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The Philippines : Economic, Political, And Military Indicators

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The Philippines is an island in Southeast Asia that consists of more than 7, 100 islands. For a small country, it has such a rich history. It has gone through colonization of various states such as Spain and the United States. According to the Fund for Peace 2016 Fragility State Index, the Philippines is categorized in the High Warning with a score of 84.7. This rank takes into account various factors: social, economic, political and military indicators. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan sailed to the Philippines, starting its Hispanic colonization. Spain ruled over the Philippines for more than three centuries. After the Spanish-American war, it became a U.S. colony until 1946—finally gaining its independence (Harris). For a relatively new …show more content…

According to the trade policy reviews conducted by the World Trade Organization, more than 70% of the exports of the Philippines consists of electronics, automotive products and garments. Within four years, the number of exports have shown to increase by 7%. Despite having a large market of exports, these markets are mostly owned by foreign companies such as the United States (35% in 1997), the European Union (16% in 1997) and Japan (16% in 1997). Thus, the economy and the people of the Philippines do not gain as much as the market owners from the other countries. However, the three countries listed previously also provides most of the imports of the Philippines. Policies regarding tariffs forced a more open economy because tariffs were reduced as well as non-tariff barriers were removed. There are still remaining policies to protect markets that are import substitution led creating more of a competition with export markets. Despite creating a more open economy to foreign investment, there are still some barriers that exist to protect domestic markets that practice import substitution (World Trade Organization). Similar to other LDCs or Lesser Developed Countries, the Philippines is considered a NIC or a newly industrialized country. This means that its economy is transitioning from an agriculture based model to more services and manufacturing. NICs often experience both development models beginning with a phase of IOI and eventually transitioning to one of EIO.

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