TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan- Compared to 7.1 percent growth recorded in 2017, Cagayan Valley’s economy still managed to grow by 3.3 percent as presented by Ms. Marilyn T. Estrada, Regional Director of Philippine Statistics Authority in the 2018 Report on the Performance of the Economy of Cagayan Valley news conference at Pulsar Premier Suites, Buntun Highway earlier today.
The economic growth of the region was pulled down by the decline in Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing (AHFF). Due to the downfall of the Agriculture and Forestry by 7.2 percent and the decline of Fishery by 5.6 percent AHFF caused a setback as it declined 7.1 percent in 2018.
Department of Agriculture Regional Office 2 (DA2) representative said that in 2018, the performance of agricultural sector in terms of production declined due to the striking of the strong typhoons, namely Ompong and Rosita as compared in 2017. “Hindi lang sa rice and corn tayo nagbe-base ng production, even other crops, livestock, poultry, and fishery sector nagdedecline ang ating production, kaya we are emphasizing nga, for us to focus helping the agriculture become resilient, become more productive, become more competitive”, added by Ferdinand P. Tumaliuan, Assistant Regional Director of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
(Productions are not just based on the rice and corn, we even have other crops, livestock, poultry, and fishery sector which were also declined, that’s why we are emphasizing this, for us to focus helping the agriculture become resilient, become more productive, become more competitive)
In spite of the Region’s performance as the number one producer of corn and second best producer of rice in the Philippines, still, Cagayan Valley ranked 16 out of 17 regions in the Regional Growth rates for 2018 due to the damages caused by natural disasters.
According to report in 2018, services posted a faster growth of 10.5 percent from the 5.9 percent in 2017. The growth was mostly attributed to the upsurge of Other Services as it grew by 20.7 percent from 7.1 percent in 2017. This was coupled by the sped up in the growth of Public Administration and Defense; Compulsory Social Security by 13.3 percent from 6.9 percent in the previous year.
The growth in Services was also contributed by the accelerated growth in Financial Intermediation, Trade and Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles, Personal and Household Goods, and Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities with 8.4 percent, 6.6 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Transportation, Storage and Communication also grew but at a slower rate of 3.7 percent.
Industry slowed down as it grew by 2.2 percent in 2018 as compared with the 13.8 percent expansion in 2017. Among the sub-industries, only Construction expanded during the period with 8.7 percent growth. Mining and Quarrying, Electricity, Gas and Water Supply and Manufacturing all plummeted in 2018 with the declines of 8.8 percent, 3.0 percent, and 0.2 percent respectively.
With 3.3 percent growth of the region’s economy in 2018, Services contributed 5.4 percentage points while Industry had 0.3 percentage point. On the other hand, AHFF pulled down the region’s growth by 2.4 percentage points. northernforum.net
Via Queen Cortez/Shame Amparo/Rov Cristobal
