Source:
http://www.philippine-history.org/about-philippines.htm
Pinoy island is in fact very rich in natural resources with abundance of land.
With a population of more than 103 million people the Philippines is the seventh most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world.
Rightfully, this country can be self sustainable even without opening up to free trade. In fact most of the people should be living in a comfortable and simple life.
The set back is that all these resources and land has been owned by several rich, powerful and corrupted families. These rich powerful people has no worries about life for their next few generations but the fruits of their success is not passed down to the peasants in Pinoy land.
You can see from history that these rich and powerful families take turns to run for presidency and they are even much more corrupted than before upon being "elected as president". Economic advancement in Pinoy land is very slow given the fact that all resources and land has been kept by several family members.
If their president really care for their people and country, they should have move on to a much more developing state by creating jobs for their people instead of letting them seek for jobs outside of their own country.