Though the Philippine economy has been growing strongly in recent times, it remain one of the weaker Southeast Asian nations, a continuing legacy of the damage done during the corrupt Marcos years.. Wealth distribution is extremely uneven, the richest few per cent of the population controlling much of the economy, the poorest taking on average earnings of about US $40 per month.
Industrialization programmes have had an impact in some areas but most factories remain concentrated around metro Manila and Cebu; rich deposit of copper, gold, silver, manganese and nickel bringing in a valuable foreign currency. Unfortunately the mines employ relatively few people. Services, including government and tourism, provide workfor over half the population, though again they are predominantly focused on the main cities.
Above: Manila's container port, seen at dusk, is one of the Philippines' main trade connections to the outside world.
Left: Across many rural areas rice farming is king, particularly in the steep terraced fields of mountainous northern Luzon.
Right: Fishing, practised mainly as a subsistence activity, is crucial to many poor coastal communities, and is carried out mainly inshore and using a small outrigger boats equipped with small-meshed nets.
Below: Quiapo Market in the northern part of Manila, is a crowded and often frenetic scene of small-scale family-driven enterprise, with everything from mangoes to fortune-telling for sale.
Agricultural and fishing remain overwhelmingly the nation main rural employment, shaping much of the inland and coastal landscape. These are Probably the aspect of the Philippine economy that are most visible to the visitor. Not surprisingly, rice predominates; more than four million hectares are devoted to the crop. Through the year alternating waves of emerald green of golden yellow billow across the landscape.
A similar amount of land is covered with coconut palms, an estimated 220 million of them covering coast and countryside with their characteristic green canopy. Their output makes the Philippines one of the world biggest producers of coconut products. Other important crops include sugar cane, coffee ang pineapples, grown mostly on large commercial scale plantations.
It remains a fact of life, however, that there just isn't enough 2 work available, a situation made worse by the rapidly growing population. Its present level of almost 100 million is increasing by nearly 2 per cent as a result, the last 25 years have seen a growing flood of Filipinos travelling abroad to work, Million are now employed crewing ships, putting up buildings, nursing the sick and elderly and acting as a domestic helps right around the globe. Their financial remittances from abroad have become essential to help support families left at home and they have become a major sector of the national economy, their financial contribution amounting now to a staggering US $11 billion annually.
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