Politics of the Philippines

The Philippines has a presidential-unitary form government, where the President functions as both head of state and head of government, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The president is elected by popular vote to a six-year term, during which they appoint and preside over the cabinet.

President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

The bicameral Congress is composed of a Senate, serving as the upper house whose members are elected nationally to a six-year term, and a House

of Representatives serving as the lower house whose members are elected to a three-year term and are elected from legislative districts and through sectoral representation.

The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and 14 associate justices, all appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council.

Attempts to amend the constitution to either a federal, unicameral or parliamentary form of government have repeatedly failed since the Ramos administration.

The Philippines is a founding and active member of the United Nations since its inception on October 24, 1945 and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Philippines is also a member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), an active player in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Latin Union, and a member of the Group of 24.

The country is a major non-NATO ally of the U.S. but also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Philippines claims sovereignty over certain of the Spratly Islands, known locally as the Kalayaan (Freedom) Islands, also claimed by China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," has eased tensions in the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; Philippines retains a dormant claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo based on the Sultanate of Sulu's granting the Philippines Government power of attorney to pursue a sovereignty claim on his behalf.

produced a high debt level and has forced Manila to spend a large portion of the national government budget on debt service.

Large, unprofitable public enterprises, especially in the energy sector, contribute to the government's debt because of slow progress on privatization. Credit rating agencies are increasingly concerned about the Philippines' ability to sustain the debt; legislative progress on new revenue measures will weigh heavily on credit rating decisions.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$430.6 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

5.9% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 14.8%
industry: 31.9%
services: 53.2% (2004 est.)

Labor force:

35.86 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 36%, industry 16%, services 48% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:

11.7% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:

40% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 31.9% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

46.6 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

5.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

17% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $12.22 billion
expenditures: $15.84 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.4 million (2004 est.)

Public debt:

74.2% of GDP (September 2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:

sugarcane, coconuts, rice, corn, bananas, casavas, pineapples, fish, mangoes, pork, eggs, beef

Industries:

electronics assembly, garments, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate:

5% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:

52.86 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 55.6%
hydro: 17.5%
nuclear: 0%
other: 26.9% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:

46.05 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:

26,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:

338,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports:

312,000 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - proved reserves:

152 million bbl (1 January 2004)

Natural gas - production:

2.5 million cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

25 million cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

107.6 billion cu m (1 January 2004)

Current account balance:

$3.6 billion (2004 est.)

Exports:

$38.63 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:

electronic equipment, machinery and transport equipment, garments, optical instruments, coconut products, fruits and nuts, copper products, chemicals

Exports - partners:

Japan 20.1%, US 18.2%, Netherlands 9%, Hong Kong 7.9%, China 6.7%, Singapore 6.6%, Taiwan 5.6%, Malaysia 5.2% (2004)

Imports:

$37.5 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:

raw materials, machinery and equipment, fuels, vehicles and vehicle parts, plastic, chemicals, grains

Imports - partners:

US 18.8%, Japan 17.4%, Singapore 7.8%, Taiwan 7.3%, South Korea 6.2%, China 6%, Malaysia 4.5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$16.05 billion (2004)

Debt - external:

$55.6 billion (September 2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:

ODA commitments, $2 billion (2004)

Currency code:

PHP

Exchange rates:

Philippine pesos per US dollar - 47.5 (Q1:2007) 56.04 (2004), 54.203 (2003), 51.604 (2002), 50.993 (2001), 44.192 (2000)

Population:

87,857,473 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 35.4% (male 15,869,636/female 15,255,588)
15-64 years: 60.6% (male 26,503,785/female 26,722,511)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,523,213/female 1,982,740) (2005 est.)

Median age:

total: 22.27 years
male: 21.77 years
female: 22.8 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.84% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:

25.31 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:

5.47 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:

-1.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 23.51 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.34 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 20.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 69.91 years
male: 67.03 years
female: 72.92 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:

3.16 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk:
high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies (2004)

Nationality:

noun: Filipino(s) or Pilipino
adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups:

Tagalog 28.1%, Cebuano 13.1%, Llocano 9%, Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%, Hiligaynon Ilonggo 7.5%, Bikol 6%, Waray 3.4%, other 25.3% (2000 census)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 80.9%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christian 4.5%, Muslim 5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6%, none 0.1% (2000 census)

Languages:

two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6%
male: 92.5%
female: 92.7% (2002)