Increased growth has also not reduced the gross income inequalities that continue to haunt the country. In 2000, the poorest 30 percent of families (some 3.8 million) accounted for almost eight percent of total family income, while the richest 10 percent (1.3 million families) accounted for 38.4 percent. By 2003, inequality had barely softened, with the poorest 30 percent (now nearly five million families) accounting for 8.5 percent while the richest 10 percent (1.6 million families) accounted for 36.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the richest Filipinos continued to get richer. The wealth of the country’s three richest individuals/families (Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family) grew in real terms from P177.4 billion ($3.96 billion) in 2001 to P261.5 billion ($5.84 billion) last year.

Speculation

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration also continues to hype the peso’s all-time highs and the booming stock market. But when looked at in an overall regional context, the seven-year high of the peso and the all-time high of the stock exchange are not even particularly impressive. They merely reflect an overall trend of appreciating currencies and exuberant stock markets.

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