Philippines: Economic and Political Outline

Economic Overview

The Philippines' economy has strengthened in the recent years, a fact that protected it from the direct impacts of the global financial crisis and the recession in 2009, but without sparing it totally.  After recovering in 2010, growth slowed down in 2011, due to the downturn in exports which followed the economic slowdown of the country's trading partners, the decrease in public investments and the typhoons which affected the agribultural and fishing sectors. In spite of unfavorable international context, grwoth should remain steady at around 5% in 2012, thanks to domestic consumption, employment and vigorous FDI flows.

The main challenge for the Philippine government is to maintain economic stability and strengthen the foundations for more inclusive growth. While increasing spending on infrastructure sectors, education and healthcare, the government must also rebalance the public finances. The tax losses result from a narrow tax base, the losses incurred by public enterprises, and functional problems of the tax administration. In the context of global economic slowdown, the central bank will loosen monetary policy. An acceleration of public-private partnerships is also planned.

On a social level, the country faces several challenges: the population living under the poverty threshold has increased in these recent years (33% of the population), in 2009 the crisis aggravated the unemployment rate (7% of the active population), although it is now decreasing, there is a significant demographic growth and the inequality in wealth distribution persists.

Main Sectors of Industry

The agricultural  sector employs about 40% of the labor force but contributes to less than 15% of the GDP. The Philippines is one of the world's main producers of rice and coconut. However, the agricultural sector suffers from low productivity, weak economies of scale and inadequate infrastructures. Fishing contributes to 3% of the GDP. The Philippines is one of the richest countries of the world in terms of minerals with an unexploited mineral wealth estimated at more than USD 840 billion. The Philippines reserves of copper, gold and zinc are among the largest of the world. 

The manufacturing sector contributes to around 30% of the GDP. Industrial food processing is one of  the Philippines' main manufacturing activities. The big industries are dominated by the production of cement, glass, chemicals products and fertilizers, iron, steel, and refined oil products.

The tertiary sector, which represents more than 50% of the GDP, has developed substantially especially in the fields of telecommunications, calling centers, and finance.

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

56.2/100

Position:

Mostly unfree

World Rank:

110/179

Regional Rank:

20/38

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries

Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Agriculture 
Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Statistical Office

National statistical office
National Statistical Coordination Board

Central Bank

Central Bank of the Philippines

Stock Exchange

Philippines Stock Exchange

Other Useful Resources

National Economic and Development Authority

Main Online Newspapers

The Daily Manila Shimbun (in Filipino)
The Filipino Reporter
Manila Bulletin
The Manila Times

Economic Portals

Asiaweek
Philippine Business

Political Outline

Type of State

Republic based on a presidential government

Executive Power

The President is both the head of the state and the head of the government. The President is elected by a popular vote to serve a single six-year term. He presides over and appoints the cabinet members. The President holds the executive powers which include the implementation of the law in the country and running the day-to-day affairs. The President is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Legislative Power

The legislature in the Philippines is bicameral. The parliament, called the Congress, consists of: the Senate (the upper house) having 24 seats with its members elected mostly by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and the House of Representatives (the lower house) having up to a maximum of 250 seats, with its members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms. The President has the power to veto acts of the legislature, and in turn a supermajority (generally two—thirds) of legislators may act to override his veto. The people of the Philippines enjoy considerable political rights.

Main Political Parties

The Philippines has a multi-party system and political parties have diverse ideologies. As a result, parties generally work together to form coalition governments. The major political parties in the country are:
- Lakas-CMD (Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats)- a right-of-centre conservative political party;
- LP (Liberal Party) - liberals;
- NPC (Nationalist People's Coalition) – a nationalist left-wing party;
- LDP (Struggle of Filipino Democrats) – a union of democratic parties;
- AD (Democratic Action) - mainstream political party that advocates "non-traditional" means of politics.

Current Political Leaders

President: Benigno S. AQUINO III (since June 2010), Liberal Party.

Next Election Dates

Presidential: May 2016
Senate: May 2013
House of Representatives: 2013

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

140/179

Evolution:

16 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).