Industry vs. Services

This chapter examines the difficulties of the country to emerge as an industrial power, despite the rich mineralization of the country, which has given birth to a proliferation of mines and conflicts focusing on the environmental and social consequences of mining. More than the lack of abundant energy reserves, the choices of the economic and political leaders have not been conducive to an industrial takeoff similar to neighboring countries. The steel and garment industries have never been very strong, the automobile cluster of Laguna province is much less impressive than what is seen in Thailand, and the high-tech industry works mostly for foreign companies, in the absence of any major industrial firm in the Philippines in this economic segment. The main sources of wealth are in the valorization of land holdings, as shown by the assets of the richest Filipinos. Real estate and shopping malls are some of the main drivers of the domestic economy. The country, however, has a leading position in the world of Business Processes Outsourcing, especially through call centers concentrated mostly in the southern part of the Manila Metropolitan area.