House appropriations committee chair and Ako Bicol party list Rep. Zaldy Co said the full reopening of the education sector, gradual recovery in tourism, and deployment of more overseas Filipino workers could boost the country’s economic growth up to 8 percent or higher.
“Reopening our economy means jobs and income for the Filipino people and enterprises nationwide. Last quarter’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth is solid proof,” Co said.
“The 7.6% growth of the Philippine economy in the third quarter of the year is attributed to the reopening of school campuses to face-to-face classes, as well as the more relaxed travel policies and border restrictions.”
The legislator attributed the 7.6 percent growth of the Philippine economy in the third quarter of the year to the reopening of school campuses to face-to-face classes, as well as the more relaxed travel policies and border restrictions.
The lawmaker noted that there are about 25 million students from Kinder to Grade 12 and 900,000 personnel under the Department of Education (DepEd) in addition to around 7 million in the higher education and technical education sectors.
“Even if only about 80 percent of that return to in-person classes, that would be about 26 million people. That’s a big chunk of the country’s population. Then multiply that 26 million by their daily economic activity and we get good solid GDP growth,” he said.
Co also stressed the need to further improve employment figures by having more cooperatives, considering that they are “effective job creators”.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, meanwhile, said the 7.6 percent GDP showed that Marcos’ efforts to overturn the pandemic-stricken economy of the country have started to pay off.
“President Marcos’ silent hard work on uplifting the economy is beginning to work. The economic expansion in the months of July to September 2022 is proof of that,” Romualdez said.
The veteran legislator said he has witnessed how the President engaged with business stakeholders here and abroad with the purpose of recovering from the ravages caused by the pandemic.
“Our mindset is now in the endemic phase in terms of our economic strategy.”
“Truly our mindset is now in the endemic phase in terms of our economic strategy. The House of Representatives will follow through with this emerging policy so we may build on this economic growth. The Chief Executive has indeed shown us the right direction,” the seasoned lawmaker stressed.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has assured the public that the government put in place various policy interventions to sustain the Philippine economy’s growth momentum.
“What we have to deal with again (are) the shocks that are coming from abroad,” the President, said while in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the four-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits.
“But within the Philippines, within our economy, I think we have made the right policy decisions, we have started to make the right initiatives and in certain cases, we have had to intervene but we have a mix of interventions and non-intervention actions to alleviate the problems that we feel in the economy,” he added.
The latest growth rate gave Marcos and his economic team high hopes that his administration would be able to achieve its growth target of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for 2022.
Marcos reiterated that his administration is making its way toward the “right direction,” given the economic figures.
