Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
“I fully understand the gravity of the responsibility that you’ve put on my shoulders. I do not take it lightly, but I am ready for the task. I will need your help. I want to rely on it; but rest assured I do not predicate success on the wide cooperation that’s needed. I will get it done.”
President Marcos underscored this at his inaugural speech on June 30, 2022.
A year later, there may not be miracles that happened but the country’s situation is in better shape as Filipinos try to stand together while the government takes steps to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
To open up the economy, Marcos first lifted the face mask mandate in indoor and outdoor settings by making it voluntary, except in healthcare facilities, medical transport vehicles, and all types of public transport.
This was followed by the easing of travel restrictions, both for domestic and international travelers.
This paved the way for the return to face-to-face classes among students and on-site work for the labor force. The trickle-down effect was the opening of more job opportunities, something that were not available at the height of the Covid-19 restrictions.
More students returned to in-person classes and more workers reported to their workplaces.
Foreign tourist arrivals increased, hitting 2.65 million in 2022. This resulted in ₱208.96 billion ($3.68 billion) in revenues, a whopping 2,465 percent increase from 2021.
All of these factors contributed to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 7.6 percent in 2022, the highest in over four decades. The economy grew faster than market expectations, which made the Philippines among the fastest growing economies in the world, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) had said.
“Among the major emerging economies in the region [Asia] that have released their fourth-quarter 2022 real GDP growth, the Philippines grew the fastest, followed by Vietnam at 5.9 percent and China at 2.9 percent,” Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan had said.
The opening of the economy also resulted in a lower unemployment rate – 4.5 percent in April 2023, from 5.7 in the same month last year, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The economy is expected to grow further after President Marcos’ 10 foreign trips that generated at least 116 projects worth US$62.926 billion or ₱3.48 trillion—Indonesia,$8.48 billion; Singapore, $6.54 billion; US, $3.847 billion; Thailand,$4.62 billion; Belgium,$2.20 billion; China,$24.239 billion; and Japan,$13 billion.
With the strides President Marcos and his economic team have taken, we look forward to the chief executive getting the job done soon.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
