Mr Neri, who served as socio-economic planning secretary from 2002 to 2007, said it appeared the wealthy had gained most from economic growth. MANILA - FILIPINOS have mostly not benefited from the country's economic growth - equal to about five per cent annually - during President Gloria Arroyo's seven-year term, a top official admitted on Sunday. While the government had aimed for seven per cent growth annually, the actual figure was insufficient to lift significant numbers out of poverty, Romulo Neri, head of the government-run pension system, said in a gloomy assessment of the outgoing leader's period in office. 'Five per cent is not good enough. We need about seven, possibly eight per cent growth. That is why... this administration's goal was to reach seven per cent on a consistent basis,' he said in a forum aired by ABS-CBN television. 'Unfortunately we have been caught up in some crises and we were not able to sustain it,' said Mr Neri. Government figures show that in 2006, about 30.1 per cent of the population lived in poverty, up from 29 per cent in 2003. Although Mrs Arroyo's government achieved a record 7.2 per cent GDP growth in 2007, this was later brought down by the global financial crisis and various natural disasters. Growth in 2009 was a mere 0.9 per cent, the lowest in 11 years. Mrs Arroyo, who took office in 2001 after a popular uprising toppled Joseph Estrada, is due to step down after presidential elections in May. Mr Neri, who served as socio-economic planning secretary from 2002 to 2007, said it appeared the wealthy had gained most from economic growth. 'Much of this growth is going to corporations. If you look at the savings rates... in the 1970s, much of the savings was in households, now the (bulk of) savings has shifted to corporate savings,' he said. -- AFP How To Teach Children At Risk Of Educational Failure: Coping With Proverty, Bullying, Disease, Crime, And Ethnicity (Mellen Studies in Education)
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