As an aspiring economist and policymaker, I always asked the question why certain economies

thrive. This puzzling question led me to read different kinds of academic literature and materials
concerning "development economics" such as, Why Nations Fail by Acemoglu and Robinson, How
Asia Works by Studwell, and Doughnut Economics by Raworth. Throughout the years, Economic
development seems to underpin the goal of every nation of prosperity and efficiency yet disregard its
sustainability and efficacy. The researcher defined Sustainable Economic Development (SED) as the
accumulation of wealth and efficient utilization of the four factors of production (land, labor, capital,
and entrepreneurial ability) that takes into account long-term environmental protection, climate
resiliency, and high level of socio-economic conditions. Our professors, in Economics, always
emphasized the importance of the four factors of production in a country's development and this led me
to investigate its validity. I learned that nations usurp land to expand their economic territories, slavery
(labor) was observed as a product of colonialism and enconmienda system, the industrial revolution
paved the way for man-made goods (capital) to foster economic development, and the success of the
private sector is one of the pieces of evidence why Capitalism is an ideal economic system
(entrepreneurial ability). However, popular development somehow fails to take into account the
physical constraints - finite resources. This led me to consider the relevance of environment and
climate change in the concept of development. The sustainability of a country's economic development
is dependent on how human beings perceive the importance and significance of the environment and
climate change.

This essay is a synergy of my knowledge and researches in the field of Economics and the
current economic policies of the Duterte Administration. It's good to point out that two institutions
govern a country: political and economic. Thus, sustainable economic development depends on
political leadership.

According to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the economic agency of
the Philippines, ASEAN-5 is expected to recover from the slowdown, with an average growth of 5.4
percent in 2017-2022. Global trade is expected to improve slightly, growing by 3.9 percent annually
over the period 2017-2022. The rise of global production networks and buying chains, among other
trends, will further drive integration. Inequality may persist in some nations but is likely to decline as

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many low- and middle-income countries grow faster than rich ones. The world’s oceans also continue
to warm and polar ice caps continue to melt. Average sea levels are predicted at 24-30 cm by 2065.
Where does sustainable economic development come into the picture? In the succeeding paragraphs, I
will try to solidify the definition of Sustainable Economic Development with existing economic
theories and studies.

Full production is one of the five macroeconomic goals of every nation, which desires the
utilization of natural resources for the production and consumption of the people; consequently,
accumulation of national wealth is indispensable to a country's economic development. Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given
period of time (Mankiw, 2015), is the economic measurement of wealth accumulation. In theory, there
is a positive correlation between a country's progress and GDP. However, Leslie Thiele, of the
University of Florida, argued that GDP does not mean greater social equity. Indeed, it often translates
into greater concentrations of wealth with complimentary declines in social welfare. Sustainable
economic development entails continuous accumulation of goods and services that are lucrative for
both the public and private sector; nevertheless, economic growth should be characterized as an
inclusive, eco-friendly, and pro-people economic development.

Annual measurement of Gross Domestic Product would not be possible without the efficient
utilization of the four factors of production or Economic Resources. These are land, labor, capital, and
entrepreneurial ability. Land comprises natural resources as the source of raw materials, labor pertains
to human resources as the source of manpower or human effort, capital includes everything that are
manmade goods that are used to produce other goods, and entrepreneurial ability covers the innovative
skills of a person in combining the other factors of production in the creation of goods and services.
Still, pertinent parameters are taken into account to foster a sustainable economic development that is
not detrimental to the next generations. Sustainability rests on the triple bottom line of Profit (wealth
accumulation), Planet (environment and climate change), and People (socioeconomic conditions)
(Thiele, 2013).

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 Long-term environmental protection emphasizes the importance of society and nature relations.
The Tragedy of Commons is an economic problem wherein every individual tries to reap the greatest
benefit from a given resource. It revolves around one of Economics' basic theories namely, demand and
supply. The premise of the economic problem simply explains that individuals tend to exploit shared
resources resulting for demand to outweighs supply (resources becomes unavailable). In context,
simply denote development as demand and economic resources as supply. Almost all countries desire
development (increasing demand) while endowed with limited natural and economic resources (static
supply) thus disequilibrium happens. Ideally, equilibrium is a must while in the real world, aggregate
supply should exceed aggregate demand. Protecting the environment is an important concept in SED
because of the irrational behavior of human beings: unlimited human wants and needs in a world of
finite resources. According to Martha and Barry Field (2017), environmental regulations provide the
incentive for growth in the envirotech industries with the added employment.

This implies that the most important global problem facing us today is the possibility that, due
to our current behavior, we are rendering the planet substantially less habitable for humans and as well
as other members of the biosphere. This sometimes goes under the name of "climate change", or the
global "greenhouse" effect (Field & Field, 2017). An externality is the impact of one person’s action on
the well-being of a bystander. With a negative externality, like pollution, the market tends to over
produce the relevant commodity and the biggest government failure with an externality is on
greenhouse gases that have the potential to cause major global climate change. According to The
Global Risks Report 2018 by World Economic Forum, among the most pressing environmental
challenges facing us are extreme weather events and temperatures; accelerating biodiversity loss;
pollution of air, soil, and water; failures of climate-change mitigation and adaptation; and transition
risks as we move to a low-carbon future.

A central aspect of the social dimensions of sustainable development relates to social conditions
and factors that shape processes of change. These “social drivers” relate to social structures and
institutions that shape people’s preferences, behavior, and possibilities, and to the agency, that is, the
capacity of individuals and groups to influence change. Social structures include forms of
socioeconomic stratification (class, ethnicity, gender, and location). Institutions include the informal

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and formal “rules of the game” that pattern the behavior of people and organizations in fairly
predictable ways (UNIRSD, 2015).

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s economic strategy is paying off so far. Signs of improvements
can be seen in the gross domestic products (GDP), trade exports, foreign investments, and job
generation (Presidential Communications Operations Office, 2017). For the next six years, the Duterte
Administration laid out a 10 point socio-economic agenda as the overarching economic projects for the
country. In the pursuit of accumulating wealth, the administration will continue and maintain current
macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary, and trade policies, institute progressive tax reform
and more effective tax collection, indexing taxes to inflation, and strengthen implementation of the
Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. For land, there will be an accelerate annual
infrastructure spending to account for 5% of GDP, with Public-Private Partnerships playing a key role,
ensure the security of land tenure to encourage investments and address bottlenecks in land
management and titling agencies, and promote rural and value chain development toward increasing
agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism. For labor, there should be investing in
human capital development, including health and education systems, and match skills and training, and
improve social protection programs, including the government's Conditional Cash Transfer program.
For entrepreneurial ability, the administration urged to increase competitiveness and the ease of doing
business, and promote science, technology, and creative arts to enhance innovation and creative
capacity.

Furthermore, In his 10-point Socioeconomic Agenda, President Rodrigo Duterte envisioned the
reduction of poverty from 21.6% in 2015 to 13%-15% by 2022. Among the reforms that will drive this
Agenda is the acceleration of infrastructure called BUILD BUILD BUILD. Infrastructure is among the
top priorities of this Administration with public spending on infrastructure projects targeted to reach
8-9 trillion pesos from 2017-2022. The infrastructure will not only lead to higher GDP but also
alleviate gridlock and transportation problems in Metro Manila. Philippine investments prospects, as a
result, remain bright as projects registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) reached 268 with a
total value of P294.8-billion from January to July this year, up by 40 percent from the same period last
year. The revival of the Asia-Pacific region has boosted the country’s exports, which account for nearly

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a third of GDP. Total exports rose by 9.3 percent to US$5.5-billion in August 2017 as compared to the
same month of previous year. Electronic products continued to be the Philippines’ top export, followed
by other manufactured goods, such as agro-based, mineral, forest, and petroleum products (PCOO,
2017). With the aforementioned statistics, the Philippines GDP computed as the sum of Household
Final Consumption Expenditure, Investment, Government Final Consumption Expenditure, and Net
Exports (Export-Import) will rise by 6-8% because of infrastructure spending, investments, and robust
domestic industries.

Long-term environmental protection and climate resiliency are intertwined concepts that are
also observed in the Philippines. On 19 June 2017, the Department of Transportation issued
Department Order No. 2017-011 or the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), a
flagship program of the Duterte administration which envisions a restructured, modern, well-managed
and environmentally sustainable transport sector where drivers and operators have stable, sufficient and
dignified livelihoods while commuters get to their destinations quickly, safely and comfortably. Also,
the modern PUV are designed to be environment-friendly, safe, secure and convenient with due
consideration to our Persons-with-Disabilities (PWDs) passengers. (Land Transportation Franchising
and Regulatory Board, 2017). With regards to other projects that preserves the environment, the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ten (10) priority programs that are being
implemented and some of the programs are stated. The Enhance National Greening Program aims to
cover the remaining 7.1 million hectares of unproductive, denuded and degraded forestlands
nationwide. The Duterte Administration targets to reforest some 1.2 million hectares between 2017 to
2022 in accordance with the updated 2016-2028 Master Plan for Forestry Development. For Clean Air
Program, the priority programs are monitoring of the compliance of firms or industries,
operationalisation of airspeed governing boards, and calibration and maintenance of air quality
monitoring stations. The Clean Water Program priorities are: monitoring of the compliance of firms or
industries, conduct of classification of waterbodies, and designation of wqmas. In terms of the
enhanced biodiversity conservation project, it aims to establish eco-tourism areas, critical habitats, and
disestablishment of protected areas. The scientific researches in Benham Rise is still debated by the
executive and legislative branches of government.

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 Still, SED should be characterised as inclusive and pro-people economic development (better
socio-economic conditions). Hence, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)
conducted a survey regarding the aspiration of the Filipino people for 2040 and this was the consensus
answer by the informants "in 2040, all Filipinos will enjoy a stable and comfortable lifestyle, secure in
the knowledge that we have enough for our daily needs and unexpected expenses, that we can plan and
prepare for our own and our children's futures. Our families live together in a place of our own, yet we
have the freedom to go where we desire, protected and enabled by a clean, efficient and fair
government.” A strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life by 2040 will be supported by strategic
policies and macroeconomic fundamentals and built on a solid bedrock of safety, peace and security,
infrastructure, and a healthy environment.

A strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life by 2040 will be supported by strategic policies and macroeconomic
fundamentals and built on a solid bedrock of safety, peace and security, infrastructure, and a healthy environment.

Pillar 1: Enhancing the social fabric: There will be greater trust in public institutions and across all of society.
The government will be people-centered, clean, and efficient. Administration of justice will be swift and fair.
There will be greater awareness about and respect for the diversity of our cultures.

Pillar 2: Inequality-reducing transformation: There will be greater economic opportunities, coming from the
domestic market and the rest of the world. Access to these opportunities will be made easier. Special attention will
be given to the disadvantaged subsectors and people groups.

Pillar 3: Increasing growth potential: Much more will adopt modern technology, especially for the production.
Innovation will be further encouraged, especially in keeping with the harmonized research and development
agenda. And in order to accelerate economic growth even more in the succeeding Plan periods, interventions to
manage population growth will be implemented and investments for human capital development will be increased.

Enabling and supporting the economic environment: There will be macroeconomic stability, supported by
strategic trade and fiscal policies. A strong and credible competition policy will level the playing field and
encourage more investments.

Bedrock: There will be significant progress in the pursuit of just and lasting peace, security, public order, and
safety. Construction of strategic infrastructure that promotes growth, equity, and regional development will be
accelerated. At the same time, there will be stronger institutions and more effective protocols to ensure ecological
integrity, clean and healthy environment.

Source: Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 (Abridged Version)

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 Tax Reform for Acceleration Inclusion (TRAIN) Law redesign the Philippine tax system to be
simpler, fairer, and more efficient for all, while also raising the resources needed to invest in our
infrastructure and our people. The government will lessen the overall tax burden of the poor and the
middle class (Department of Finance, 2017). This tax reform program will fund the following social
programs: (i) education - investments in education will achieve a more conducive learning environment
with the ideal teacher-to-student ratio and classroom-to-student ratio, (ii) healthcare services - invest
more in our country's healthcare by providing better services and facilities, and (iii) infrastructure
programs - funding major infrastructure projects will sustain high and inclusive growth. Because of
some inflationary shocks, unconditional cash transfer” (UCT) amounting to P2,400 for the whole year
will be distributed within the first quarter to 4.4 million existing beneficiaries under the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and to 3 million indigent senior citizens (Department of Finance,
2018).

As for employment growth, the Philippines’ outstanding macroeconomic fundamentals, coupled

with the administration’s ongoing massive infrastructure spending through the Build-Build-Build
Infrastructure Program, are seen to increase economic activities and generate more jobs (PCOO, 2017).
As I am doing my policy essay with regards to BUILD BUILD BUILD, I found out that Blue-Collar
Jobs (typically work with their hands and requires extensive skills) increase, which attributes to
increase job employment for skilled workers who lacks college education.

With the established definition of SED and economic policies of the Duterte Administration, a
congruence of concepts was observed. According to my Economic Professor who is working in
Department of Energy, the Philippines is regarded as a “Newly Industrialized Country" yet the country
still lack 6, 500 US Dollars to meet the goal of 10, 000 GDP per capita target for each country. GDP
Per capita is computed as total GDP divided by population, and base on the figures, the Philippines has
still rooms for improvements. However, this does not contradict the aforementioned projects by the
government but rather solidifies it and portrays the desire of fostering an inclusive, sustainable, and pro
people development. It is also good to point out that the Political Leadership under the Duterte
Administration are pushing for a federal government system. This aims to distribute the country’s
resources in the three main islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao because most citizens perceive

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that the bulk of economic advancement happens in the National Capital Region located in Luzon
(imperial Manila). Sustainable Economic Development will be solely dependent on the political
dynamics of a country and in the case of the Philippines, the administration is creating this environment
for the betterment of the lives of its people.