INTRODUCTION TO

PHILIPPINE ECONOMICS
PRE-COLONIAL
Praus Balangay Caracoa

Tuba making Weaving

Barter
:to trade by
exchanging one
commodity for
another 
: to trade goods or
services in
exchange for other
goods or services
Royal company of the Philippines
• The purpose of the company
was to promote direct trade
between the Philippines
(then a colony of the
Spanish Empire) and the
mother country. The royal
decree also provided for
closing the port of Manila to
any foreign vessel.
Therefore, only the company
could import goods from
New Spanish Mexico, China
or the Philippines.
American period
Free trade policies
• Free trade is a largely theoretical policy under which
governments impose absolutely no tariffs, taxes, or
duties on imports, or quotas on exports. In this sense, free
trade is the opposite of protectionism, a defensive trade
policy intended to eliminate the possibility of foreign
competition.
Post-War economy
Post-War Economy
Parity rights
• Parity rights granted U.S. citizens and Filipinos equal
rights in regard to using the natural resources of the
Philippines. These parity rights were created through an
amendment of the Philippine Constitution, called the
Parity Amendment, which was voted through on March 11,
1947.
President Ramon F. Magsaysay
Social Security Law
• In 1954, Representative Floro Crisologo,
Senators Cipriano Primicias and Manuel
Briones introduced bills to the Congress that were
eventually enacted as Republic Act 1161 or the Social
Security Act of 1954 during the term of Ramon
Magsaysay. The law was also called the Social Security
Law (SSS Law).
President Ramon F. Magsaysay
Reparation Agreement
• Reparation refers to the process and result of remedying
the damage or harm caused by an unlawful act.
President Diosdado Macapagal
Retail Trade
• Retail trade is the business activity associated with the
sale of goods to the final consumer, the ultimate
customer. It is the link between wholesalers or
manufacturers and the customers of the product. Typically
retailers sell goods in small quantities to consumers for
personal use, not for resale or business use.
Retail trade
• Retail is the final step of the distribution channel. the
retailer will buy the goods from the wholesaler, or
sometimes directly from the producer, in bulk (large
quantities) at a discounted price. And then it sells the
goods to the final consumers of the goods, in small units
or quantities, at retail price enjoying the benefits in the
process.
President Diosdado Macapagal
Land Reform Program
Republic Act No. 3844 of August 8, 1963 (Agricultural
Land Reform Code)
•  It abolished tenancy and established a leasehold system
in which farmers paid fixed rentals to landlords, rather
than a percentage of harvest.
• The RA was hailed as one that would emancipate Filipino
farmers from the bondage of tenancy.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos
Labor Code
• The Labor Code of the Philippines is the legal code
governing employment practices and labor relations
in the Philippines. It was enacted on Labor day, May 1,
1974.
• The Labor Code sets the rules for hiring and firing of
private employees; the conditions of work
including maximum work hours and overtime; employee
benefits such as holiday pay, thirteenth-month
pay and retirement pay; and the guidelines in the
organization and membership in labor unions as well as
in collective bargaining.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos
Land Reform Programs
President Marcos enacted the following laws:
• Republic Act No. 6389, (Code of Agrarian Reform) and RA
No. 6390 of 1971 -- Created the Department of Agrarian
Reform and the Agrarian Reform Special Account Fund. It
strengthen the position of farmers and expanded the scope
of agrarian reform.
• Presidential Decree No. 2, September 26, 1972 -- Declared
the country under land reform program. It enjoined all
agencies and offices of the government to extend full
cooperation and assistance to the DAR. It also activated the
Agrarian Reform Coordinating Council.
• Presidential Decree No. 27, October 21, 1972 -- Restricted
land reform scope to tenanted rice and corn lands and set
the retention limit at 7 hectares.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos
Philippine Economic Zone
• Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) promotes the
establishment of economic zones in the Philippines for
foreign investments. PEZA is also the Philippine
government agency tasked to extend assistance, register,
grant incentives to and facilitate the business operations
of investors in export-oriented manufacturing and service
facilities inside selected areas throughout the country
proclaimed by the President of the Philippines as PEZA
Special Economic Zones.
• Financial liberalization in banking sector aimed
to increase the efficiency of the banks, improve the
allocation of credits, stimulate savings and, thus,
attain a higher economic growth.
President Corazon C. Aquino
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
• Republic Act No. 6657, June 10, 1988 (Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law) – An act which became effective
June 15, 1988 and instituted a comprehensive agrarian
reform program to promote social justice and
industrialization providing the mechanism for its
implementation and for other purposes. This law is still the
one being implemented at present.
President Corazon C. Aquino
Wage Rationalization Act
• It is hereby declared the policy of the State to rationalize
the fixing of minimum wages and to promote productivity-
improvement and gain-sharing measures to ensure a
decent standard of living for the workers and their
families; to guarantee the rights of labor to its just share in
the fruits of production; to enhance employment
generation in the countryside through industry dispersal;
and to allow business and industry reasonable returns on
investment, expansion and growth. (from RA 6727)
President Corazon C. Aquino
National Health Insurance Program
• The program aims to provide health insurance coverage
and ensures access to cost-effective and quality health
care services for all Filipinos. Under this program, the
premium contribution of the poor families identified by the
National Household Targeting System for Poverty
Reduction are subsidized by the government.
• They are also covered in the No Balance Billing Policy,
where no other fees and expenses shall be charged and
be paid for by the indigent patients above and beyond the
package rates. NHIP also provides coverage to senior
citizens who are not currently covered under the program.
President Corazon C. Aquino
PCGG
• The Presidential Commission on Good Government is
charged to assist the President in the recovery of ill-gotten
wealth accumulated by former President Marcos,
investigation of such cases of graft and corruption as the
President may assign, and adoption of safeguards against
the mentioned practices.
President Fidel V. Ramos
Philippines 2000
• Ramos was successfully able to open the then-closed
Philippine economy and break Marcos-era formed
monopolies, especially with regard to Philippine Airlines
and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company,
which were privatized and de-monopolized during his
tenure. He was also able to resolve the power crisis in the
Philippines through privatization of power plants and the
construction of new ones. The reforms spurred additional
investment into the Philippines.
President Fidel V. Ramos
Build-operate-transfer law
• The build-operate-and-transfer scheme shall include a
supply-and-operate situation which is a contractual
arrangement whereby the supplier of equipment and
machinery for a given infrastructure facility, if the interest
of the Government so requires, operates the facility
providing in the process technology transfer and training
to Filipino nationals.
President Joseph E. Estrada
Anti-Dumping Act
• Republic Act No. 8752, otherwise known as the “Anti-
Dumping Act of 1999” (the “Act”), provides protection to a
Philippine domestic industry which is being materially
injured, or is likely to be materially injured by the dumping
of articles imported into or sold in the Philippines.
President Gloria Arroyo
“roll-on-roll-off”
• A roll-on-roll-off ship is built so that vehicles can drive
on at one end and off at the other: a roll-on roll-off ferry.
Passenger, cargo & military ships.
President Benigno Simeon Aquino
“Run After Tax Evaders”
• Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) is an enforcement program
of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) which aims to
generate a maximum deterrent effect on the taxpaying
public by highlighting that tax evasion is a crime and
violators will be caught and punished.