By Hannah Torregoza Senator Joel Villanueva on Thursday urged the government to ensure that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) target for this year would be attained. Villanueva made the call after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country missed its growth target in 2018 attributing the lower 6.2 GDP growth last year to slow consumer spending due to high prices brought about by inflation. Senator Joel Villanueva (Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN) “While we fell short of our full-year target, our country remains on its growth track. We in government must come up with ways for our growth targets to materialize moving forward,” Villanueva said. The PSA reported Thursday that the GDP expanded by 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, bringing the full-year average below the already downgraded 6.5-6.9 percent goal. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia earlier admitted that inflation was the “spoiler” to the economy’s growth potential in 2018 but sets the government GDP target to a higher 7 to 8 percent this 2019. Villanueva said the government should look with concern on the slump on the growth of the agriculture sector, which has shrunk “year-on-year,” from 4 percentage points in 2017 to 0.8 percent. “Nakakabahala po ito dahil sa isang bansa na napakayaman sa lupain, ‘di natin mapasigla ang ating sektor ng agrikultura (This is extremely worrisome, because for a country that is rich inland, we failed to strengthen our agriculture sector),” Villanueva said in a statement. “We should continue to help and provide technical support to local government units (LGUs) so that our agricultural extension offices will be more effective in boosting the production and income of farmers,” he further said. Villanueva said he hopes that the P43.6-billion budget Congress allocated to the Department of Agriculture (DA) be put to good use so that the farmers may receive the most effective and necessary support to uplift the lives of their families. “Our resolve must be stronger to improve the resilience of the agriculture sector to climate change while continuously improving farmers’ direct access to market, among others,” Villanueva said. The Senate, he also said, recognizes Pernia’s call to develop firm policies that would restore investor confidence in the Philippines. “Kapag may namumuhunan dito sa atin, mayroon pong trabaho para sa ating mamamayan (When investors come here, we want to ensure that jobs are available for our people). I'm sure our Senate will be more than willing to lend a helping hand to our economic team to craft legislation that sustains the momentum of our country's growth,” he said. As chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development, Villanueva said he would actively pursue and be vigilant in protecting the jobs that should be made available to Filipinos. “From my end, we will be vigilant in protecting the jobs that Filipinos can do. With the help of our partners in government, we shall crack the whip on illegal foreign workers who are taking away jobs from Filipinos,” Villanueva said. Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, for his part said the 6.2-percent GDP growth in 2018 is still a “very respectable growth” which the administration should work on enhancing this year. “(That) 6.2 percent is still a very respectable growth figure and we should seek to build on that in future years to ensure jobs for our countrymen and growth of less developed areas in the country,” Angara said when sought to comment.