In its report, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday that the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) saw its economy begin to bounce back after severe downturn in the previous years of COVID-19 on Thursday.
PSA-Cordillera Regional Director Villafe Alibuyog said that the region was third nationwide in terms of economic growth rates.
In the transition from 2019 to 2020, the Cordillera region saw a negative 10.2 growth rate, shrinking the economy, but Alibuyog said that in the 2020 to 2021 period, the region bounced back to a positive 7.5 percent economic growth.
2021 saw a significant increase in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) compared to the previous year, with a P22 billion increase from P288 billion to P310 billion.
According to Alibuyog, the three biggest movers of the economy in the region were construction at 17.2 percent, manufacturing at 17.1 percent, and mining at 14.1 percent.
However, despite the 2021 increase in economy, the region has yet to fully recoup the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Alibuyog claiming that the region needs an additional 3.6 more economic growth next year to break even.
National Economic Development Authority-Cordillera (NEDA-CAR) Regional Director Susan Sumbeling also said in a statement that the government’s economic stimulus packages like the TUPAD program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) provided about 65,000 individuals with temporary jobs.
