Release Date :
The 2014 Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) was successfully released by the Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office – Cordillera Administrative Region (PSA RSSO-CAR) through a news conference held on July 30, 2015 at Fortune Hongkong Seafood Restaurant. Panelists were Ms. Oivia G. Gulla, Interim Regional Director of PSA, Dr. Jedidia L. Aquino, Asst. Regional Director of the National Economic and Development Authority and Mr. Benjamin Y. Navarro, Officer-In-Charge of the Statistical Operations and Coordination Division of PSA. Invited resource persons were Dr. Danilo Daguio, Asst. Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture and Mr. Alfredo Genetiano, Division Chief of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
Dir. Gulla reported that the economy of the Cordilleras grew by 3.2 percent in 2014, slower than its 5.4 percent growth in 2013. She presented and discussed the sectoral and subsectoral estimates and the performance of CAR vis-à-vis other regions. She also thanked the support of the media especially the sources of data which were compiled for the GRDP estimation.
Dr. Aquino reiterated that the CAR economy, although at a slower pace, still grew and continuously posted improvements in the region. She added that mining and quarrying, trade and public administration contributed much to the region’s economic performance. The following were recommended for better economy in 2015: 1) revive agriculture sector by increasing agricultural productivity; 2) boost the metal industry to take advantage of the booming global aircrafts industry; 3) provide additional infrastructure and more reliable services to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms and Information Technology (IT) Parks; 4) improve tourism and education sectors by promoting the eco-cultural tourism; and 5) raise the level of local competitiveness to attract more investments in the region.
The open forum was facilitated by Dir. Helen Tibaldo, Regional Director of the Philippine Information Agency and Mr. Jonathan Llanes, Reporter of PTV-4. Various issues were raised such as the following: government interventions to utilize the labor force in the agriculture sector; efficiency in government spending in the Cordilleras; factors behind the slowing down of construction sector; and effects of ASEAN integration in the decline of the agriculture sector.
The news conference ended with a request from the media for the PSA to conduct a Media Appreciation Seminar. Dir. Gulla responded that a training entitled, “Statistics for the Media” will be conducted in October 2015 as part for the National Statistics Month celebration.