Resilience

The Philippines is one of the most resilient, if not the most resilient, country in Asia.

- TONY LOPEZ

Despite the ongoing political crisis whose impact is spilling into the economy, the Philippines will remain one of the fastest growing economies in the region, with GDP growth straddling between 5.5 and 6.0 percent, if not higher.

Frederick Go, the presidential adviser for investment and economic affairs, is right. There is no capital flight. Investors remain keen on the Philippines. Consumers, while shocked at the recent turn of events, are still in the buying mood. Household consumption, up to 70 percent of GDP, will keep its steady pace.

I say this as a journalist of 55 years. In more than half a century, from 1970 to the present, I have covered three People Power revolutions, 14 coup attempts and seven presidents - eight, if you include my years as a campus journalist since high school. I have covered several recessions and spurts of economic prosperity.

I was editor-in-chief of our high school paper, a tabloid and managing editor of our university paper, The Varsitarian, which I made into a weekly tabloid, plus a monthly magazine.

During all the political convulsions and economic milestones, one verity stood out - the Philippines is a very strong and resilient country, robust in natural resources and in the strength of its people, and impervious to the blandishments of defeat and demoralization, here and abroad.

HFCE - Household Final Consumption Expenditure (what a fancy name, PSA) = recorded a year-on-year growth of 5.5 percent in the second quarter of 3025, higher than the 4.8 percent posted in the same quarter the previous year.