The World Bank has projected continued robust growth for the Philippines and expects the economy to expand at 6.8 percent in 2017, but the country continues to face difficulty in fighting poverty.
The Philippines’ sorry economic state is the product of service sector-led development and the underdevelopment of the agricultural sector.
Based on data culled from the 2015 CIA World Factbook, the percentage of each sector to the Philippines’ labor force is as follows: agriculture, 29 percent; industry, 16 percent; service, 55 percent.
It’s been said that the industrial sector is the fulcrum for economic development. By statistically analyzing the above data, it shows a 26 percent variance in the difference between percentage shares of the agricultural and industrial sectors to the labor force, and the difference between the percentage shares of the service and industrial sectors to the labor force.
The higher the variance, the higher the population poverty incidence.
The Philippines is trapped in a situation which makes it cater to the needs of the global economy. Just look at the proliferation of business process outsourcing like call centers, and remittances from overseas Filipino workers that make up nearly 10 percent of the gross domestic product.
It is believed that the country can be great again as it was in the 1950s-1960s, being second to Japan, but only under a revolutionary government with adequate manpower and run by a strong visionary political party like in the case of China and Vietnam, even Indonesia.
EDMUNDO ENDEREZ, eenderez@gmail.com