Summary

COVID-19 has created a big impact in our economy. While it is true that
lockdowns implemented by the government have shown the effectiveness of controlling
the spread of the virus, it has also caused adverse effects on the economy and in the
standard of living of its people.

GDP is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within
a country's borders in a specific time period and includes anything produced within its
borders by the country's citizens and foreigners. It is primarily used to assess the health
of a country's economy. In other words, it gives us information about how our economy
is performing, if it’s growing or experiencing a recession.

Based from the data provided, we can see that The top contributors to the decline
of the GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2020 were Construction at -25.3%; Other
Services at -45.2%; and Accommodation and Food Service Activities at -42.7%. This is
very understandable because these were the industry that were badly hit since people
were not allowed to go out and their movement is very limited. There were no people
dining out, all construction activities were put on hold because people also lost their
jobs.

Among the major economic sectors, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF)
registered -2.5% growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2020, while Services and Industry
posted -8.4%, and -9.9% respectively. On an annual basis, the growth rates are as
follows: AFF at -0.2%, followed by Services at -9.1 %, and Industry at -13.1 %. On the
expenditure side, the Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) posted
positive growth of 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. We can see that the
numbers are still low because government is still strict in implementing its restrictions
so that people would not get sick.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing (AFF) declined in the fourth quarter of 2020 by
2.5%, resulting in a full-year decline of 0.2% in 2020. The following sub industries
dragged down the growth of AFF for the quarter. Among them are the following:
livestock, fishing and aquaculture, poultry and egg production, palay, other animal
production, other agricultural crops, coconut including copra, and mango. On the other
hand, the following sub-industries grew during the period: Support activities to
agriculture, forestry and fishing, by 4.1%t; Sugarcane, by 8.0%; Banana, by 1.2%;
Rubber, by 6.2%t; and Pineapple, by 1.5 % Other sub industries that contributed to the
growth were Corn, Coffee, Tobacco, Cacao, Cassava, Abaca, and Forestry and logging.
Growth could be contributed to the fact that despite how bad our situation is, we still
need to eat in order for us to survive.
 The Industry remains down but improving. Services continue to fall but it is
improving too. The government has already started easing up its restrictions so that
there would be more movement from the people. With this, our economy will slowly see
improvements and growth which will also be very beneficial to its people.

Case Study

1. Explain the relevance of knowing which sectors have the highest contribution to the
Philippines’ GDP.
- There is a need to know which sectors have the highest contribution to the
country’s GDP so that we would be guided in cases we would want to invest, we can
make use of the GDP to make investment decisions. We would know in what sector we
should invest in and the right time of investing. When we invest and become successful,
we do not only help the economy but other people as well who would be benefiting from
it.

2. Should common people read & understand these numbers? Why or why not?
- For me it would be a YES. It is because as citizens of the country, we should also
become aware of what is happening around us. That we should not be too dependent on
our government and also do our part to boost our economy. It would also be a way for us
to see which sector needs the boost and what we could do to help in our own little ways.
The numbers would also help us see what the government is doing to help sectors that
need help.

3. Discuss the implications of the data & how it affects you.

- The data that was presented shows us how we were impacted by the pandemic.
It gives us a preview on how the different sectors were affected as news would show us
how thousands of Filipinos suddenly lost their jobs. And since they have no savings,
they had no choice but to depend on the “ayuda” being given by the government. On the
other hand, it is also good to see that even if our economy remains down, we can see that
it is improving little by little as the days go by. It affected me in such a way that it made
me realize how lucky I am that despite the recession being experienced by our country,
at least I am still able to have a decent meal, I still have a roof over my head. This also
made me control my spendings especially with the things that are not really needed.