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Malacanang welcomed on Thursday the 6.8 percent Philippine economic growth in the first quarter.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque expressed optimism that the country's high gross domestic product (GDP) could be sustained.

"We are optimistic that our economic momentum would continue to be sustained with higher tax revenue collection and bigger public spending in infrastructure," he said.

The first quarter GDP expansion was higher than the 6.5 percent growth recorded a year ago.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, manufacturing, other services and trade were the main drivers of growth for the quarter.

The latest GDP growth is within the government's target of 7.0 to 8.0 percent. Celerina Monte/DMS