COULD STEEMIT HELP SOLVE ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY LIKE THE PHILIPPINES?

National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales on January 23 announced that the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.7% in 2017, slightly below the 6.9% growth recorded in 2016.

This, however -- still placed the Philippines (3rd) among the fastest-growing economies in Asia -- after China's 6.9% and Vietnam's 6.8%.

According to the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia in a press conference in Pasig City, “You can see that our decline is really very moderate. To me, this is a good performance, given the fact that it is already normal for post-election years to witness a decline in economic growth,".

For 2018, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) both expect the Philippines to remain as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, with forecasts of 6.7% and 6.8% growth, respectively.

While the government's own target range for this year is higher than last year's at between 7% and 8% growth. The Duterte administration is banking on its ambitious infrastructure program and the newly implemented tax reform law.
Despite the controversies being faced by the present administration locally and internationally; the administration’s economic strategy is paying off. Signs of improvements can be seen in the gross domestic products (GDP), trade exports, foreign investments, and job generation.

In many developing countries such as the Philippines, both the public and private sectors were collaborating to solve or at least reduce economic inequality.

Economic inequality is the difference found in various measures of economic well-being among individuals in a group, among groups in a population, or among countries. Economic inequality sometimes refers to income inequality, wealth inequality, or the wealth gap.

Income Inequality is the extent to which household income is unevenly distributed amongst a population. In other words, it also refers to the gap in income between who can be considered the rich of the population as opposed to the income of those who can be considered the poor of a population.

According to World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi, the Philippines had become a "rising tiger" in East Asia.However, at the same time, during the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the increase in the wealth of the richest families in the Philippines, amounting to 47.39%, comprised 76.5% of the GDP increase for that year. Thus, the benefits of this economic growth have not yet trickled down to the poorer segments of the population, as seen with the malnutrition, and poverty that continue to plague the country despite the fact that the economy seems to be growing.

According to data gathered in 2009, the poorest 20% of the population only had a share of 4.45% of the national income. This shows that the distribution of wealth is uneven in the Philippines for the data shows that the poorest 20% earned 14,022 pesos ($280) while the richest 20% of 176,863 pesos ($3,537).

Filipinos lead the world in social media use: survey

According to WeAreSocial’s report, The Philippines has 67 million social media users.

There are now 4 billion people using the internet which sees a 250,000 increase from last year’s 3.75 billion. The Philippines, in particular have 67 million internet and active social media users.

The most interesting part of the study is that even after 3 years, Filipinos are still on top when it comes to social media usage on any device, averaging almost 4 hours every day – 3 hours and 57 minutes a day, to be specific.

Facebook is still the number 1 social media site being used around the world along with its messaging platform, Facebook Messenger. Messenger, as the study notes, is currently the primary chatting platform for the Philippines, based on its Google Play store country rank in December of 2017.

In a report, Facebook said Filipinos are spending two hours and 20 minutes using the platform every day. This increases to 30 percent among men, women, mothers, and millennials during the last three months of 2017, highlighting increased chatter among Filipinos in the run-up to the Christmas season.

The social media giant also said Filipinos post more social media content during these three months compared to other times of the year. Over the months of October to December, there is a 69% increase in mobile video posts on Facebook, 21% more in Instagram posts, and 28% more in mobile posts during these “Festive Season” weekends.

Opportunities in Crypto/Steemit

Considering the data of the Filipinos in Social Media usage, if only the public, especially the poor -- be educated and exposed to a better and profitable alternative to conventional social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc.

I imagine the figures above would drastically change. Perhaps the gap of income inequality will be lessened if not completely eliminated.

There’s a big possibility that Steemit as the future of social media, IMO – can able to revolutionize how the Filipinos use their time in social media. Not only in accessing valuable content and information, but also in taking advantage of the earning opportunity.

I'm sure it's not only me who saw this opportunity, not only for myself and my fellow countrymen -- but likewise for everyone who endures from the injustice of economic inequality. So what do you think guys?

Sources:
Philippines GDP-Real Growth Rate-Economy(www.indexmundi.com)
Filipino's Facebook Usage Survey (www.rapler.com)