In the Philippines, you can be considered “rich” if you earn at least P182,000 and up each month. You are “high income” if you make P109,200 to P182,000; “upper middle income” if you take home between P63,700 to P109,200; and middle class if you earn between P63,700 to P109,200 each month.
According to iMoney.ph in an article titled “Who are the middle class in the Philippines?”, a recent study done by the Philippine Statistics Authority says “only three out of 20 households belong to the middle-class population, with three out of five of them residing in urban areas.
The middle class plays within the gap between the poor and the rich, and based on these numbers, that line seems to be a lot thinner than what many of us perceived.”
The middle-class population is often said to be “a crucial benchmark of a country’s economic standing.” The Philippines has three social classes: low, middle, and high-income.
In a report published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, “The latest Family Income and Expenditure Survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that majority (58.4 percent) of Filipinos belong to the low-income class, while the middle class comprises around 40 percent of the population. Only 1.4 percent fall in the high-income class.”
Fresh from his World Economic Forum trip, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave a most encouraging announcement: “With the current growth momentum, the Philippines is poised to reach upper middle-income status very soon. This is a daunting but achievable milestone and the development well-earned and long overdue,” he is quoted in news reports.
Daunting it may be, indeed, but Marcos Jr. is confident that the Philippine Development Plan is a solid map or “blueprint” for the country’s “economic and social transformation” throughout his term.
The PDP is a “deep economic and social transformation to reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction by steering the economy back on a high-growth path,” says the National Economic and Development Authority.
Yet just how “achievable” is this goal?
Many presidents had intended to make life better for Filipinos.
The country racks up to over 110 million Filipinos, and the economic divide remains as wide as it was before.
Development goals are never quite met, in the eyes of the average Pinoy. Many think tanks had predicted a better life for the majority of the population, but something somehow gets lost in the implementation of economic policies.
At the WEF, where the Philippine President was a shining star, Marcos Jr. urged the diplomatic community to become “partners” in this grand plan.
“Let us discuss opportunities where our countries can participate to the mutual benefit of the Philippines and your countries,” he says in reports.
A quick look at where the country actually stands in the scheme of things proves encouraging, as forecasts point to the Philippines being one of the top 30 strongest economies by 2030. Marcos Jr. is on track with his push for digitalization as a digital economy will push this growth.
One thing about the leadership in our country is that promises often end up hollow and inconsistent. Although the brilliant minds in government and the private sector have come up with all the right fundamentals to create a strong nation, the follow-through gets weakened by self-interest.
The pandemic revealed a garish truth: that a reflex reaction such as an “ayuda” economy will only lead to more problems. The national debt now amounts to P13.42 trillion. By the time Noynoy Aquino stepped down, the national debt was at P5.94 trillion based on data from the Bureau of Treasury.
Aid and subsidies have significantly dented the country’s finances, but by some miracle of circumstance, the Philippine economic outlook remains good with a 7.6 percent gross domestic product growth in 2022. It is the third largest economy in the ASEAN and among the highest globally.
Perhaps President Marcos’ optimistic message could turn out to be true, in the end.
