Delivering his arrival statement in Manila from Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. claimed that the Philippines is “leading [in] economic recovery” not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also in the world.
This is false.
STATEMENT
After participating in the World Economic Forum (WEF) held from Jan. 16 to 20, Marcos spoke before government officials at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. He said:
“Our WEF engagement has enabled the many leaders and experts in government, in business, civil organization, and in the academe that were in attendance to receive the good news that the Philippines is leading economic recovery and performance not only in the Asia-Pacific but also in the world.”
Source: RTVMalacañang, Arrival Statement from Participation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 01/21/2023, Jan. 21, 2023, watch from 2:52 to 3:12
FACT
In Southeast Asia alone, the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) is the eighth slowest to recover from the recession brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the IBON Foundation as of April 2022 show.
Figures from the ASEAN Statistics Division and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the Philippines posted the third highest inflation rate while unemployment rate is third highest in Southeast Asia as of October 2022.
According to the World Bank, indicators of economic recovery include a rebounding GDP, decreasing unemployment rate and stabilizing inflation rate.
The Philippines does not lead the Asia-Pacific region in any of these indicators.
See the infographics below:
As of writing, VERA Files Fact Check found the false claim disseminated in at least 11 pro-administration Facebook pages and public groups, according to social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.
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Sources
RTVMalacañang, Arrival Statement from Participation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 01/21/2023, Jan. 21, 2023
IBON Foundation, PH among worst performers in Southeast Asia, June 13, 2022
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2022) – Inflation rate, average consumer prices, accessed on Jan. 25, 2023
ASEAN Statistics Division, Inflation rate, year-on-year change of the consumer price index, average of period (Annually), Dec. 2022
Philippine Statistics Authority, Summary Inflation Report Consumer Price Index (2018=100): October 2022, Nov. 4, 2022
ASEAN, ASEAN Economic Integration Brief, June 2022
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2022) – Unemployment rate, accessed on Jan. 25, 2023
World Bank, WDI – Economy, accessed on Jan. 30, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2022) – GDP, current price, accessed on Jan. 25, 2023
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Unemployment in India: A Statistical Profile (September-December 2019),Dec. 2019
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Unemployment in India: A Statistical Profile (September-December 2020),Dec. 2020
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Unemployment in India: A Statistical Profile (September-December 2021),Dec. 2021
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Unemployment in India: A Statistical Profile (September-December 2022),Dec. 2022
Cambodia Institute of Statistics, Report on the Cambodia Labour Force Survey 2019, 2019
Cambodia Institute of Statistics, Final Report of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2019-2020, December 2020
Cambodia Institute of Statistics, Final Report of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2021, December 2021
Maldives Bureau of Statistics, House Income and Expenditure Survey 2019, accessed on Jan. 26, 2023
International Labour Organization, ILO Data Explorer, accessed on Jan. 26, 2023
World Bank, Unemployment, (total % of the labor force)(Modeled ILO estimate) – Bangladesh, Dec. 6, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
