The doctor shook his head after examining Nonong. His little patient has become thinner and lost some weight. His body temperature is up and he has a slight fever. He looks pale and the color of his cheeks is gone.
The Philippine economy is just like Nonong. Every quarter, a doctor examines it and looks at signs to see if it is well. It is not well. The economy has become thinner. The total value of goods and services that the country produced or its Gross Domestic Product has declined. Our GDP for the first quarter of 2021 dropped by 4.2% compared to the value of our production in the same period last year.
A falling GDP means that the country is producing lesser amount of goods and services. Since these are produced by people, this also means that people are earning less income. Many people have lost their jobs. The unemployment rate is 7.1%. This refers to the number of workers in the labor force who are out of work even if they are able and willing to work. The factories, offices, shops, groceries, hotels, and beauty shops where they worked have been closed. To prevent a higher surge of COVID 19, government imposed lockdowns which restricted mobility. People were advised to stay in their homes.
The good news is that the unemployment rate has become smaller compared to a higher rate of 17.6 % in April last year. It means that some people who were unemployed last year have found jobs. But the sad news is that most of the jobs that were created are for unskilled labor. Of course, we value the contribution of laborers to the economy, but these jobs pay less, are seasonal, and provide workers with no security. A large number of our workers, 16.2% are underemployed which means that they are unable to find more work even if they are willing to do so.
Sectors that employ a lot of people such as tourism continue to be sick. The income of the services sector fell by 38%. Tourism officials estimated that the country lost P400 billion in 2020. There were only 1.3 million foreign tourists who visited the country in 2020 compared to 8.3 million in 2019, or a drop of 7 million tourists. It is so sad to see that big and small hotels, restaurants, and resorts had to close because of the lack of business.
Almost all the sectors continued to produce less, earn less, and employ fewer workers. Construction activities declined by 24.2%; industry, 4.7%; exports, 9% and agriculture by 1.2%. Their production grew weaker because there was less demand for their produce. Spending of households fell by 4.8%. Naturally, as household heads earned less, families have less income to spend. Support from relatives and friends abroad through remittances weakened as well. Our livestock production is crippled by problems brought about by African swine fever.
The consequences of a falling GDP are seen through the growing poverty problem in the country. It is estimated that the number of poor people has increased to 22.6% in 2020. More than 5 million or 21.1% of our families experienced involuntary hunger in December 2020. The problem is more severe in poorer areas like BARMM. Some 80% of the households in BARMM were classified as food insecure and 45% as “severely food insecure. This is the magnitude of families that have run out of food in a day or more.
The only sectors in the economy that experienced growth was government that spent more for social and health services, 16.1%. Growth was also reported by the financial sector, information and communication.
Nonong’s doctor is quite sure of how he can regain his health—good food, sunshine, exercise, and lots of water. But the doctors in our economy cannot seem to agree. Open up the economy, says one. But the others say the system is not ready. Another doctor in the House recommends another Bayanihan package. But another doctor says that revenues need to be found first. One doctor advises lower tariff duties on pork and rice. Another doctor objects.
Too many doctors without a Chief Medical Officer spoil the broth.
For now, the best we can do is to take care of ourselves and to help as many people as we can. “Sabi nga, sariling sikap.” Let’s stand up on our two feet and help as many others to stand up too.