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Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Arroyo orders plan to cushion recession
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered her economic team Tuesday to draft a contingency plan to cushion the impact of possible recession in the developed countries where there are Filipino workers.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also welcomed the decline in the rate of price increases in September 2008 to 11.9 percent from the previous month's 12.5 percent due to the decline in the prices of food and services.
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Arroyo issued the marching order to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) and the Commission on Overseas Filipinos at the launching of the Philippines' hosting of the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development Forum (GFMD2) at the Kalayaan Briefing Room in Malacanang.
The President also ordered the drafting of a similar contingency plan to mitigate the impact on ordinary Filipinos of the global economic slowdown.
Arroyo said there is an urgent need for "our economic team to work on all fronts to manage inflationary pressures and provide a safety net for those who were hardest hit by these global developments."
The contingency plan for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whom the President preferred to call "expatriates," is the government's way of caring for them and honoring them as they play a critical role in the country's economic and social stability.
"I agree, we should call them expatriates to honor them for their sacrifices and dedication to their families and the nation," the President said.
Arroyo also said the government is working hard to improve the country's economy so that the day will come when Filipinos do not have to go abroad to earn a living but rather as a career choice.
"Our policy is not to export labor. Our policy is to protect our workers when the market conditions, both abroad and in the Philippines, give an opportunity to work abroad," she stressed.
These include the eight million Filipinos who work abroad and who may be affected by any downturn in developed nations, she said in a speech to government officials and business leaders here.
"As we face the most significant global economic and financial crisis in a generation, the poor feel it most," Arroyo said.
The economic managers earlier warned that while the US has approved a US$700 billion bailout plan, the risk of recession is still present.
Officials and analysts have warned that the country's exports will be hit hard by an economic slump in developed nations and that numerous Filipinos overseas may be hurt if the economies in their host countries slow down.
In previous months, Arroyo has already expanded government benefits to help those who were affected by the rapid rise in the prices of oil and rice, the national staple.
She said the country had a humanitarian responsibility to protect Filipinos, at home and abroad.
Filipinos working overseas are a major source of the country's foreign exchange and their remittances have been a major pillar in holding up the economy of this impoverished country.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is eyeing to "realign" some P99.72 billion infrastructure fund of various government agencies, which was included under the 2008 General Appropriations Act.
Speaker Prospero Nograles said Tuesday the infrastructure fund of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other government agencies that fell short of adequately accomplishing their work programs this year "may be realigned to put in place the needed social parachutes to cushion the impact of the US economic meltdown."
He noted that realigning the infrastructure funds of the DPWH and other agencies is "more practical option instead of a risky budget cut proposed by the opposition."
"Yes to social parachutes and swimming life vests for the economy. First to get hit would be the marginalized sectors so the government must be prepared to subsidize them for basic social needs in such an eventuality," Nograles said.
"All of these must be addressed in the budget even if we need to realign other department budgets," he said.
The Speaker pointed out that the failure of some government agencies to accomplish their target programs despite the availability of financial logistics "only betrays their low absorptive capability and should not be allotted funds beyond their actual implementing abilities."
The National Statistics Office (NSO), meanwhile, said the latest inflation figure brought the year-to-date average to 9.2 percent. Year-ago inflation rate was at 2.7 percent.
NSO attributed the decline of inflation to the slower increases in the prices under the food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) items at 16.2 percent from 17.2 percent in August.
Price increases in services also went down to 12.1 percent from 13.5 percent month-ago, it said.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), inflation rate also registered a downtrend after it posted an 8.2-percent increase in August from month-ago's 8.7 percent.
Likewise, inflation in Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR) slowed to 13.6 percent from last September's 14.2 percent because of slower price hikes in FBT, fuel, light and water (FLW) and services items.
NSO said rate of price hikes of FBT in AONCR went down to 17.8 percent in September from month-ago's 18.9 percent.
For FLW and services, it slowed down to 11.7 percent from 12.6 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively.
Month-on-month, inflation nationwide slowed to -0.4 percent in September from 0.3 percent in the previous month.
In NCR, it was at -0.6 percent from 0.1 percent while in AONCR it is at -0.2 percent from 0.4 percent.
The NSO attributed the slower inflation to declines in the prices of rice, corn and meat as well as rollback in costs of electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene, gasoline and diesel.
According to Ermita, the inflation rate proved that economic fundamentals of the county are "strong."
He, however, said the government should continue to work on sustaining the economic stability.
"Of course there is also a warning that we should not be complacent about it because we need a lot of things in order for us to be able to face off to this crisis that affect the whole world not only the Philippines. It's good and we hope we can maintain our economic stability in spite of what has happened in a country such as the United States," he said. (JMR/PNA/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (October 8, 2008 issue)
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