BY REGINA BENGCO and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR

PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday said the Philippines will not be pulled back by the global stock market dive because its growth is firmly rooted on sound fiscal policies, good governance, blossoming enterprises at the grassroots and the growing remittances of overseas workers.

"The world markets may go up and down, but the Philippine economy can no longer be pulled back," Arroyo said in a statement.

If the earnings of the more than eight million OFWs are factored in, she said, the result is "a solid picture of economic stability relatively impervious to the vagaries and glitches in the world economy."

"Our fundamentals are rooted well and spread over a wide range and cannot be overcome easily in a single sweep," she said.

Arroyo said the East Asian region, including China, is resilient in making a rapid comeback from the most recent drop in the bourse.

"East Asia is a dynamo of growth and will continue to be a leader in trade, security and economic consolidation. Confidence in the Philippines and in the region is unsullied. Sustained growth will carry the day. We must keep our heads up, stay on course and unite behind our common agenda and vision," she said.

She said Andrew Tan, chairman of the real estate developer Megaworld, told her that his company was recovering Thursday from the dive in prices.

Presidential chief of staff Jose Salceda told a radio interview that the public market is more important than the stock market and that any adverse effect in the economy would be recovered by fiscal reforms and other measures to attract investors.

Salceda said any movement in the Chinese economy would naturally affect the whole world. "When China catches cold, it becomes the world’s headache," he said.

But he was quick to add: "There’s no permanent damage on the structure… Middle income country na po tayo. Hindi tayo kasing hirap tulad ng African countries..."

Arroyo, in a roundtable conference in Malacañang, said the estimated P25 billion proceeds from the sale of government’s indirect holdings in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. will go to the treasury and be used for education, health, social services and infrastructure.

Arroyo stressed economic gains under her administration are not a myth. She said the gains are concrete and have already started to trickle down to the masses.

"Is it a myth that you’re paying lower electricity? Is it a myth that you’re buying lower cost beef? Is it a myth that the taxi drivers are getting more savings because they’re buying lower-priced LPG? Is that all a myth?" she said when asked to comment on the opposition’s claim that the economic gains boasted by Malacañang are illusory.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the administration welcomes a debate with the opposition on the economy as long as it is done "in a place and under rules that are mutually agreed upon." – With Jocelyn Montemayor