MANILA—The Philippine economy’s remarkable growth of 7.7 percent in the first half of 2013, along with the government’s investments in social development programs, significantly reduced poverty in the period, possibly marking the beginning of an appreciable downward trend in poverty incidence, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) continue reading : High economic growth, investments in social dev’t reduced poverty in first half of 2013