New year wish list for the country

The so-called dead week after Christmas and before New Year is one of my favorite times of each year.

- IRIS GONZALES

Life is less frantic as the holiday frenzy winds down, traffic is a bit more bearable and everything else is in a slow motion of sorts.

It's a welcome respite because throughout the year, at least in our chaotic news cycle, there are times when life feels like a constantly burning building.

I sometimes use this time to ponder on what I'd like to see happen in this nation of 120 million in the new year and beyond.

So here's my wish list for 2025.

A stronger economy

The Philippine economy is amazingly resilient, thanks to dollar remittances from the millions of overseas Filipinos and the services sector, which accounts for more than half of our economic output.

But the economy needs to grow at a faster pace to address the stark income inequality in the country. Growth must be targeted to reduce poverty in the poorest parts of the country.

We've made strides in reducing poverty—falling by two-thirds—from 49.2 percent in 1985 to 16.7 percent in 2018.

Yet inequality remains high: the top one percent of earners together capture 17 percent of national income, with only 14 percent being shared by the bottom 50 percent, the World Bank said in 2022. This is still pretty much how it is today—or perhaps even worse.

To address this, the government must adopt fiscal policies such as a progressive tax system that translates to more income for poor Filipinos. The government must also create more jobs and raise the income of the poorest workers.