MetroVan Independent News September 2015 | Page 10
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MetroVanIndependent.com
September 2015
community
Mexican Nahualli Folklore Dance group.
Photos by MetroVan Independent News
Summer Multicultural Festival
2015 Jones Park
By Luisa Marshall
The Victoria Drive Business
Improvement Association held a successful
summer festival last August 8, 2015.
The summer fest was well attended by
multicultural neighboring communities
around Jones Park and Victoria Drive. There
were local community booths, colorful
cultural and non-cultural performances
that appealed to all ethnicities and to all
ages. It was put together and organized
by community advocate/volunteer Elena
Agala.
The summer festival was a free event
that started from noon until 5pm with a
backyard family barbecue, a kid’s fun zone
with bouncy castles, face painting, games
and tons of prizes for all to enjoy. To know
more about this event, please check their
website www.victoriadrivebia.com.
Sirotas Alchymy Martial Arts school.
Business
Philippine gross domestic product rose
to 5.6 percent on government pump priming
Philippine economic pump priming
boosted Gross Domestic Product to 5.6
percent placing the country in a better
position to weather the global fallout from
China’s economic woes, the National
Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA) said.
Higher government spending from April
to June outpaced the 5-percent GDP in the
previous quarter, which was the lowest in
three years, Economic Planning Secretary
Arsenio Balisacan said. Gross Domestic
Product is the sum total of all goods and
services produced by the local economy.
These developments placed the
Philippines as the third-fastest growing
economy in the region after China and
Vietnam, and an improvement of 5 percent
growth in the first quarter. However, the
second quarter growth was slower than 6.7
percent during the same period last year.
Government expenditures in the second
quarter rose 3.9 percent compared to 1.7
percent in first quarter. Public construction
grew 20 percent, compared to a 24-percent
contraction in the previous quarter, he said.
“This is a result of government’s efforts
to address issues on spending bottlenecks,
especially for public infrastructure, which
held back growth in the first quarter,”
Balisacan said.
“This significant improvement gives us
more confidence about the performance of
the public sector in the coming quarters of
the year,” he added.
“The second quarter (growth) showed
the expanse of the country’s resiliency
from the prevailing weakness in the global
economy,” Balisacan told reporters.
Despite the renewed confidence in
government’s ability to spend, Balisacan
conceded that the full-year GDP growth
will not be attained. “It is very likely we will
scale down the target,” Balisacan said,
adding the more realistic target now is
between 6.0 percent and 6.5 percent.
Data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA) showed that industry
grew by 6.1 percent from 5.5 percent in
the first quarter. Services also expanded to
6.2 percent against the 5.4 percent in the
first quarter and 5.9 percent in the second
quarter of 2014. These two sectors have
made up for a negative 0.5 percent growth
in the agriculture sector from 1.1 percent
in the first quarter and 3.4 percent in the
second quarter in 2014.
Based on PSA data, the services sector
– retail, restaurants, banks, and others –
increased 6.2 percent during the quarter,
while industry rose 6.1 percent. Household
consumption also grew 6.2 percent yearon-year in the second-quarter.
“Amid ongoing events in the global
economy that may affect the country,
the quality and the rate of current growth
of the Philippine economy give us some
assurance that… we can withstand the
volatile markets overseas,” Balisacan said.
Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Cesar V.
Purisima, said that the public can expect
stronger government in the coming months
as the Aquino administration started
addressing the bottlenecks.
“We expect public spending to
play a bigger role in second semester
performance as we have ample fiscal space
in the P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015
to fund growth-inducing investments,”
Purisima said in a statement.
Purisima also downplayed fears
that China’s economic slowdown will
significantly affect the Philippines, citing
the country’s “bedrock of stability” and low
trade ratio with the world’s second largest
economy.
“Of 10 Asian economies, China’s
economic slowdown will have the smallest
impact on the Philippines. While trade
with China has risen significantly in recent
years, China’s share in our total trade with
the world only accounts for 12 percent,”
Purisima said.
Purisima said the Philippines’ externally
induced growth drivers such as overseas
Filipino remittances and business process
outsourcing receipts have minimal links
with China’s economy.
Henry Sy. EPA/DENNIS M. SABANGAN.
Photo from Rappler.com
Henry Sy still the
richest billionaire
in the Philippines
- Forbes
MANILA - Mall tycoon Henry Sy Sr. is still
the richest man in the Philippines, according to Forbes magazine. For the 8th consecutive year, the SM malls owner topped
the 2015 Forbes Philippines Rich List with a
net worth of $14.4 billion, up by $1.7 billion
compared to last year.
The top 10 richest in the Philippines are:
1) Henry Sy
2) John Gokongwei Jr.
3) Andrew Tan
4) Lucio Tan
5) Enrique Razon Jr.
6) George Ty
7) Aboitiz Family
8) Jaime Zobel de Ayala & family
9) David Consunji
10) Tony Tan Caktiong