A House leader said it's "no fluke" that the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was able to record its first economic growth from its first ever quarterly report.

Albay 2nd district Rep Joey Salceda gave this assessment at past noon Thursday, Nov. 10, a couple of hours after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.6 percent from July to September 2022.

Earlier Thursday, Salceda predicted that the Philippines would "defy expectations" and post a GDP growth of at least 7.5 percent for the third quarter of the year.

"I note that the consensus of economists for this quarter was 6.2 percent. Apart from my office, which projected 7.5 percent, only one other known prognosticator got it right: Ateneo de Manila University projected growth at 7.7 percent. So, it’s not a fluke. This growth is real," the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said.

"Allow me to say that it’s PBBM’s (Marcos) economy now. And it is showing signs of exceptional strength amid global headwinds," added Salceda, a Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) stalwart.

He credited Marcos, "whose shift in tone towards more openness to international cooperation, policy continuity, friendliness to business, and reaffirmation of our traditional international alliances, brings a sense of stability to domestic and international investors".

Salceda had based his positive economic outlook on five factors.

"This is upon our analysis of (1) data from the country’s traffic situation, which is evidence of higher economic activity; (2) higher-than-expected OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances; (3) the continuing boom in the services sector, especially the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector and freelancing; (4) very good employment numbers in September; and (5) good tax performance, indicating that there is a growing tax base," he explained.

And there could be more good news along the way, said the economist-congressman.

"We can sustain this growth, especially given the Marcos administration’s shift from pandemic to endemic mode for Covid-19. Moving forward, the biggest threat to sustaining growth next year is still inflation. As I advised the President, it will still be food, feed, and fuel," he said.

"Growth was evident in the Google Mobility Report for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) countries, which showed the country growth with 34 percent more mobility in retail and 38 percent more in workplaces. All other areas grew in double digits as well. This is the highest mobility growth in ASEAN – which shows that we were always in the running to have the strongest growth in the region," he noted.

"I also note that all demand areas posted quarter-on-quarter growth, indicating that there is momentum for growth. The fourth quarter, a high-demand quarter due to Christmas spending and bonuses, will likely be better than this quarter.

"President Marcos’s first year in office will probably notch the strongest GDP performance in the region, and one of the best in Asia," Salceda further said.