The Philippines has been continuously experiencing high GDP growth rates for

the past years. This may be a good sign for a countrys economic development, but it is
evident that compared to its neighbouring countries in Asia, Philippines is still a less
developed country. In an article written by Tullao and Cabuay, the Philippine economic
development is examined through evaluating the factors for the countrys growth by
looking into a perspective of growth by Walter Rostow. During the 1960s, Rostow
proposed the five stages of growth that an economy should go through to achieve full
development. These stages are the traditional society, pre-conditions for take-off, take-
off, drive to maturity and the age of mass consumption. The said article answers the
question on whether the Philippine economy has reached its full potential through its
utilization of capital and mobilization of resources. In addition, it also assessed the
countrys economic development through examining each stage of growth and at what
stage of development the Philippines is currently in.
For a country to be considered to be in the take-off stage of development, its
economy must be in the normal conditions of growth. There should be about ten percent
rise of its productive investment rate through the national income, a highly productive
manufacturing sector should be present and there should be an emergence of political,
social and institutional structures that enables the continues expansion of the economy.
Unfortunately, the Philippines is said to be stuck in the pre-condition stage for take-off.
Despite the attractive economic indicators, such as the high GDP growth rate, stable
inflation and the rise in national income, the country still experiences detriments in its
development, which does not allow it to undergo take-off. According to the article,
Rostow states that the stage of take-off is signified by a significant event that serves as
a sharp stimulus for development. Since the Philippines has been colonized by different
countries such as Spain, America and Japan, it has established its own government and
constitution. It also underwent Marshall Law under President Marcos, thus from that
time on, the country continues to experience presidential regimes that are either
controversial or progressive. These events triggered the Philippines to experience the
first touches of modernization as well as the lack of progress to achieve take-off. We
may then say that the growth of the economy underwent a steadfast growth at first, then
slowly lacked the potential to attain the pre-requisites to take-off itself.
The article emphasized that to potentially reach take-off, there should be a shift
from agriculture to manufacturing. Although our country may be considered as a
naturally rich country in terms of agriculture, it is still undeniable that the manufacturing
sector will be the one to lead the Philippines in maximizing its growth potential.
However, that agricultural sector may be below manufacturing in terms of its
contribution to the economy but the services sector still arise over the two sectors. The
services sector serves as the leading sector and it greatly contributes to output
especially in trade of services across borders. In addition, the establishment of the
central bank contributed to the achievement of price stability that is relative to economic
growth.
The Philippines may be ready for take-off but its inability to sustain its economic
growth is a huge hindrance. I may say that I agree to most points raised in the article. It
is undeniably evident that the Philippines really has the potential to develop. However,
there are many factors that hinders take-off such as the inability of the government to
properly distribute its national income. Instead of investing in areas which may help
achieve development such as research and development and better infrastructures, the
government exhaust its income to expensive yet insignificant projects due to corruption.
I may say that I agree to most points raised by the article especially as it
concludes that the potential of the country to reach the take-off stage is almost reached
but there are instances that the conditions cannot be sustained over time. Also, whether
these conditions are met or not, there is still a huge possibility for the Philippines to be
underdeveloped mainly due to poverty which the government cannot completely
eradicate. However, the only weakness that I can see on the article was its failure to
consider the limitations of Rostows theory. It seems that the model assumes that all
countries start with the same foundations such as the same natural resources, climates,
population size, etc. Merely applying this model to assess the economic development
situation of the Philippines seems to be slightly insufficient since there are a lot of other
factors that may be evidence for development.