By Rick Daligdig
We are now almost halfway through 2026, and we must say that the road we are walking right now is bumpy and rocky.
In the political arena, the clash between the Chief Executive and his allies in the House Representatives is in full throttle against the Vice President. After the Supreme Court dismissed the railroaded impeachment last year, the honorable Congressmen of the House voted again to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte. The ball game is now in the upper chamber, The Senate, which is a magnanimous move, the Senate Leadership has changed to Tito Sotto to Alan Peter Cayetano. The success change was delivered through the sudden appearance of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa that gave them the change to toppled the previous majority. In addition, the “run and chase” of embattled Sen. Bato against the ICC warrant which is now according to our Justice Department is enforceable.
The instability and so much noise in Philippine politics has now been on the radar of our economic indicators. To add up the still unresolved case of the trillion anomaly regarding the flood control ghost projects, which by the way, our kababayan will be reminded again because the rainy season will come in a few months. The main culprits are still at large, and the wheel of justice is somehow slow or should I say flat tire?Aside from the internal happenings, we cannot discount the effects of the global happenings. The recent US/Israel – Iran War which skyrocketed the price of oil to its highest since the Golf War. The country experiences unprecedented price hikes in the oil pumps, where it exposes that the government has no teeth or any mechanisms to arrest or to countermeasure the effects of oil price hikes. As I have said in my previous articles, once the oil prices kick up, everything will follow. What is the government response to all of these?The answer is AYUDA!!Who are the beneficiaries again: the vulnerable sectors of the society. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that we must help them but in times like these does the government thinks that it is not only the laylayan’s of society are being hit by the crises? How about the minimum wage earners? Or the so-called middle class of the country? Hey as far as i am concern we are the big chunk of the tax collections so is not fair enough to the benefits to us also? Just asking.
The administration’s economic managers expected the slow in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q1. But still the 2.8% Q1 2026 GDP is very disappointing and dismal to the Filipinos. It only boils down to the question. Is this reeling effects of corruption in the system? Government funds are not being used in the right directions?In these moments where public consumption is restricted due to high prices, the government must pump up the funds to the economy. Government spending must be accelerated in order to cope with the weakening economy. The Peso Dollar exchange rate was now reached at the senior level. Why senior?Because it breaches the 60 peso level. That will bring more harm than good to us, especially since we are an import oriented economy. Inflation imprinted at 7.2% as of April due to War in the Middle East. Once again, I will reiterate that it is about time to revisit the Oil Deregulation Law. The purpose of this law is defeated. Instead of bring the oil industry competitive, it makes the oil players powerful, wherein the government cannot do anything that we see during crises. It is also about time to look for new energy resources in our country so that we are not so dependent on the external supply. Non renewable resources like Hydro, geothermal, and natural gas should be explored and put up so that we have a better advantage in this field.
What is more, the international watchers is monitoring us. Fitch Ratings a credible credit rating institution in the world revises the outlook from Stable to Negative outlook but maintains the BBB rating. We are still giving the leeway to fix and overhaul the situation. The Marcos Jr. Administration should be focused more to accelerate it is economic reforms and programs that will help to uplift the lives of our countrymen and lessen the political noise and grandstanding. #
PHOTO COURTESY: ibon.org