IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 9 of a series)

By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN

Founder,Buklod National Political Party

Since about five decades ago, the Philippine economy has gone what appears to be an irreversible downward spiral in comparison with our now 9 ASEAN neighbors. As shown in a World Bank report, in 2020, the Philippines ranked No. 6 in per capita income (gross domestic product) at almost US$3,000. Vietnam appears to be catching up on us soon, making us No. 7 and just ahead of Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. We used to be No. 1.

We have been overtaken by Indonesia, which now has about one-a-half times our per capita income; Thailand, a little bit more than double; and Malaysia by almost four times, not to mention Singapore which is way, way up, and Brunei which is also quite high.

This continuing cascade certainly gives the Filipino a…