Much is likely to be made about the island’s economy growing at a robust 7.6 percent in 2023, the highest among the six Bicol provinces, as far as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is concerned.
And provincial leaders will probably be justified in highlighting the increase in Catanduanes’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from P28.79 billion in 2022 to P30.99 billion in 2023 at constant 2018 prices.
As the PPA explains, the GDP is a comprehensive measure of economic activity or the value of all final goods and services produced within the economy in a given period of time.
The figure that the PSA used is the GDP at constant prices, which is the inflation-adjusted measure that allows the analysts to determine if the increase in output value is due to higher production rather than price increases.
Despite that negative 1.6 percent growth in agriculture, forestry and fishery output, islanders can appreciate that it is the smallest decline again in the region, with the Bicol average at minus 5.4 percent.
Catanduanes also registered the highest growth rates in the Industry sector at 7.6 percent and in the Services sector at 9.3 percent, with both increases fueled by a spike in construction activities and investment in the tourism industry which has created over half a million jobs.
On the other hand, the island’s average GDP of P111,124 or the value of each Catandunganon’s contribution to the local economy, also outpaced that of the other six provinces.
The PSA’s Provincial Product Accounts report naturally elicited questions from local planners at the Dec. 9, 2024 dissemination forum, mostly focusing on the decline in agriculture and fishery output, particularly rice and fish production.
They could not believe that despite what they claim as bountiful harvests from the rice fields and the sea, the farmers and fishermen were producing less.
What they fail to realize that along with a decrease in area planted, rice production has been on a noticeable decline since 2018, falling from 39,944.88 metric tons that year to just 17,793.27, according to PSA data.
It is the same sad story with fisheries production, as the 4.751.08 MT recorded in 2018 slumped by 52 percent to just 2,263.08 MT in 2023.
And that same stomach-churning drop can be seen in local vegetable production, from 17.2 MT in 2018 to just 9.5 MT last year.
Then there is the reality that most of the veggies Catandunganons consume come from mainland Bicol and as far as Benguet, with the PSA unable to determine actual volume of such imports as the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) does not record the tonnage of veggies in the numerous trucks that travel to the island daily.
The observation that the agricultural output’s decline is due to the decline in the buying price of abaca fiber is also borne out by records of the Philippine Fiber Industry Authority (PhilFIDA), with the price of JK, G and I fiber falling by 49 percent, 26 percent and 28 percent, respectively in 2023, compared to the previous yearend.
These three types of fiber alone, which account for 85 percent of the abaca fiber produced by 15,000 farmers, accounted for a production value of P686.9 million in 2023, dwarfing the palay production value of P354 million for the same year.
This means that it would be downright stupid not to provide abaca farmers with the necessary assistance at this time and until the industry recovers from the damage wrought by super typhoon “Pepito.”
And it would also be a failure for local governments to let the decline in vegetable production continue, as it would lead to a rise in more expensive imports from the mainland.
If what being whispered among local agriculturists is correct, many municipalities, except perhaps for the administration of Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes, are allocating less and less funds for the agriculture sector, compared to their expenditure for infrastructure.
Perhaps, it is time for the Department of Agriculture to take back this sorely neglected sector of governance from the heavily politicized LGUs to really ensure food security for all Filipinos.