This paper gives a broad overview, with supporting statistical evidence, of the
relationship and interrelationships between trade liberalization and the inflow of
foreign direct investment and social development in the Philippines during the late
1980s and the 1990s. The APEC Trade and Investment Liberalization and Facilitation
(TILF) agenda is seen as the major event that has overshadowed as well as influenced
economic and social conditions in the Philippines. However, this program seemed to
have overplayed the short-run, and in the process underplayed its long-term,
implications. In particular, in the case of the Philippines, the focus of the program is
primarily on expanding investments and freeing financial markets. This emphasis has
led to a disproportionate process of liberalization and facilitation that favored capitaland
skill-intensive industries, resulting in an increase in poverty incidence and
magnitude in the rural areas.