Social protection.

Byline: Edilberto C. de Jesus

EACH OF THE COUNTRYS 90 MILLION FILI-pinos, according to a recent media item, now shares a debt burden of almost P47,000. This was the estimate based on the level of the national debt as of May 2009. Government borrowings, nearly 7 percent higher than a year ago, had increased by P264 billion to P4.227 trillion, equal to 56 percent of GDP, as against the regional average of 36 percent.

The government explained the increase in the debt as a consequence of the pump-priming projects that it had undertaken to help the economy recover from the impact of the global financial crisis. Fair enough; a recent conference in Hanoi, convened by the Asian Development Bank, showed that the Philippine response was no different from that initiated by other countries to revive faltering economies.

While supporting the need for these stimulus …