By Rick Daligdig
The year 2025 was a roller-coaster for the Philippines—politically turbulent yet economically resilient, at least at the start. Despite controversies ranging from the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte to the troubled 2025 midterm elections, the economy initially held its ground. The second-quarter 2025 GDP grew by 5.5%, giving economic managers led by the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) confidence that growth targets were within reach.
But here comes July after the SONA of President Marcos Jr. when the Chief Executive itself revealed the notorious, syndicated, or we can say the largest corruption issue in the history of the Philippines – the Flood Control Controversy.
Since then, the government relentlessly sought measures to bring the culprits to justice. But the wheel of justice seems slow and has been blurred as the investigation progresses. The once-divided nation has been more divided by the issues that hounded the administration. The political mess also reached the economic veins. Global investors pulled out a net $220 million from the local stock market from July 29 — the day after Marcos’ speech — to January 9 this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Foreign investors account for more than 40% of the Philippines’ stock market turnover. The Peso and Dollar were seen at their weakest last year – 59.38 per dollar. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas looks into further monetary easing to cushion the impact. The Q3 2025 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was imprint at 4% one of the slowest in two decades.
Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of (Dep Dev ) earlier said the Philippines’ economic growth may have slowed to 4.8% to 5% in 2025, due to the controversy on anomalous flood control projects that affected government spending and hurt business and consumer confidence. Aside from that, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was 39.8 % lower than last year’s performance of the same period. October FDI was at $642M higher than September’s $320M but lower to $1.067 in Oct. 2024. The 19% tariff that US was imposed on the country resulted to slowing the factory activity. Given the scenarios, The government again, lowered the self-proclaim economic targets, for 2025. Balisacan said that it will play around 4.8-5% modest growth. For 2026, to 5%-6% from a previous goal of 6%-7%. Other economists, including from the Asian Development Bank, have also trimmed their growth outlook for the Philippines.
On the brighter outlook, the Philippines is projected to be the second-fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia this year and in 2027. Vietnam is projected to grow by 6% this year, followed by the Philippines (5.7%), Cambodia (5.1%), Indonesia (5%), Malaysia (4.0%), Laos (3.8%), Timor-Leste (3.3%), Myanmar (3%), Thailand (2%), Singapore (1.8%), and Brunei (1.5%). For 2027, Vietnam is still likely to post the fastest growth at 6.2%, followed by the Philippines (6.1%), Cambodia (5.5%), Indonesia (5.2%), Malaysia (4.5%), Laos (4%), Timor-Leste (3.2%), Myanmar (3%), Thailand (2.6%), Singapore (2%), and Brunei (2.1%).
The remittances by us workers and favorable inflation data help the economy afloat during these controversies. With the newly approved General Appropriations for 2026, which are pegged at Php 6T plus. The Filipinos are hoping that these will help revitalize the economy and prove that corruption can be minimized, if not eradicate as of this time. #END
