Youth in the Philippines

1. Key statistics for the Philippines

(cf Economic Atlas of the Nouvel Obervateur, 2009)

CAPITAL Manila (+20 million)

AREA 300,000 km2

POPULATION 92,000,000 of whom 65% live in the cities.

GNP 2007 (world rank/billion US$) 44th/231

GNP/CAPITA 2006 165th/231

PURCHASING POWER PARITY US$3,153 (169% of GNP/capita)

HUMAN DEVELOPPEMENT INDEX 7.5

RISK CLASS  B> COFACE survey

Geographical location (cf image 1 in the margin)

Located 1,210 km to the east of the coast of Vietnam, the archipelago of the Philippines has a total land area of approximately 300,000 square km, slightly bigger than the State of Arizona or half of France, and a population of 91.9 million, making it the world’s 12th most populous country. It covers an area of more than 1,600 km from North to South, between Taiwan and Indonesia. It is made up of two large mountainous islands, Luzon in the North and Mindanao in the South, nine medium sized islands, thousands of small inhabited islands and six thousand tiny islands. There are many active volcanoes such as Mount Pinatubo and Mayon. Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the country, culminates at 2,954 meters and is located on the island of Mindanao. The Philippines are in a tropical region.

CONSTITUTION Republic of the Philippines

PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT Benigno Aquino

VICE-PRESIDENT JejomarJojo Binay

Republic, Presidential regime. Constitution of February 11 1987.

The President, elected by popular vote to a single six-year term, has the executive power.

The Vice-President also acts as the Prime Minister.

The House of representatives : 254 Representatives, of whom 204 are elected by popular vote and 50 named by the President.

Senate : 24 Senators elected by popular vote.

CURRENCY Philippine Peso (PHP)

EXCHANGE RATE 100 PHP=1.4111€

EXCHANGE RATE REGIME Floating, independent

TOTAL POPULATION 92.23M (cf National Statistics Office, Rep Phil)

POPULATION GROWTH RATE 1.86%

POPULATION DENSITY 293 inhabitants/km2

POPULATION AGED 0 TO 14 35.40%

POPULATION AGED 15 TO 64 60.55% (52 billion) of whom 23 billion are in the 15-30 age bracket

POPULATION AGED MORE THAN 65 4.05%

MEDIAN AGE 22.7

FERTILITY RATE 3.15 births per woman

LIFE EXPENCTANCY 71.70 years old

TIME ZONE UTC+8 hours

SPOKEN LANGUAGES English and Tagalog are the two official languages, 87 languages and dialects exist.

ETHNICITY Malayo-Polynesian 95.5%, Chinese 1.5%.

RELIGION Catholics 83%, Protestants 9%, Muslims 5%, Buddhists and other 3%

Human Development Index, Country comparison

France is ranked 8th / 158 countries with an HDI of 9.61Belgium is ranked 17th / 158 countries with an HDI of 9.53The Philippines are ranked 105th /158 countries with an HDI of 7.51

Trade breakdown by field of activity

GDP / working population

Services : 54.19% and 48.40% of the working populationIndustry : 31.63% and 14.70% of the working populationAgriculture : 14.18% and 36.9% of the working population

Unemployment rate

2004 : 10.9%2009 : 7.6%

Under-employment rate

2009 : 19.9%

Assessment for the Philippines

Coface Risk

Firm capacity to withstand the crisis and solid recovery in 2010

The Philippines has clearly demonstrated a firm capacity to resist the crisis, due notably to a modest degree of trade openness, resilience of private transfers, which support consumption and the stimulus plan now in place. Growth admittedly slowed in 2008 and 2009 on account of the slowdown in private consumption (main growth driver) hit by lower momentum on the labour market, a drop in exports notably of electronic products (70% of foreign sales), and slowing investments deterred by tightening credit conditions. Nonetheless, growth is expected to recover in 2010 to reach 4% in response to the introduction of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies and a rebound in private consumption sustained by significant and stable private remittances (representing 10% of GDP). This notwithstanding, low rates of investment and infrastructure deficiencies are acting as bottlenecks. According to Coface records, corporate payment behaviour should remain relatively stable even if shortcomings persist regarding transparency and debt recovery. The balance sheets presented by companies themselves are often not very reliable and debt recovery is hampered by slow and costly legal procedures.

The financial situation will remain sound in 2010

Regarding financial matters, the crisis has had only a limited impact on sovereign risk, which remains contained. The fiscal deficit widened in 2009 due to the economic slowdown and stimulus plan. It is, however, financed by three bond issues with maturities ranging from 10 to 25 years on the international markets with spreads remaining limited despite the crisis. Public debt is accordingly expected to rise but will remain at a sustainable level.

As for external accounts, despite the drop in exports, the country will maintain a comfortable current account surplus thanks to private transfers. These should remain stable in the medium term as their geographic origins are diversified (Asia (11%), Middle East (15%), Europe (16%) and the United States (52%)) and due to the nature of the jobs performed by expatriate Philippine workers (qualified jobs particularly in the health sector). Furthermore, the rise in foreign exchange reserves protects the country against sudden capital flight. Nonetheless, risks persist: despite declining external indebtedness ratios, these remain above the regional average and the debt is to a large extent held by private creditors who are sensitive to political risk.

Structural reforms expected after May 2010 elections

With regard to politics, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, son of former President Corazon Aquino, was elected with 40% of the votes cast at the presidential elections. The outgoing President, Gloria Arroyo, not high in the popularity stakes, was unable to run again for president due to the constitutional ban on seeking a third term. Nonetheless, having been elected to the House of Representatives, she should be able to continue her involvement in politics.

Mr Aquino, who has a degree in economics and has for 12 years had a seat in Congress and then been a member of the Senate, made the fight against corruption and poverty his campaign priorities. He also called for an investigation into suspicions of fraud surrounding the election in 2004 of the outgoing president Gloria Arroyo. According to the electoral commission, participation was high (75%), which should enable the incoming president to implement structural (notably fiscal) reforms in a country which is still suffering from serious shortcomings regarding governance.

2. The educational system in the Philippines

Literacy rate

Age 15 and over : 92.6% thus close to 7 million illiterates

Men : 92.5%

Women : 92.7%

Schooling

Pre-school (k-Kindergarten) : 3 to 6 years old. Equivalent to our kindergarten.Elementary school (Primary) : 6 to 12 years old. Grades 1 to 6. Children follow 8 different subjects ranging from English, Tagalog, Mathematics, Science, Health, Music and Singing, Culture and Social Studies.High School : 12 to 16 years old. 1st to 4th year. The same subjects are studied. Exam at the end of High School “High school graduate”College (University) : 16 to 20 years old. Training of 2 to 4 years (Bachelor of ...) which are very varied but offer few job opportunities. Two separate semesters, June to October and November to March. Graduation takes place in March and the cycle is not validated until passing the “board exam” which takes place in August every year. It is a difficult national exam which often requires 3 to 6 month preparatory classes, depending on the field. Elementary education is mandatory. It is basic education for students from 6 to 12 years old but the overall level is low.

 

Obstacles to schooling

Inadequate teaching equipmentTeachers lack training and are underpaidFamily problems, living conditions, children often must take care of siblings and the household (tendency to make young children responsible for household tasks and siblings).In public schools ; overcrowded classes (more than 100/class), little monitoring and high teacher absenteeism. Schools are free but high expenses (mandatory uniform to be bought, school supplies, books, cleaning products for the school and transport) born by the families.Only private schools have better teaching standards but are fee-paying.

 

School year

The school year runs from June to March, with the long summer break from April to May.

3. Poverty

 

30% of the population lives below the poverty line (cf Poverty situation in the Philippines in 2007)An average Philippino family of 6 people spends 871 Ph Pesos per day (ie 13€) on food, clothing, housing while the minimum salary in Manila is only 382 Ph Pesos (6€) per day. The Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act of December 11, 1997, defines poverty as those individuals or families whose income is below 265 Ph Pesos per day (3.9€) and who cannot provide for their needs (food, housing, clothing, education) in a sustained manner.5 million children and young adults are not in the educational system, out of a population of 33 million young people aged 6 to 24. (Philippines Survey on Children 2001)4 million young people aged 5 to 17 are considered economically active.A child/young Philippino who works is often male, has only completed elementary school and lives in the country ; a laborer or unskilled worker in agriculture and seasonal work. 3% of these children have never been to school. Some young people are their own boss. They make up 4% of young workers aged 5 to 17.3 young workers out of 5 are unpaid.