Is bayanihan dead in PH?

MANILA, Philippines – Bayanihan – the the act of working together – remains alive in the Philippines, but its impact on the economy is declining. 

“It’s (Bayanihan) just there, it’s alive and kicking, but we still need to further push it up,” National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert said in an April 29 forum.  

Official statistics on volunteerism among Filipinos and companies — a manifestation of bayanihan — show steady increase in terms of value, but declining in terms of share of the overall economy.

Citing the latest data on Non-Profit Institutions (NPI) in the Philippines, Albert said the value of volunteer work done by households increased steadily to by 5.3% to P48.7 billion in 2012 from P35.7 billion in 2006.

Among companies, the NPI showed that volunteer work amounted grew by 7.7% to P799 billion in 2012 from P513 billion in 2006. 

However, volunteerism in households only account for an average of 0.53% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 2000 and 2012. 

The growth rate of volunteerism among households has also been declining from a high of 10% in 2008 to only 3.1% in 2012. 

The volunteer work done by corporations, on the other hand, contributed an average of 7.8% of GDP between 2000 and 2012. But the growth rate has been stagnating from a high of 9.8% in 2007 to only 8.8% in 2012. 

“We’re really seeing that the actual contribution of volunteer work to the economy is quite large, but my point is that if you’re starting to compare with other countries, especially rich countries, it might be much less here. So the bigger challenge is whether the private sector, which is the main engine of growth in the economy, can really start stepping up also,” Albert said. 

Other interesting results of the NPI include:

1. Urban areas

• Women do not do volunteer work, even on weekends.
• The volunteer rate of men is about 1.1% from Monday to Saturdays. They do not do volunteer work on Sundays. 
• Volunteers from urban areas account for 69% of total volunteer hours

2. Rural areas

• The volunteer rate of women is at 0.37% during weekdays, gradually increasing to 0.74% on Saturdays and 2.2% on Sundays.
• The volunteer rate of men is about 2.2% on weekdays, 1.73% on Saturdays, and 3% on Sundays. 
• Volunteers from rural areas account for 31% of total volunteer hours

The latest NPI was a pilot and it included 12 sample institutions. These institutions are:

• Mary Johnston Hospital
• De La Salle University
• Philippine Council for NGO Certification
• Philippine Business for Social Progress
• Sining Galing League of Artists Inc.
• Dagway Sigmahanon Inc.
• Philippine Youth Rowing Society
• World Tong-II Moo-Do Federation
• Institute for the Leadership and Advancement of Women, Inc.
• Alliance for Progress and Unity Inc.
• Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation Inc.
• Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation

The survey portion of the data was conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and covers only two sampling areas – Batangas and Quezon City. It covers 240 households and 663 respondents. – Rappler.com