Malacañang has urged financial and media company Bloomberg to look at a country's economic growth when measuring resilience as this was supposedly the best indicator of resilience amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the statement after the Philippines, again, ranked last among 53 countries in Bloomberg's COVID-19 resilience ranking.
This is the third time in the five months that the Philippines obtained the said rank. The Philippines' resiliency score was at 48.4 this month, a figure lower than the 52 the country got in December last year.
In his press briefing on Friday, January 28, Nograles urged Bloomberg to also consider a country's economic growth when doing its study.
"Dapat ang tignan ng Bloomberg ay ang economic growth ng bansa. 'Yan po ang pinaka the best indicator na basis natin for resilience in any country (Bloomberg should look at a country's economic growth for that is the best indicator and basis for resilience in any country)," he said.
Nograles pointed out that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing the full year-year GDP growth to 5.6 percent.
Aside from this, he said that the forecast for the Philippines' economic growth is between 7 to 9 percent as made by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) and other respected institutions like Goldman Sachs.
"Let the number speak for itself. That is the clearest indication of the resilience of the Philippines amidst the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
On Thursday, Nograles said that the Philippine economy continues to beat expectations following reports of the economy's growth during the last quarter of 2021.
"The Palace views the growth of our economy as evidence of the strength and resilience of the Philippine economy," he said Thursday, January 27.
" continues to beat expectations despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural calamities like Typhoon Odette," he added.