If you think that you have read this before, it is because you have.  

And why do you think this is “déjà vu all over again”?

Simply because the guy who is supposed to get the job done isn’t doing so.  

And so if congressional calls for more and faster public spending still do not sound like a march to action for President Arroyo, perhaps the disappointing third-quarter economic growth figures would.

In fact. the dismal growth data do not ring melodic at all.

Why? Because they sound like alarm bells going off.

The economy slowed to 3. 2 percent in the third quarter on the back of a sharp decline in the construction sector and slackening exports, the National Statistical Coordination Board  said yesterday.

“The so-called death spiral of debt that hounds our trading partners, the un-invigorating, albeit already expanded government spending, and the declining fishing due to unfavorable weather and the high cost of fuel contributed to this relatively lethargic growth,” NSCB secretary general Romulo Virola was quoted by a wire service as saying in a press briefing.

The debt crisis in the Eurozone and fiscal deficit problems in the US reduced demand for exports, specifically electronics. The country’s construction sector slowed owing to the delayed implementation of the government’s Public-Private Partnership program.

Steady consumption combined with the modest 1.2-percent growth in the services sector limited the decline.

“With the downwardly revised second quarter GDP estimate, this puts the growth for the first nine months of 2011 at 3.6 percent, quite a distance even from the lower end of the whole year target of 4.5 percent,”  Virola said.

Thus, an administration lawmaker promptly urged the Aquino administration to speed up government spending and beef up the country’s position as an investment haven in the region to protect the economy from the effects of declining economies in Europe and the US.

Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Ted Haresco said that in just one month, the World Bank downgraded the country’s projected growth from 4.5 percent in October to 4.2 percent so the government should increase spending, specifically in infrastructure, to help spur growth.

The WB cited the weakening demand for local exports due to the financial crises in the US and Europe and the need for continued investments in the infrastructure sector that are essential in keeping GDP levels above five percent.

Haresco said the country must look into programs that stimulate growth internally.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte has said the successful implementation of the Public-Private Parttnership program, which aims to improve regulatory inconsistency and investor protection, is expected to be key driver of improvements in the investment climate and associated rankings.

“Increased investments in infrastructure would have multiple benefits in terms of generating jobs internally, attracting foreign investments, and a strong and positive impression for the country despite global economic turmoil,” the party-list lawmaker said.

He said the present administration’s stance to review infrastructure programs approved during the previous government is creating a strong, anti-corruption image for P-Noy but has contributed to lower foreign investor confidence.

He said that lengthy reviews and delays of infrastructure projects would lead to the stagnation of development in the rural areas.