My friend, Commissioner Willie Parayno, had an unconventional way of revenue forecasting. He gave us a thumbs-up at the sight of many cargo ships at Manila Bay. It was a healthy sign of increasing exports and imports. What better assurance that our revenue targets would be met!

I have taken his advice at heart. I was heartened by the sight of people dining outside restaurants last Sunday under the majestic light of the moon. Could this augur for a new beginning?

The news about a 5.6% real growth of our Gross Domestic Product buoys our hope. Our economy produced more goods and services in 2021—P18.51 trillion compared to P17.7 trillion in 2020. Our people earned more, produced more, and had more incomes that allowed them to spend more. After a year of lockdowns, unemployment, and falling incomes, an increase in our GDP is such happy news.   The big push came during the “Ber” months when incomes grew by 7.7%. People resumed working in factories and offices. We started face-to-face classes and workshops and shopped for Christmas presents. It was pure joy to celebrate Christmas and New Year with families and friends. I had great fun romping around the mall with my grandnephews and watching their delights as we shopped for toys. It was certainly a more exciting experience than looking at catalogues and shopping online.

The growth in manufacturing, industry, and services is much welcome. The year 2021 was good for both the manufacturing and services sectors. Compared to a decrease in their production in 2020, their outputs grew by 8.2% and 5.3% in 2021. This means more people had work and went home with more income.

The not-so-easy part starts with agriculture, particularly the livestock sector, which continued its contraction by 0.3%. This should worry us a lot because the poor are in our farms. Farmers and fisherfolks posted the highest poverty incidence in 2018. Almost 32% of our farmers and 26.2% of our fishermen do not earn enough income to provide them with adequate food and other necessities. Their story of deprivation is like a never-ending “telenovela.” Our government and we as a nation have failed to provide them with better inputs, equip them with better technology, and help send their children to school.

The increase in poverty incidence is a source of unease.  The poverty incidence in our country climbed up to 23.7% of our population in the first semester of 2021. In terms of numbers, this means 26.14 million Filipinos may have spent days without adequate food and even without any food. The Philippine Statistics Authority estimated that a family of five needs P8,393 a month to meet their need for food.  Earning this amount is mission impossible if work places and stores are closed and workers are without any means of transport. Easing poverty goes beyond giving them “ayudas,” which are not even enough to enable them to cross the food threshold.

The path towards sustaining the growth in our national income will not be easy. Making sure that the fruits of development are able to reach the very poor is even harder, especially if a number of our leaders are corrupt, selfish, and greedy.

But it is the start of the Chinese New Year and we should not be waylaid by our problems. There is the growing optimism of moving away from fear by living the “endemic.” We are heartened by the increasing supply of vaccines and more people warming up to getting vaccinated. We are inspired by the resolve of communities to rise above the ruins left by Odette. We are encouraged by a growing desire of people to learn more about the candidates running for public office and volunteer to participate in political campaigns. We continue to be proud of our Mayors and Governors, who continue to innovate and excel.

This is Year of the Tiger—a time to be resolute, confident, and brave.