UN sustainable goals vs. GDP growth

Our economic planners have proudly announced that the Philippines has a relatively high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate that is more than 5 percent. However, even as our GDP continues to increase, many if not most of our citizens lack health care, education, food and other essentials.

I have always maintained that the real objective should not be GDP growth but a reduction in income inequality. I have often reflected with deep sorrow that if one visits the Philippines and only limits their stay in five or, at the most, six neighborhoods, their image of the Philippines will be that of a developed country.

These ultra prosperous neighborhoods are the Ayala portion of Makati, the BGC area, the Greenhills-Valle Verde area, the reclamation area especially along Macapagal Avenue and the Alabang-Filinvest area in the south. One can also include the rapidly developing Ayala-Nuvali area.

However, if one goes to the areas where the overwhelming majority of Filipinos live, like in Tondo, Caloocan, Navotas, most areas of Quezon City and, in fact, the bulk of Metro Manila, one will see that the overwhelming number of Filipinos live in barely adequate shelter and lack basic utilities like water and electricity and hygienic facilities.

If we continue to use GDP growth as the overriding goal and let the wealthy sector set the standards for growth, then anti-poor policies will continue to dominate. These policies include pushing for extremely low minimum wage that is way below the living wage and education standards that make Filipino children one of the least literate even in Asia.

The true measure of a country’s progress is therefore not GDP, but the United Nations’ 17 sustainable goals. Let me quickly summarize these goals for the benefit of the general public and our economic managers who insist that income equality should be a secondary goal and not a measure of a country’s well-being.

The 17 goals are: first, end poverty in all its forms everywhere. According to Rajiv Shah, past president of the Rockefeller Foundation, the poverty line is $5.50 per day, which is way below the living wage level of around P120,000 to P150,000 a month, which is higher than the minimum wage being proposed by the business sector.

Goal #2: End hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture. Certainly, ending hunger is a much better goal than GDP  growth.

Goal #3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. A high GDP does not mean that the average Filipino has access to adequate health care. In fact, Filipino health care workers, especially nurses, are migrating and causing severe health worker shortages in the Philippines.

Goal #4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In some surveys I’ve seen, the average Filipino school student ranks among the lowest in terms of learning levels in Southeast Asia.  The public school system is in a state of crisis. It lacks classroom facilities, public school libraries and, most important, competent and adequately paid teachers.

In spite of this crisis, the education focus seems to be more on mandatory ROTC and going back to the outdated K-10 educational system.

Goal #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. While the Philippines takes pride in its achievement in gender equality, a closer review of this situation will reveal that this equality is primarily limited to the upper and middle class.  Among the lower income classes, women have very few opportunities to be breadwinners and are still primarily dependent on their husbands for the economic welfare of the family.

Goal # 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. There is a looming water shortage crisis as the country keeps increasing population but the source of potable water has not increased at all. There is also an absence of decent sanitation facilities for the overwhelming majority of the population.

Goal #7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The majority of urban dwellers live in so-called urban poor areas where there is no legal and sustainable access to electricity. Furthermore, blackouts have become a feature of daily lives and electricity is still not affordable to many Filipinos, especially in rural areas.

Goal #8: Promote, sustain inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.  The official economic figures for unemployment is often cited as below 5 percent. This is a misleading figure because it does not reflect the quality of employment, which should not include part-time work and other forms of underemployment.

The Philippine economic growth is obviously non-inclusive as it generally benefits only the rich and the middle class to a certain extent. This is also not sustainable because it is too dependent on remittances from overseas Filipinos and relies primarily on the service sector.

I plan to write another column to cover the remaining nine UN sustainable goals.

These are the goals that will result in an inclusive society where the wide gap between the rich and the poor in terms of quality of life will somehow be reduced.

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