PHILIPPINES no longer a THIRD World Country

[arnoldsa]

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Philippines now Second World!
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnew...ticle_id=23485


THE Philippines is now a “Second World” or “middle class country,” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared Wednesday evening.

Speaking at the annual gridiron of the National Press Club at the Manila Hotel, Arroyo boasted of a strong economy and a per capita income she said had hit 1,400 dollars this year.

"The economy is showing strong signs of health, not only because of the stock market or the strong peso, but on the fact that at last our people will be enjoying a per capita income of 1,400 dollars this year," Arroyo said.

"Right now, we're not Third World anymore. At 1,400 dollars we are now Second World, a middle class country, and we'll be able to achieve, if we are able to continue the trajectory of (a) one percent decline in the poverty level, we can reach hopefully the First World status by the year 2020," she said.

“If what has been happening during the early years of our administration, that the poverty level has been going down by one percentage point every year, that means that by 2015, we will be able to reduce our poverty level by one half to what it was in 2000,” she added.

"I'm counting on the press to help people become more hopeful of their future because indeed there is much to be hopeful for," Arroyo said.

[arnoldsa]

GMA: RP now has ‘Second World’ per capita income
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...03_sept29_2006

AT THE pace the economy is growing and the clip at which families are getting out of poverty, the poverty rate in the Philippines may just be halved by the year 2015.

President Gloria Macagapal Arroyo gave this optimistic prediction Wednesday night as she pointed out that the poverty incidence in the country is going down at the rate of one percentage point per year.

Mrs. Arroyo said it would not be far-fetched to see the poverty level being reduced from 34 percent in the year 2000 to 17 percent by 2015.

She said the peso remains strong, the stock market is robust and the per capita income of Filipinos has risen to $1,400 this year.

“The poverty level has been going down by one percentage point every year. That means that by 2015, we will be able to reduce poverty level to one half of what it was in the year 2000 in accordance with our Millennium Development Goals,” the President told public officials, business and political leaders and media practitioners at the annual Gridiron of the National Press Club at the Manila Hotel.

With per capita income reaching $1,400, the President said the Philippines will graduate from being a Third World country to a Second World or middle-class country.

“If we continue a trajectory of one percent decline in the poverty level every year, we can hopefully reach First World status by the year 2020,” the President said.

Exhorting journalists to always uphold fairness, justice, duty and responsibility, Mrs. Arroyo said the press in the country is so free and powerful that it can spur or stunt the growth of the economy and even cause the downfall of governments.

“If the military has the power to topple governments in other countries, in the Philippines, that power belongs to the media,” the Chief Executive said. “You have the power to make or break an economy, because you are so powerful that your prophesies become self-fulfilling.”

The press, she said, “can make the sun shine” and “to make the stock market go down.”

The President thanked the NPC for supporting the Melo Commission which is investigating the killings of journalists and political activities.

In the same affair, NPC President Roy Mabasa urged the President to certify as urgent the bill decriminalizing libel which has been pending with Congress for several years now.

“Decriminalizing libel makes the press unfettered, healthy and vibrant for the good of our society and our country,” Mabasa said.

The NPC president said a criminal libel is not consistent with a democratic society like the Philippines because public servants should be subjected to greater scrutiny. However, he allayed apprehensions that this may spawn a “tyranny of the press.”

[arnoldsa]

If we all work together, kaya natin 'to.

Instead of calling for CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (non-payment of taxes, not going to work, etc.) l we should instead work together to keep the economy going.

Those who are calling for Civil Disobedience are those who do not want the country to progress. Imagine, calling all people to stop working, to stop paying taxes?? What will happen to our country with that?

Isn't it ironic that they are crying out that the country is in shambles, or that the country is poor and yet they are the ones who want the country to be in shambles and to be poor by calling for Civil Disobedience..

[iloveyou4ever]

Nakakatawa. Is this for the truth?

[iloveyou4ever]

We are all dreaming and not working on it. Until corruption is in the air, this will always be a dream not a reality. Hehehe

[arnoldsa]

^^

It's true but that doesn't mean that our country is rich.. Hehehe..

Third world countries man daw include the countries in Africa, and for here in Southeast Asia, I think Cambodia..

Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China, etc..etc. I think mao na ang second world. Although naa ta ubos sa second world, mas taas pa man ug Per Capita ang China and Thailand compared sa ato pero pare-parehas ra ta nila ug league.

Also, China has a very, very fast growth rate unlike sa Philippines na pila ra tawn annualy (mga 1% ra cguro?? hehe). So it's possible that in 5-10 years time, ma First World na sila if not only sa ilang population na pirting daku-a...

[athlon XP-M]

This is great :mrgreen: all we have to do is to do more.

On to 2020

[arnoldsa]

^^

Kaya man jud na bai basta cge lang ug tubo atung growth year every year.. Basta dili lang ta mubalik na pod sa Square One like what happened during the time of ERAP..

One thing perhaps that the opposition cannot understand -- the country will never get rich overnight, and there's never "an overnight solution" to all our problems. Basta trabaho lang tapos consistent ang growth, mao na na..

[iloveyou4ever]

Well there's always a miracle in store. Hehe.

[imverydumb1]

hOW ABOUT 4TH WORLD COUNTRY