Philippines’ elite swallow country’s new wealth

[jpdm]

Philippines’ elite swallow country’s new wealth



Agence France-Presse
1:02 pm | Sunday, March 3rd, 2013

(edited)

MANILA – Optimism is soaring that the Philippines is finally becoming an Asian tiger economy, but critics caution a tiny elite that has long dominated is amassing most of the new wealth while the poor miss out.

President Benigno Aquino has overseen some of the highest growth rates in the region since he took office in 2010, while the stock market has hovered in record territory, credit ratings have improved and debt ratios have dropped.
“The Philippines is no longer the sick man of East Asia, but the rising tiger,” World Bank country director Motoo Konishi told a forum attended by many of Aquino’s economic planning chiefs recently.

However economists say that, despite genuine efforts from Aquino’s team to create inclusive growth, little progress has been made in changing a structure that for decades has allowed one of Asia’s worst rich-poor divides to develop.
“I think it’s obvious to everyone that something is structurally wrong. The oligarchy has too much control of the country’s resources,” Cielito Habito, a respected former economic planning minister, told AFP.


According to the Forbes 2012 annual rich list, the two wealthiest people in the Philippines, ethnic Chinese magnates Henry Sy and Lucio Tan, were worth a combined $13.6 billion.


In contrast, about 25 million people, or one quarter of the population, lived on $1 a day or less in 2009, which was little changed from a decade earlier, according to the government’s most recent data.

Some of the elite families have dominated since the Spanish colonial era that ended in the late 1800s.
Prominent Spanish names, such as Ayala and Aboitiz, continue to control large chunks of the economy and members of the families are consistent high placers on Forbes’ annual top-40 wealth list.


Many of the ethnic Chinese tycoons, such as Sy and Tan, got their start soon after the country gained post-World War II independence from the United States.

The tendency for the same names to dominate major industries can be partly attributed to government regulations that continue to allow near monopolies and protections for key players.

Nevertheless, the government and economists say there are many other reforms that can be taken to bring about inclusive growth.

Analysts said the most direct path out of poverty was improving worker skills, using higher tax revenues to boost spending on infrastructure, and rebuilding the country’s manufacturing sector.

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[ocanursjr]

Toting totoo yan * jpdm...

[K.I.L.L.]

So who has the worst gap between the rich and poor in Asia?

[uls]

12-09-2013

http://tsikot.com/forums/politics-ec...51/index2.html

the taipans are the only ones getting richer

their businesses are capturing all the consumer spending

they own the malls and major retailers

they own the biggest real estate devt companies (that's where people invest their savings)

[Monseratto]

“I think it’s obvious to everyone that something is structurally wrong. The oligarchy has too much control of the country’s resources,” Cielito Habito, a respected former economic planning minister, told AFP.

Bulok kasi yung Pro-Nationalist Cory Constitution. And BS Aquino belongs to the oligarchy class.

[kinyo]

hindi magbabago kung walang .... rebolusiyon!

[vinj]

Those who have the resources are in the position to make the most of the growth (new malls, developments, powerplants, infra projects, etc) which in turn raise their income. However if these do not translate to better health services, education, lower taxes, cheaper power, efficient mass transportation, etc... then what's the use?

[uls]

Those who have the resources are in the position to make the most of the growth (new malls, developments, powerplants, infra projects, etc) which in turn raise their income.

yep money begets money

[111prez]

Those who have the resources are in the position to make the most of the growth (new malls, developments, powerplants, infra projects, etc) which in turn raise their income. However if these do not translate to better health services, education, lower taxes, cheaper power, efficient mass transportation, etc... then what's the use?

True, at karamihan sa mga empleyado ng mga ito ay puro minimum wage earners, agency at contractual

[badkuk]

This isn't an "Only in the Pilipins" phenomenon; almost everywhere else ganun din naman e -- yes, even America, even in the "People's Republic" of China.

It's just a question of how bad it is.