EDITORIAL - 104th among 183

January 15, 2009

This editorial was taken from philstar, and I have my own opinion regarding with this editorial.

The full impact of the global economic slowdown is expected to be felt this year, according to economic analysts. And while conservative banking policies have spared the Philippines from the worst of the crisis, the country is also starting to feel its impact, with exports falling and overseas workers being sent home.

Even before the credit crunch blew up in the face of Americans, affecting the rest of the world, the Philippines was already suffering from weakening investments. The global crisis aggravated the trend. In the first 10 months of 2008, foreign direct investments plunged 47 percent compared to the same period in 2007, reaching only $1.418 billion, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Some quarters observed that having a low level of FDI to begin with helped shield the country from the worst of the crisis. But this should not be used as an excuse to neglect structural reforms that are needed to lure more job-generating long-term investments.

Though the country registered its highest economic growth in three decades in 2007, the government has admitted that benefits of the growth have been slow in trickling down to the poor. The country also lags way behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in attracting foreign visitors and FDI. Remittances of about eight million Filipinos working overseas account for a hefty chunk of economic growth figures. Those jobs are now imperiled by the global slowdown.

As nations race to recover from the slump, the best performers will be those that implement the necessary reforms. In the case of the Philippines, whose competitiveness has been on an unending slide, the needed reforms have long been known. The latest Index of Economic Freedom, prepared by the Washington-based think-tank Heritage Foundation together with The Wall Street Journal, reminds the nation of some of those needed reforms.

The index, which ranked the Philippines 104th among 183 countries in terms of economic freedom, gave the country the lowest score in freedom from corruption. The index noted the weakness of the judicial system and its vulnerability to political influence. It noted the difficulty of enforcing contracts and protecting intellectual property rights, and said the Philippine government imposed both formal and non-formal barriers to foreign investments.

Many of those observations are worth heeding if the nation wants to be poised for economic takeoff once the world recovers from the downturn. We can’t be middling forever in these international rankings, lagging way behind Asia’s most successful economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which were rated first and second, respectively, in the index.

Reaction:

As I saw and hear about this news regarding of the Global economic slowdown, I can say that, it affects a lot in all countries. As all we know, US is one of the riches country in this world, And if that country suffer crisis, for sure all countries affected. As of now, Philippines is suffering from this crisis. Lots of Overseas Filipino Workers were sent back in the Philippines because of losing job around the globe and failing investments from the higher and bigger business. Investments are going slower because of this crisis. As the surveys concerned, Philippines ranked at 104^th among 183 countries in terms of economic freedom and gave the lowest score in freedom from corruption and because of that it leads to difficulty of implementing contracts and protecting property rights from the formal and non formal foreign investments.