Gov’t likely to hit 57% of targets under PDP this year – BusinessWorld Online

THE PHILIPPINE government is likely to achieve over half of its targets under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) this year.

The Statistical Indicators on Philippine Development (StatDev) 2021 report released on Tuesday showed around 56.9% of the 471 indicators showed either a “high” or “medium” likelihood of achieving these goals this year.

Based on the report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 208 of the 471 indicators have a “high likelihood” of achieving end-of-plan targets in 2022.

Sixty indicators had a “medium likelihood” which indicates a target may or may not be achieved.

On the other hand, 203 indicators showed a “low likelihood” of meeting the government’s targets.

The StatDev monitors the progress of meeting economic and social development goals set under the PDP 2017-2022.

“Specifically, 11 sectors have at least 50% of their indicators exhibiting medium to high likelihood of achieving the target in 2022, while four sectors appear to have at least 50% of their indicators exhibiting low likelihood of achieving their respective targets,” the PSA said.

The PSA said new indicators were added because of the Enhanced PDP Results Matrices (RM) Midterm Update, which reflected the “new normal” amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Among the industry sectors that showed high likelihood of achieving their targets are shelter and housing, competitiveness, science and technology, and environment. 

“The percentage of socialized housing units delivered to socialized housing targets and the percentage of low-cost housing units delivered to low-cost housing targets both exceed their end-of-plan targets of 73% and 100%, respectively,” the PSA said.

The government acted on 100% of competition-related complaints from 2017 to 2021, one percentage point higher than the target, the PSA said.

In the environment sector, the PSA noted the area of forest land under effective management increased to 8.1 million hectares (Mha) in 2021, close to its end-of-plan target of 8.75 Mha. The area of denuded and degraded forestlands and protected areas fell to 7.07 Mha, but still within the 7.04 Mha goal.

Meanwhile, sectors that showed “average” performance were the macroeconomy, industry and services, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), culture and values, governance, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and human capital development. 

For macroeconomy, the PSA noted end-of-plan targets for local government unit (LGU) income and volume of Instapay transfers were reached.

“However, the increase of $1.8 billion of exports of services in 2021 was not sufficient to attain its end-of-plan target. Likewise, the 31% utilization of the Special Education Fund (SEF) in 2021 could be tough to reach its end-of-plan target of 100%,” it said.

In industry and services, the number of Filipino trademarks reached 18,453 in 2021, exceeding its goal of 11,120.

Meanwhile, the government is unlikely to meet targets for social protection, infrastructure, demographic dividend, and justice.

“For social safety nets in 2021, the number of deaths or missing persons due to natural and human-induced disasters were way off from its end-of-plan target of zero,” the PSA said, adding the number of children benefiting from a supplementary feeding program fell in 2021.

Travel restrictions and lockdowns also affected the government’s goal to increase the number of air passengers.

“The decline in air passenger movement, both international and domestic flights, in 2021 intensified the low likelihood of attaining the end-of-plan targets except for (Ninoy Aquino International Airport), which posted a high likelihood despite the decline,” the PSA said.

CORE INDICATORS
Among the nine core indicators monitored by StatDev, only four showed a high likelihood of achieving the targets under the PDP.

The Philippines improved its ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) to 51^st out of 132 economies, putting it on track to reach the top one-third of the index.

Despite the lockdowns, the unemployment rate stood at 7.8% in 2021, well within the 7-9% PDP target. The youth unemployment rate stood at 15.7%, which exceeded the target of 20.5-22.5%. The jobless rate for areas outside of the National Capital Region hit 16.7%, still within the 15.5-17.5% goal.

At the same time, five indicators showed a low likelihood of achieving the PDP’s target by the end of 2022.

The Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.7% in 2021, missing the 6.5-7.5% annual growth target due to the impact of the pandemic.

Gross national income (GNI) per capita grew by 0.4% last year, well below the 5-6% growth target.

The poverty incidence rate stood at 23.7%, failing to achieve the 15.5-17.5% goal. Subsistence incidence stood at 9.9%, missing the 5-7% target.

Food inflation was kept at a stable 5.5% in 2021, but above the 2-4% target.

The PSA noted the 2021 poverty and subsistence incidences are estimates for the first semester. — AOAT