BBM’s dismissive assurances amid a deteriorating economy

As the peso fell past P64 to $1, President Marcos said, “Do not take it with alarm. Don’t panic.” On national debt, which has reached an alarming 66 percent of GDP, he called the absolute amount “just a number in the air. It doesn’t mean anything.” These are the words uttered by an entitled heir who has never had to struggle with rising prices nor felt the consequences of a weakening economy.

BBM wants us to believe that all is fine as he nonchalantly dismisses public anxiety. Why should we trust him? Four years into his presidency and Marcos has demonstrated neither the competence nor political will needed to keep the economy growing at pace. Once among Asia’s fastest-growing economies, the Philippines is now the laggard.

True, external shocks are real. But so is his directionless leadership, particularly in driving the economy and enacting reforms. Filipinos cannot feed their families with dismissive assurances. They need results. Let the numbers speak for themselves.

Economy losing steam

Growth decelerated from 7.6 percent in 2022 to 4.4 percent in 2025. It weakened further to 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, 2.3 percent in the second and 2.1 percent in the third. How low can you go?

Blaming the Middle East war does not hold water. Vietnam grew 8.39 percent and Indonesia 5.29 percent in the second quarter. They face international turbulence too. Their resilience underscores Marcos’ incompetence and inability to navigate turbulent times. Without stronger investment and decisive reform, the country’s prospects remain poor.

Investment and jobs

Foreign direct investment declined by 23.9 percent to $4.07 billion in January-July 2026. This follows successive declines in 2023 and 2024. It is spiraling down under Marcos.

Business sentiment turned negative in July and remained pessimistic. That is an indictment of an administration doing a lousy job with the economy. Confidence must be earned through clear visioning, consistent policy, honest procurement and competent execution.

Investors need cheaper electricity, predictable regulation, simpler permits, enforceable contracts, efficient logistics and credible protection against corruption. These remain festering issues under Marcos. Investment incentives cannot compensate for an operating environment that remains expensive and uncertain.

Employment figures reveal the weakness behind Marcos’ assurances. Unemployment eased from six percent in July to 5.3 percent in August 2026, but job quality deteriorated compared with a year earlier. Underemployment rose from 10.7 to 11.9 percent. Government must generate 960,000 jobs a year just to absorb new entrants in the workforce. It generated only 490,000 jobs as of September.

Prices and the peso

Inflation accelerated from 6.1 percent in August to 7.2 percent in September. That is the daily punishment Filipinos endure while their President tells them not to panic.

Meanwhile, the value of the peso hovers at P64.115 per dollar. Imported fuel, medicines, machinery and production inputs become costlier. Foreign-currency debt becomes more expensive to repay in pesos.

Agriculture and industry

Agricultural production grew 2.6 percent in 2025, but livestock output contracted 2.3 percent. Food security remains hostage to cartels (which still operate with impunity), disease, costly inputs and inadequate infrastructure.

Manufacturing expanded by only 2.6 percent in the second quarter. Construction contracted 14.8 percent and investment fell 9.2 percent. The economy’s capacity to generate tomorrow’s prosperity is weakening and Marcos remains unalarmed.

The flood control scandal delayed infrastructure spending. Total infrastructure spending is now projected at just 4.2 percent of GDP, far below government’s target of 5-6 percent.

Marcos regularly cuts ribbons for inherited projects, claiming credit without establishing a transformative infrastructure legacy of his own. Meanwhile, corruption and poor implementation undermine the projects undertaken by his administration.

Housing and hardship

Marcos originally promised six million homes by 2028. Government subsequently downscaled to a smaller target of 1.13 million housing interventions, including financing. That is a great downward adjustment.

By June 2026, government reported a measly 575,693 units produced or financed. Most involved financing assistance. Only 81,295 were classified as direct housing provision.

The budget deficit and debt

The budget deficit widened from P1.51 trillion in 2024 to P1.58 trillion in 2025 even as growth slowed. Its persistence carries eight risks as follows: heavier borrowing; higher interest payments; less funding for public services; pressure to increase taxes; reduced room to respond to crises; competition with businesses for credit; weaker investor confidence and greater exposure to debt distress.

These risks intensify when borrowed money finances corruption rather than productive assets. Filipinos only inherit the repayment burden with no infrastructure.

Debt and pork

Borrowing can build a strong economy. But borrowing to fund ghost and substandard projects builds liabilities.

The People’s Budget Coalition flagged some P1 trillion in discretionary or unprogrammed allocations in the proposed 2027 budget. Worse, the PCIJ reported that Sandro Marcos’ district allocation rose from P369 million in the executive proposal to P4.7 billion in the House version, the largest allocation identified. Nepotism is no foundation for an anti-corruption crusade. That crusade is increasingly looking like a sham.

Put your head around the scale of it… the approximately P1 trillion in unprogrammed allocations equals 30.3 percent of the government’s planned P3.304 trillion in borrowing for 2027. Marcos is borrowing heavily, one-third of which is to fund unprogrammed allocations. The shameless recklessness is appalling.

Marcos inherited a strong economy and a young workforce capable of driving decades of prosperity. As President, his task was simply to sustain if not accelerate growth. Instead, policy drift and visionless leadership have squandered the economy’s momentum and demographic advantage. We are worse off than we were in 2022.

Marcos tells us not to panic. It’s easy to say that with billions of questionable wealth in the bank. Meanwhile, Filipinos pay higher prices, struggle for work and shoulder the debt.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan