I WAS as surprised as everyone else that the fourth-quarter and annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth figures, released last Thursday, were much higher than every forecast; about a full percentage point higher, as a matter of fact, at 7.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

A good economic indicator is certainly better than a poor one, but I think in this case it would have been better for the government to have avoided drawing attention to it. The exceptional GDP figure is so far detached from most people's real-world experience that it, and the claim that it was due to 'President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s good economic stewardship,' are instantly suspect.