Officials from Malacañang hailed the country’s posting of a 7.1 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2021.
Both Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar noted that the Philippine growth rate was among the highest third-quarter growth rates in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asian region.
"Bagama’t mas mababa ito sa 12 percent growth noong second quarter, mabuting balita pa rin po ito dahil ang paglago ay nangyari sa gitna nang mahigpit na quarantine na ating ipinairal sa gitna ng Delta variant (Although this is lower than the 12 percent growth rate in the second quarter, this is still good news since the growth occurred amid the strict quarantine we imposed against the Delta variant)," Roque said in a virtual press conference.
He was referring to a time last August when the Philippines was grappling with a more tranmissible variant of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Kasama sa major economic sectors ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) na nagtala ng positibong paglago ay ang industry na nasa 7.9 percent at services na nasa 8.2 percent (According to the PSA, the major economic sectors that recorded positive growth are the industry at 7.9 percent, and services at 8.2 percent)," he said.
Roque said the numbers are expected to go up due to the recent increase in the operational capacity of businesses in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Last Nov. 5, NCR or Metro Manila was placed under alert level 2--the second most lenient classification of the Alert Level System (ALS) against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Andanar later said in a statement that the country’s third quarter output "affirms the Duterte administration’s success in strategically balancing, managing, and sustaining the growth and operation of our economy, while addressing and containing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Delta variant that pushed us to tighten our quarantine restrictions".
"Despite the reimposition of said restrictions, our proactive vaccination drive against COVID-19, as part of our three-pillar strategy, has allowed for work and business operations to reopen and continue, as well as for the sector to expand, thereby driving the sustained economic recovery we have registered today," the PCOO boss and former journalist said.
"As we continue our responsive approach to this pandemic in our remaining months in office, such as accelerating the vaccination program, safely reopening the economy while strictly adhering to public health protocols, and the full implementation of the recovery package to lay the foundation for a pandemic-resilient nation, may everyone take part in this collective effort by observing the minimum health standards so that the economic optimism and growth momentum of our country may continue," he said.
Andanar added: "May our economic growth encourage everyone to participate in our national COVID-19 vaccination program as we can see the tremendous and positive impact it has on our recovery from the pandemic as one nation."