Evaluation: PH GDP 2023 Forecast

The use of social media as the main channel for news about the most important topics. As a
source of news, mainstream journalists now extensively rely on new media information. The nature and
quality of news content, as well as the character with which politics is covered, have all been significantly
impacted by these changes. Political reporting is now much more heavily reliant on infotainment and
quotes from Twitter feeds, which may or may not contain accurate information.

I. Message

The president published a photo comparing the Philippines' projected GDP growth in comparison to
other Asian nations with the caption, “Nangunguna ang ekonomiya ng Pilipinas sa buong Asya sa 6%
nitong projected GDP growth ayon sa World Economic Outlook na inilabas ng International Monetary
Fund nitong Abril”. Two days later, the Department of Finance published a similar tweet also says, “In its
WEO (April 2023), the IMF raised the country’s growth forecast from 5% to 6% — the highest in Asia —
and lowered the global growth projection from 2.9% to 2.8%.”

Nevertheless, this information “PH 2023 GDP Forecast Ranks No. 1 in Asia” is false. Which was based
when only seven countries are listed under the category "Emerging and Developing Asia," that includes;
China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia but not among all countries in
Asia.

However, with a longer list of countries under "Emerging and Developing Asia" that includes:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao P.D.R.,
Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New
Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu,
and Vietnam. According to that information, three nations—Fiji (7.0%), Maldives (7.2%), and Palau
(8.7%)—are expected to have GDP growth rates for 2023 that are higher than the Philippines' 6%
estimate.

II. Medium

The information above was posted on Twitter and Facebook. It was posted on the official account of
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. that the Philippine economy is leading all Asian countries in
predicted GDP growth. With his more than 1.3 million followers on Twitter and with 7.5 million followers
on Facebook, this could lead people to easily believe what he posted anytime soon.

The Department of Finance published a similar tweet to support what PBBM posted on his social
media accounts, but upon fact checking, upon researching a lot more resources this information that
they provided was false.

III. Audience

As of now (May 1, 2023, at 10am), the Facebook post already had about 113,300 reactions, 9,100
comments, and 9,789 shares. Using social media as a medium to broadcast that news targeted a wide
range of people around the country. People may believe that our country’s GDP will be on a Rank 1 this
2023, without proper fact checking.

IV. Context

An evaluation to the April 2023 World Economic Outlook report by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) study, that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. claimed in at least two social media posts
that the Philippine economy is leading all Asian countries in predicted GDP growth.

Contrary to the claim, the Philippines does not have the highest projected GDP growth among Asian
countries. It ranks fourth in the IMF’s 30 emerging and developing economies in the region, with a
projected GDP growth of 6%. Palau holds the top spot with  8.7%, followed by Maldives with 7.2% and
Fiji with 7%.

References:

Bongbong Marcos’ official Facebook accounts, https://m.facebook.com/story.php?

story_fbid=pfbid0jhbHMktaLF3MMTL4eXx8Lq8WE6tnEYcpocYDnHJq3DtzTZ9Sw2rzvk2nAtgwW1cpl&id=
100044537672013&mibextid=Nif5oz
Department of Finance official Twitter
 
account, https://twitter.com/DOF_PH/status/1650001702828011520

Bongbong Marcos’ official Twitter account,

https://twitter.com/bongbongmarcos/status/1649410420510191617

International Monetary Fund,

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April/weo-report?
c=513,514,516,522,924,819,534,536,826,544,548,556,867,868,948,518,836,558,565,853,566,862,813,5
24,578,537,866,869,846,582,&s=NGDP_RPCH,&sy=2022&ey=2024&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=0&ssc=
0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1