7 Pesos was equal to 1 Dollar. Anyways, if this trend continues Philippines will be an Asian powerhouse again. From what I see I think that 20 Peso = US$1 around 10 years.



We are on par with India on economic growth!

This is one of my favorite quotes: "We are never interested in the possibilities of defeat" - Queen Victoria.

Filipino's should think like that, that's coming from the Queen of England some centuries ago who ruled United Kingdom, India and +10 other colonies.

Hey einstein, I was talking about if singapore can rise through corruption why cant philippines?. Rome wasnt built in one day is a poor excuse when another country that is very similar can be succesful and we are not.

Singapore is disciplined, we are not so. Singapore is a City State - more easy to progress, than a country like say Indonesia, Malaysia, or Philippines for that matter. One city is easier to progress, than countries with barrios, barangays, tribes, towns, and different classes of cities.

Singapore has scarce natural resources, so they rely on their ports and industrial products for income. We are an agricultural country, semi-industrial, service and tourism - its a little harder for us.

Singapore is a Dictatorship(according to my Dad who lives there), we are a democracy - a very turbulent one at that.
The have an sort of "Enlightened Dictatorship". We have a crazy "all across the board" kind of democracy.

Singaporeans work an average of 10 hours a day including Sunday. We have about 7-11% Unemployment, and huge underemployment.
Singapore has High Taxes, spends an immense amount of money on Education. We spend a ridiculously humiliatingly small amount on Education - per student.

Per capita 2007 income jumped 25% to $1,742
Manila Standard
4 February 2008 | 11:00 PM

By Roderick T. de la Cruz

THE Philippines gross domestic product per capita rose 24.9 percent to $1,742 last year from $1,394 the year before, boosted by rapid economic expansion and the pesos strength against the dollar.

Per capita GDP is the value of the Philippines total economic output divided by the population. It refers to the average contribution of each Filipino to the gross domestic productthe value of the goods and services produced in any given period, usually a year.

The state-run National Statistical Coordination Board computed the rise in per capita GDP. Multi-lateral lenders such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, which use more elaborate computation tools, have yet to release their own estimates for the Philippines.

The Philippines per capita GDP surged in dollar terms after the peso appreciated by more than 15 percent against the greenback in 2007, which was complemented by the strong growth in per capita income, said Romulo Virola, secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board.

At current prices, per capita GDP rose 8.1 percent to P74,981 in 2007 from P69,362 in 2006. Per capita GDP came to only P35,000 in 1997.

The statistical board came up with the 2007 figure by dividing the GDP, estimated at P6.651 trillion at current prices, by the population, which was placed at 88.71 million last year.

At current prices, per capita gross national product or GNP rose 8.6 percent to P82,008 in 2007 from P75,544 in 2006.

Per capita personal consumption expenditure or PCE rose 7.1 percent to P52,035 from P48,591.

GNP is GDP plus net earnings from abroad and dollar remittances. PCE is the combined expenditures by the population in a given period.

Minus the impact of inflation, which is computed by using constant 1985 prices, per capita GDP rose 5.2 percent in 2007the fastest on recordagainst 3.4 percent in 2006.

That became possible when the GDP grew 7.3 percent last year, easily overtaking the 2-percent increase in the population (to 88.71 million from 86.97 million in 2006).

Per capita GNP also grew 5.7 percent based on constant prices in 2007, while per capita PCE rose 4.0 percent.

Because of the higher income and slower population growth, labor productivity improved by 5.8 percent in 2007, faster than the 4.4-percent growth in 2006.

What do you expect? Become a first world country in the span of GMA's 2 presidential terms?

Just because Philippines is poor right now does not mean it will remain poor in the future, specially if the economic growth keeps on going. The question is, what are you doing to help keep that economic growth going?

You think philippine corruption just started during her term?... lol... you conveniently forgot to count marcos... ever since then, philippines has been slowly drowning.... What do you mean what am i doing?. What can i do if i live in a different country(except for send money to my relative which i am already doing)?. Good one einstein! .

Just accept the fact the we as a people have a corrupt, greedy mindset. Dont get me wrong, there are alot of good people in the philippines but they are usually the ones who just want to work and live their life... they dont bother themselves with politics... the last guy who tried to do something was ninoy and look where he ended up.... Like I said, our peoples mentality is dirt compare to the people who run singapore....

that's good...

I just hope after GMA's presidency, the next president of the Philippines would also have the economy as one of their main priorities.

A corrupt country can become a developed country, I think it's quite possible . . .

hey dummy, i understood ur question.

were not there yet, but it doesnt mean we're not capable of becoming like a singapore. im confident...not even, BUT IM sure the philippines would overcome social and economical issues. like i said the term rome wasnt built in one day is a general term, but only time and cooperation would give justice to the term.

its obvious the country is festered by corruption duh. for a long time now actually. but if ur using sense, u could see an improvement in the economy which is unusual for soaring corruption. which means there has been action taken to shift the economy upwards and reduce corruption. the process of development surely justifies the term "Rome wasnt built in one day." if singapore can do it we CAN also do it.

i repeat, each country's rate of development is different from each other. the competition is tight and each tackles issues that hinders growth. of course, one may experience harder issues, so its a factor that some win and lose the race. what do u mean very similar? oh please, if the philippines is that similar to singapore we would enjoy stability by now. but i do wish our government system is an organized parliamentary republic like singapore. that way, its easier to get rid of corruption.

completely misunderstood him. and i dont know if u remember the 90s, but despite the ASIAN economic crisis of the late 90s, communist rebels, MILF separatists and numerous attempts of coup d'etat, the philippines was able to redeem itself post marcos term. with the leadership of ex prexy Fidel V Ramos during the 90s, the philippines was able to hold off, numerous social threats, reduced corruption and economic reform. ninoy tried to do something, but was only a political figure, not a political serviceman like Ramos.

ur so called dirt filipino mentality could be changed by a progressing economy and strong nationalism.

if ERAP just did not become president... oh well twas a BS presidential election of 98 anyways... no one up for the job if u ask me. im happy with the current president. just hope she considers extra judicial killings as unnecessary. should do something bout that.

Well GMA did impose the Perpetua reclusión (Like a prison term of some sort common in Hispanic countries) rule in Philippines instead of death sentences like what she did on Erap, I don't know if it will reduce killing but err I just wanted to see if it would do any good.

i dunno, but i really like the idea of capital punishment..... pros and cons, but i think its better off. unless modern maximum security institutions are built across the country.

That is kind of funny because corruption is everywhere wether the economy is good or not. Best example is china. Stop making excuses, in our case the rate of our economic progress have little to do with the corruption because there is money going around in the philippines. All I hear from you is turning away from the truth that our people have a corrupt mindset. I tell ya, my cousins and relatives down there as soon as I touch down they be like "arbor naman"... "kuya pahinge nang ganito" and just cant wait to try to manipulate me on spending something on them.... I dont blame them because that is the result of poverty... we would just throw garbage anywhere we like, piss anywhere we like, drink anywhere we like... Just accept the truth that our mindset for a lifestlye is on the negative... but like I said from before, there are alot of hard working filipinos out there..... it jsut so happens that they want to keep a low profile...




UMMM duh?????. Can you state the obvious even more?.

dude, im aware the cancer of corruption is in every society, hate it or love it. c'mon we all know for a fact that corruption slows down the long-term growth of an economy through a wide range of channels. the philippines is no exception. u get that? "wide range of channels." and its obvious that thriving capitalist economies out there has lower rates of corruption... cept china since they run their system differently... lets not get to that please.

now if u think about it, how much more would it boost the philippine public once they hear that the philippine economy is growing? now thats when strong nationalism comes into play. and when theres a motivation to do better as filipinos, there is cooperation. and when there is cooperation, it is easier to crack down corruption. and when theres cooperation, there is more work and progress done. ur mindset changes through all that. u get what i mean?

now i dunno if u get it, but no one here is ignoring the fact that the philippines is still a poor 3rd world country. all we're doing is being optimistic and looking ahead to our capabilities. now ur problem is, youve stated the problem but u neglect solution. now whose the one stating the obvious, when pretty much everyone here knows the obvious problem of the philippines?

dude, i know the philippines is corrupt, but being optimistic to the progress of the economy shifts corrupt mindset to cooperation. u focus too much on the bad side, u go nowhere with that.... be optimistic its the equation to the solution , its motivating and productive. reason why philippines progress is slow because of people like u who dont have the mindset to fight and overcome struggle, just accept struggle as it is. ur right ur really corrupted. please dont count me in or any filipino out there to ur claim that "our people have a corrupt mindset." thats ridiculous....

are u trying to prove me right?... well gee thanks.

I do think this is great, really.

BUT the effect doesn't trickle down on the ordinary Filipinos because the gravity of corruption here already offsets the gains.

Huge economic growth=more money for government officials.

I aint trying to make you prove anything since you just stated the obvious....

The debate is if another country similar to us can be successful, why cant we?. If they can manage through all the corruption and greediness then why cant we?. OBVIOUSLY its the way we act as a people.... so that "rome wasnt built in one day" is just an excuse since singapore already built theirs....

ya its true. but at least it increases public awareness, as u are aware right now. i really hope that our kababayans back home would initiate some action to crack this problem down. its not like im disagreeing with Iki's opinion, but we shouldnt tolerate this action by any means. it could be done. hell just thinking about, i feel like running a politician myself!

lol. this is getting too redundant my friend. it isnt bad to make such excuses since it makes sense, if u consider it deeply. i surely respect ur opinion and i understand what ur trying to point out, but the way i interpret its meaning, is that it takes time for one with such a culture of social and economic instability to develop. i could re-explain to u why they built theirs fast enough and the obvious, but u need to understand that we face more issues than they. thats why i dont agree with u because ur only answering ur question with a problem not a solution. and thats why i agree with rome wasnt built in a day. and again, its possible that we could reach the same status as singapore. why why why this and that? i ask myself that too, and im sure im gonna do something about it. cuz like u said, there are plenty of good filipinos out there.... and these good filipinos are the ones that need to do something, especially us who live overseas.

i beg to disagree our gdp per capita income went up 25% last year and our hdi is on the
rise at par with other east asian countries.

visit hdi website

Singapore is not a democracy bro. Unless we have an enlightened leader to get everyone to follow his/her vision of the Philippines, and just let that person do whatever he/she wants, its gonna need some time.

in singapore, there are laws restricting the freedom of speech of its citizens. harsh punishment by caning or capital punishment is even common in minor crimes, from what ive heard. the country has been a one party state ever since its self governance. and the ruling party, the People's Action Party or the PAP totally rejects liberal democratic values.

You beg to disagree with what?

That is a very good point. Ok what about South Korea and Japan?. South Korea was more broke than us right after WW2 and even went to war yet they are right behind japan.

I honestly would blame Marcos for sending us back 20 years. But its also not so easy as that. The culture of corruption in the Philippines is really really bad.

Don't worry bro, I think we'll eventually a first world country. I want the Philippines to be a place were Business and Pleasure mix harmoniously. Still keeping our layed-back live by the day culture, but with all the modernity, comfort, and security.

I think the fact that Philippines was a dependent colony of Spain, Japan and America and our sudden independence made us unprepared on ruling the country with a central government rather than a bunch of minor governments during the pre-Spanish era. Today I still feel the government struggles to unite all the people of the Philippines because of regional differences and we need to work on that first before we can all co-operate together to build up our economy.

Could be.... Our peoples mindset created the environment of the philippines... for the country to change, the mindset also has to change, It would be hard to change because our people have a very stubborn personality...

Hmm maybe. Also you can say a some Filipinos are quite stubborn. But you know I think what would really matter is if the people don't depend on the government too much and get up and actually do something that can help change for the better.

Seriously it's like a lot of Filipinos keep complaining to the government, but what do they do? They wait for jobs. Why don't they just start businesses and create their own jobs for their fellow peoples, eventually with patience it can possibly turn into a big corporation.

Just my thought, because I've seen this example from the Chinese community a lot.

see thats the cooperation im talking about. rather than blame each other, how bout do something that would solve something.

I think the Philippines can become a developed country by 2020 although still at the lower rung of development. To become a "first world" country may be more in the range of 2040 to 2070 depending on how hard the people work.

There is no country in the world without corruption, even it’s little. I think that every leader tries to take advantage out of his/her position. In developed countries corrupt people have to surrender their position. This should happen in every job. They should surrender by themselves or the opposition party will fight for it. There is no pardon, no excuse. Corruption is always a matter to be punished. Corruption is a cancerous ulcer which needs to be eradicated with all the roots. This should start with the police officer on the street and should end up in Malacanang.

Since I can think back, the Philippines suffer under the corruption of all the leaders. I had a little bit hope when Erap was arrested but nothing happened to him. It’s no wonder. How can a corrupt president take justice about another corrupt president? A crow doesn’t pick the eyes of another crow. Philippines could be a leading country in SE-Asia but the greed put you back to a third-world-country. Are you not tired of this situation? Are you not tired in being a victim of your own government? This government should protect his people but you all get rubbed. Open your eyes and do something. The sell-out of the Philippines started already. The Chinese are waiting, Korea is waiting and also Japan is not so far. How long will you wait? You need young people with enthusiasm and fresh ideas in the government. You need people which understand the needs of your compatriots. You don’t need somebody like Dagobert Duck who only smells the money.

Don’t be too happy about your 7,3% Economy Grew. This means also more pocket money for the Arroyo-Clan. Remember – once Thailand, South Korea and Philippines were even. And now you’re far behind.

nosy

you realize that msot of that is fake progress, right? don't use the improvement o the peso as an example. most of it is due to the crappiness of the american dollar.

god can these people understand...

Filipinos should really work hard to sustain the present economic growth. Aside from internal issues that we should resolve, we should also deal with negative external forces like this person above who doesn't want Filipinos to be happy.

Do you talk about me? If yes – why do you think I don’t want that the Filipinos are happy? Mama mia, open your eyes and look what your government is doing. If you agree with this - - ok than I say nothing no more. But you’re not happy – you are careless about your future. Think about, before you blame me. If you want to know more read my posts in "A korean essay about pinoys..."

If you are able to explain to me what you understand with Happiness - maybe I understand you.

nosy

First, I'm not blaming anyone. I'm just stating facts that aside from the valid reasons that keep us from progressing (lack of discipline, talangka mentality, corrupt-minded, etc.), there are also invalid ones that keep on bombarding us with negative thoughts and energies. They hold us back as well because they add up to the burden.

Pardon sir, but I think you only see the negatives when you said, '..open your eyes and look what your government is doing'. Overall, I'm happy with the government of PGMA. The economy is her forte. GMA's economic strategies, though ambitious, has been drawing more than expected positive results. Don't get me wrong, I curse the wrongdoings too. I want those responsible for violations, esp. corruption, be punished to the full extent of the law. What most Filipinos are tired of is the conduct of street demonstrations to specifically oust a president after her/ his government is faced with controversies. In this case, Filipinos should have a court system that is most reliable and trustworthy. In the absence of this, we are bent on doing the same poisonous cycle again and again (bring out allegations in the senate, go to the streets and demonstrate, replace the president, and so on and so forth..).

When you said, 'the growth means more pocket money for the Arroyo clan'and 'But you’re not happy' shows your judgmental nature, which is also one of the reasons that keep us from moving forward. We already have enough of your kind here. Don't tell me I'm not happy because happiness is a matter of choice. More often than not, I choose to be happy. Most Filipinos do, which make us one of the happiest peoples in the world.

The main problem is that we have a very illegitimate democratic system. Our voters elect only those people who are popular and not if they are capable. The big dilemma if GMA is ousted, the VP will take over who was elected PURELY because he’s popular with the masses, and not because he’s capable to lead the nation. Our economy has never grown this much, I don’t want to take the chance by entrusting it to someone solely popular with the masses.
To prevent this transfer, no matter how believable Lozada initially is, his credibility is now being questioned. He admitted that a certain level of corruption is acceptable to him. Questions have arisen whether he was kidnapped, because his celphone was not confiscated, he dined in Outback restaurant, and he was able to go to the place he wanted to go all along, that is, La Salle Greenhills. I even read he committed a sin of omission regarding his consultation with the wife of Sen. Joker Arroyo. He didn’t correct the impression in which it appeared the wife invited him to her house to urge him not to testify, when the fact of the matter is (based on what I read) Lozada was the one who contacted the wife around September before Joey de Venecia testified, and he was crying and that he doesn’t want to testify. So the wife invited him to her house, and told him she couldn’t lawyer for him due to conflict of interest since her husband is a Senator, while he was then president of Philforest. She advised him then, since he was so distressed, that he doesn’t have to testify if he didn’t want to. Since this was one of those ordinary free consultations, she didn’t bother to tell Joker about it. So Joker was surprised when his wife was mentioned.
Jun Lozada is no Clarissa Ocampo at all.

u know what we can do to help eliminate this ongoing problem of corruption? pass an anti-corruption law! which ever politician opposes in the passing of this law is guilty and should be punished severely. these damn old mofos, our government is filled with these old monkeys, its time for us accountable, who are young and educated to lift our country from this great struggle! lower the government official wages, betcha many of these kurakots would leave cuz thats all theyre after. anyone whose left are the ones we could trust! when all this is in place, how bout change the system of government to something that makes more sense, a parliamentary system.

another thing i hate about our country is that everyone blames each other! and when everyone blames each other, many disregard the process of investigation. right away people will resort to peoples power revolution! betcha many of our kababayans are clueless, all up for the hype to join another bullshiet demonstration! seriously, if ur gonna start a revolution, make sure u plan it first, get a capable leader! make sure u have capable leaders to fill in any gaps. cory was a dummy! now the woman that led us out of ERAP's plunder, being blamed too! every time we oust a leader, our country starts from the bottom again! instead of jeopardizing this great economic progress by calling for impeachment, how bout calling out for a change in the system! how bout calling out ideas that could minimize these problems? instead of demonstrating for more problem, how bout demonstrating a solution?!

mga kababayan!!!! gumising kayo!!!! gigil na gigil nako!!! humanda kayo pagbalik ko!!!! uuuggghhhh

Gov't pay is already very low as it is now, that's one of the reason of corruption but even if you make it higher, corruption still won't cease.

Much better if we start from scratch and start from the un-corrupted minds, but you have to eliminate ALL politicians first...you can start with Jinggoy and Lacson.

Then we all commit suicide except those 7 years old and below, that way i'm sure the system will change.

i was actually thinking of that. but if u think how low they get paid compared to the millions of Filipinos that get paid barely a cent. as public servants, they should be paying the people not asking for more wages. so much for being public servants. thats why im saying we implement an anti corruption law while we lower wages, and use that govt surplus in returning all that money that the masses really deserve!