Senator wants gov’t to draft indicators of FIlipinos’ ‘gross happiness’

MANILA, Philippines — A senator wants the government to come up with new growth indicators that would measure Filipinos’ “gross happiness.”

Senator Loren Legarda INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Loren Legarda noted that the quality of life of Filipinos remains poorly understood due to the absence of measures that would reflect the happiness and well-being of the people.

Legarda then filed Senate Resolution No. 672 “urging the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to develop new indicators that will reflect the happiness and well-being of Filipinos” by adopting the “gross national happiness” (GNH) concept of the  Royal Government of  Bhutan.

“Statistics such as gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national product (GNP), which only indicate the value of goods and services turned out by our market economy, are not designed to measure the quality of life of Filipinos,” she said in a statement  on Wednesday.

“Our extractive and consumptive model for progress, which conveniently factors out the impact of economic activities on the natural environment and on the well-being of people, increasingly reveals our vulnerability to disasters and climate change and puts our sustainable development goals in peril,”  she added.

Bhutan’s GNH, Legarda explained, measures progress by giving equal importance to non-economic aspects of well-being—sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, environmental conservation, promotion and preservation of cultural values, and good governance.

This concept has been adopted by various countries, said the senator.

She also cited the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which launched a happiness index that seeks to complement the GDP and other indicators, while the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution encouraging member states to implement such concept.

“To ensure an improved quality of life for our people, it is imperative for the government to measure and pursue the kind of progress that is founded on good governance, equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, ecosystems protection, cultural preservation and disaster resilience,” Legarda said.