Today we celebrate Rizal Day and remember the heroism of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. In the midst of preparations for the New Year celebrations, let us find time to include Rizal in our day by reading from his works, watching a movie about his life, bringing our children to the museum in Fort Santiago, or sharing his life stories with the young people in our home, etc. We continue to celebrate his life and remember his sacrifices because the issues that he fought for are still very much relevant in our time. As a matter of fact, we are still fighting for many of the ideals for which he, along with our other beloved heroes, fought and died.
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AS the year closes, allow me to outline the economic highlights that our Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia detailed in his speech some days ago at the Neda office. Some of the economic challenges that the country had to face this year include the following: El Niño in the summer, which led to a water shortage; the delay in the passage of our 2019 budget; and the US-China trade war; among other things.
Despite all this, Pernia said the country still posted a 6.2-percent growth in the third quarter as one of the best-performing economies in Asia. The increase in public spending helped a lot, along with the increase in consumption spending. Inflation went down and prices became more stable. Food prices dropped and the global oil prices declined, resulting in rollbacks in the cost of petroleum products.
Statistics also show that there are fewer poor Filipinos now, compared to the previous years. Figures are at 5.9 million Filipinos lifted from poverty from 2015 to 2018.
There are three priority bills that are being pushed for amendments to support the growth of foreign investments in the country. These bills are the Public Service Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and the Foreign Investment Act.
Neda recently approved seven new infrastructure projects amounting to P187.34 billion. These are to be established outside Metro Manila to bring development to the regions.
For next year, Pernia is bringing our attention to looming risks, including another possible water shortage, the effects of weak global growth and world trade, the volatility of oil prices, among other things. But for end 2019, our gross domestic product growth is seen hitting between 6 percent and 6.5 percent. And for 2020 until 2022, despite all the foreseeable risks and challenges, he said that it is projected to be from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
Congratulations to all of us on our personal wins, and my best wishes to all for the coming year. May we all have a more prosperous 2020!