Official sigh

When you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on EDSA, crawling along while watching motorcycles effortlessly weave past you, that’s the uneasy sentiment I, and I think many Filipinos, felt on reading about the government’s revised, lower economic growth targets for the next few years. Doesn’t it seem like an official sigh, a settling into the slow lane while our neighbors speed past?

That’s why the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FFCCCII) refreshing response didn’t escape my notice because it’s a necessary jolt of ambition.

Its president, Victor Lim, didn’t just accept the new speed limit. He honked the horn and called for a whole new engine. His central message, which sounds like “Thank you for your kind support… urging more reforms and aspiring for higher Philippine economic growth,” is both polite corporate speak and a battle cry.

He rightly calls the revised targets a “wake-up call,” but rejects the idea that 5-7 percent growth should be our limit. For a nation with our potential, 8 percent isn’t a fantasy but a necessity. It’s the only growth strong enough to truly lift all boats and fund the inclusive development that we need.

The government lowering its sights to 5-7 percent growth, blaming corruption and global uncertainty, is understandable. It’s realistic, but as the FFCCCII argues, realism can be the enemy of greatness.

Settling for this pace means accepting that the traffic jam is permanent. The FFCCCII’s push for 8 percent is no wild fantasy, it’s a “minimum viable ambition.”

It’s the speed we need to actually start gaining on our neighbors, creating real jobs, and funding the health and education projects that we all agree are vital.

The comparison to Vietnam stings but is a necessary slap in the face for a reason. They’re targeting 10 percent growth after achieving 8 percent in 2025, while here we are — downgrading. A country that started from the ashes is targeting double-digit growth. Why? Because the world invests in momentum.

Every time we lower a target, we signal to the world that we’re managing decline, not engineering an ascent.

That is why the FFCCCII’s six-point plan is so crucial. It’s not a vague wish list. It’s a mechanic’s blueprint for the overhaul that we need. Transforming human investment means every peso in education must result in a skilled graduate, never just a spent budget. An institutional anti-corruption overhaul should not blame the past. Rather, it should install a new, immovable system so the next scandal can’t even take root.

The push to revive our farms and put economics at the heart of our foreign policy speaks directly to the real problems we keep facing. It boils down to this — we’ve got to start making and growing our own stuff here and selling it to the world with a smart strategy, instead of sympathy.

The point about inclusivity hits hard, too — it can’t replace ambition. Inclusivity must come from ambition. Redistributing poverty doesn’t work either. To give everyone a fair share, we must first grow the pie — and fast. While it is true that a rising tide lifts all boats, right now we’re stuck in a puddle.

With its deep, generations-long stake in this country, FFCCCII moves beyond critique to partnership, changing the national momentum by offering a clear blueprint: double down on education and health outcomes, create a powerful independent anti-corruption agency, champion domestic manufacturing and agriculture, and execute a world-class tourism strategy.

Simply, “we’re in this jeepney with you, and we need to change its route and turbocharge its engine.”

The private sector is not a bystander waiting for government cues — it can be a relentless driver of national ambition and collective momentum, creating jobs, lifting families, and building a country we can all be proud of.

A marker has been laid down. It’s now on all of us to demand that our leaders pick it up and get this nation moving at the speed it deserves. Otherwise, we’ll all be stuck in the same frustrating queue for a very long time.