Resilience

Three seemingly incredible achievements amid domestic noise on the Dutertes and budget finagling and abroad, rising geopolitical tensions as Donald Trump prepares a swashbuckling White House comeback: 1) the Philippines is among Asia's fastest growing economies in 2024 and 2025; 2) Sofronio Vasquez III is the first Filipino and the first Asian to win the international singing competition "The Voice USA" Season 26 and 3) Mary Jane Veloso is finally back to her native country after 14 years of imprisonment.

- TONY LOPEZ

The three are wholly unrelated positive developments but they have a common thread: Filipino resilience. According to the Asian Development Bank's December 2024 Asian Development Outlook, the Philippine economy will grow by 6 percent in 2024 and 6.2 percent in 2025, up from the 5.5 percent GDP growth rate in 2023.

Among the six major ASEAN countries, only Vietnam will have a higher growth rate - 6.2 percent in 2024 and 6.6 percent in 2025.

In output growth, the Philippines will clobber Indonesia, whose GDP is projected to grow 5 percent in 2025 (also 5 percent in 2024); Malaysia 4.6 percent (5 percent in 2024); Thailand 2.7 percent (2.6 percent in 2024) and Singapore 2.6 percent (from 3.5 percent in 2024).

In January to September 2024, the Philippine economy as measured by its value of output of goods and services in the first three quarters or GDP (Gross Domestic Product) expanded by 5.8 percent, thanks to a buoyant services sector, construction and manufacturing.

To get the annual 6 percent average for 2024, the economy must grow by at least 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The last three months of the year usually are a strong quarter because of strong Christmas consumer spending and last-minute buildup in capital expenditures to enable companies to report a good year.

"Holiday spending, more stable commodity prices and a robust remittance inflow and labor market give us confidence that our 6.0 to 7.0 percent growth target is still achievable," explains Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

In the third quarter, household consumption and investments helped drive the economy.