MANILA, Philippines -- The European Union has taken note of the economic gains and the decline in the incidence of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines, the EU ambassador told a news forum Saturday.

But extending the gains in economic development to the poor and bringing to justice those involved in human rights violations are issues the government still needs to address, said EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald.

"The main point that we would underline are first of all, the European Union commended the Philippines for the substantial GDP growth achieved in 2007," MacDonald said at the Kapihan sa Sulo forum.

The country registered a 7.3-percent gross domestic product growth in 2007, the highest in three decades.

"We recognize that this is the best macro-economic performance in some 50 years and we wanted to acknowledge that, noting as well that this was accompanied by controlled inflation, a balanced budget, and an improved balance of payments," said MacDonald.

"So at the macroeconomic level the progress has been very good and we did want to acknowledge and give proper credit for that," he said.

MacDonald annotated a statement of the European Union that was drafted by European diplomats in the country and read at the Philippine Development Forum (PDF) last week at Clark Field in Pampanga.

The PDF was attended by top government officials such as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, representatives from the World Bank and other financial institutions, and members of civil society and non-government organizations.

"But at the same time we wanted to urge continued efforts to build a more truly inclusive growth," MacDonald said.

He referred to statistics from the National Statistical Coordinating Board showing an increase in the proportion of the Philippine population living on less than a dollar a day.

"You have seen the recent data that came from the NSCB that showed that the rate of poverty in the Philippines as a proportion of the population living on less than a dollar a day has in fact increased from 30 percent to 33 percent notwithstanding the improved economic performance overall," the diplomat said.

"Now, the government is certainly going to have its work cut out to achieve the Millennium Development Goal that we all have signed up for and to ensure that the poorest communities have access to proper health and education services and can share in the benefits of this improved economic climate," he added.

According to the website of the EU embassy in the Philippines, the EU -- composed of the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and its member-states -- collectively accounts for 1.365 billion euros of total official development assistance loans and 16.65 billion euros in grants extended to the Philippines between 1992 and 2000.

This makes the EU the country's fourth largest ODA contributor.

"Taking only ODA grants into account, the EU is the country's second largest source, after Japan. Europe has contributed a total of 445 million euros, or 20 percent of the 2.2-billion-euro aggregate amount," the EU website said.

According to MacDonald, the EU is willing to help the Philippines further in the campaign against poverty and in delivering social services like health and education.

"The European Union confirms its willingness to be an active partner of the Philippines in fighting poverty," he said. "At the same time we highlighted the need to further improve the revenue efforts in order to permit effective measures to be taken to reduce social inequality," he said.

The EU statement also cited "the significant decrease" in the incidence of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances over the past few months.

It said it was "heartened by the President's emphasis on the need for speedy prosecution and conviction of those responsible for such heinous acts".

"Before there was news almost every day of extra-judicial killings," said MacDonald.

The EU joined other groups abroad in calling on the Philippine government to act on the increase in political killings and enforced disappearances of leftist activists since 2001 when Arroyo came to power.

The EU also acknowledged the efforts of the Supreme Court in trying to address the problem of human rights violations.

"The EU welcomes the work of the Supreme Court in this field and urges the government to fully implement the recommendations of UN Special Representative Philip Alston," the EU statement said.

MacDonald said the summit on extra-judicial killings that the Supreme Court organized last year was also a welcome development.