Philippine Economy Grows 7 Percent in Third Quarter

Basilio Sepe and Jojo Riñoza
2021.11.09
Manila
Philippine Economy Grows 7 Percent in Third Quarter A vegetable vendor waits for customers at Malimgas Market in Dagupan City, northern Philippines, Nov. 9, 2021.
[Jojo Riñoza/BenarNews]

The Philippine economy grew more than 7 percent in the third quarter of 2021, a sharp year-on-year turnaround from a steep COVID-19-related contraction last year, officials said Tuesday.

The industry and services sectors led the recovery, which is expected to be sustained in the last quarter of this year, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a statement.

“The Philippine economy grew by 7.1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter,” Chua said.

“This is up from minus-11.6 percent in the same period last year. This is among the highest third quarter growth in the ASEAN and East Asian region.”

Nearly all economic sectors saw an uptick after the Philippines gradually relaxed strict quarantine rules. The government was able to relax these rules because it contained the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19, Chua said.

The industry sector grew 7.9 percent and the services sector rose 8.2 percent. Spending also grew, led by household expenditures that accounted for 5.2 percentage points of overall GDP growth, the government said.

“This strong rebound points to improving consumer confidence. We expect this to be sustained in the fourth quarter given more relaxed restrictions and higher [expected] vaccination rates,” Chua said.

The supply of COVID-19 shots has stabilized and the Philippines is aiming to improve its vaccination rate to about 1 million a day, the government has said.

The country has already received more than 113.45 million doses of vaccines. Nearly 30 million of the 110 million people in the country – 27.27 percent – have received two doses of COVID-19 shots, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

Last week, the government relaxed COVID-19 movement restrictions in the Metropolitan Manila region and allowed children to leave their homes after months of being restricted inside because of pandemic lockdowns.

The Southeast Asian nation – particularly its national capital region that is home to 14 million people – has been in different stages of lockdown over the previous 20 months.

Mandatory vaccinations?

Roque said he expects the economy to continue its rebound as more sectors are opened and as long as citizens observe social distancing guidelines.

“If we become careless, we would have another lockdown, and if there is a lockdown, jobs will be lost again,” he told reporters.

“But our entire economic team and the whole of the administration are confident that we will return to rapid growth and more inclusive growth.”

Meanwhile, Carlito Galvez Jr., Manila’s cabinet secretary in charge of procuring COVID-19 vaccines, said he was advocating for mandatory vaccinations because the constitution gives the government a wide latitude when it comes to protecting the public.

Unvaccinated individuals “pose a major threat risk” to the public, he said.

“Vaccination is critical in protecting and saving the lives of the people. Mandatory vaccination is necessary because vaccinations play a major role in our economy,” Galvez said.

“We will not be able to escape from this pandemic unless everyone gets vaccinated.”

Galvez’s statement follows controversy over a government plan to withhold cash subsidies to poor Filipinos who refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. One human rights group said such a plan would violate people’s right to choose which drugs go into their bodies.

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