Absolute letdown

Unless a pivotal shift in public perception of the rot in government occurs, the nation may just say goodbye to its First World aspirations.

The past year saw the most spectacular display of how corruption can bring down a nation where self-gratification in the political sphere gets priority over public interest.

Last year, the country missed a World Bank indicator of a middle-income country by a hairline, which means the potential for development continues to stall.

While previously, the key factor of the slowdown in growth was external developments such as foreign conflicts that affect world prices, this time around, it is the corruption scandal that gutted the previously bright prospects.

The sentiment worsened when it became clear that the mastermind of the ongoing heist through the yearly budget is being protected by a crooked system.

Asian Development Bank country director Andrew Jeffries lamented the missed opportunities, which were reflected in the disappointing economic numbers lately.

He cited that foreign direct investment (FDI) interest had been drawn by commendable actions to liberalize the sector.

“Very recently, the Land Lease Act was passed, which now allows 99-year leases on land for foreign investors,” he explained.

“I was talking to some businessmen during an economic meeting a couple of weeks back before the holidays, and they were basically telling me it could be as bad as 3.5 percent to 4 percent yet for economic growth in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Growth stalled during the period when the corruption was brought to light, prompting the government to rein in infrastructure spending, a key driver of the economy.

Jeffries said the Christmas boost, when spending of Filipinos was at its highest last year, “will not be enough to even put the Philippine economy beyond 5 percent (expansion) for the full year. So this will be really a very total disappointment for the country’s economic growth in 2025.”

The optimism that once pervaded the nation during the time when growth was kicking among the fastest in the world was lost.

“It’s certainly a disappointment compared to earlier in the year. I remember being just a few weeks ago at a business chamber event. People were commenting how they had a similar event in May and everyone was pretty rosy and relaxed. And people were more stressed, you know, this time around with the uncertainty,” Jeffries related in a television show.

He pointed to weak government spending and the widening corruption scandal as feeding on each other to weigh down the economy.

“In early 2025, the ADB had a 5.6 percent gross domestic product growth for the Philippines, but it has been downgraded significantly to a flat 5 percent,” he said.

Such growth would not meet the goal of reducing poverty, which economists have said would require a consistent growth rate of at least 6 percent a year.

The ADB head in the country believes it would take time for the nation to get back on its feet after the budget outrage.

“There was a pork barrel scandal back in 2011, and it took four quarters for public investment to recover. We’re projecting it’ll be faster than that. But still, that’s the main question: How quickly can some of that public infrastructure spending and good, sound investment start moving forward again,” Jeffries underscored.

Coming from the ADB, the assessment that growth skidded due to the fault of the government is indicting of the corruption-plagued administration.