A Puzzling Philippine Economy

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it's only puzzling when you rely on just govt data

a lot of things go on in the economy that don't make it into govt data

how do the govt data gatherers record what goes on in the underground economy?

there are no sales invoices, no official receipts, no VAT, no records of underground employers' salaries to underground employees, no tax withheld, no SSS contributions, no PAG IBIG, no Philhealth, nothing

it's all cash transactions in the informal sector with no transaction records, contracts are verbal

and it's not just squatters that make up the informal sector

there's also middle class underground economy

like all that buying and selling of goods and services that go on thru classified ads and websites