Senator Loren Legarda called for a reassessment of the country’s growth strategy following the latest economic data showing a slowdown in expansion. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 3 percent, marking the slowest quarterly growth in nearly 15 years outside the pandemic period. This brought the full-year growth for 2025 to 4.4 percent, the lowest annual rate since 2011, and below government targets.

In response, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered medium-term revenue projections through 2028, citing reduced investment momentum and constrained fiscal space. Revenue is now projected at P4.824 trillion in 2026, down from P4.983 trillion, P5.122 trillion in 2027 from P5.366 trillion, and P5.568 trillion in 2028 from P5.914 trillion.

“These economic figures must be understood in context,” Legarda said. “They invite us to reflect on whether our development strategies are responding effectively to today’s realities.”

Legarda noted that decades of infrastructure-led expansion, including roads, flood control, and public works, face risks when corruption and weak oversight undermine investments. “These challenges affect the entire economy,” she said. “They influence logistics, food prices, local enterprise growth, education outcomes, and household incomes, and in doing so, they shape the country’s capacity to recover and sustain growth.”

The Senator highlighted existing alternatives for sustainable development. “We do not need to start from zero. We have laws that embed sustainability and resilience into the core of economic planning,” Legarda said. She pointed to measures she championed, including the Clean Air Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Renewable Energy Act, Climate Change Act, People’s Survival Fund, Environmental Awareness and Education Act, and the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) law.

“These laws represent more than environmental protection, they outline a viable economic alternative where fiscal discipline, investment stability, and human development reinforce each other,” she said. PENCAS integrates natural capital and ecosystem services into national accounts, helping assess the economic cost of environmental degradation and long-term conservation gains.

Legarda also stressed inclusion and innovation as pillars of growth. She cited the Magna Carta for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and the Philippine Innovation Act as examples of laws that support local enterprises and foster innovation-driven growth.

She further emphasized the link between education and economic resilience, noting the 2026 commission findings on learning outcomes and skills mismatches as a “wake-up call” for policymakers. “Economic planning and education reform must move in tandem. Unless we invest in human growth, progress will remain uneven and fragile,” Legarda said. She also referenced her role in passing the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, UniFAST Act, and ARAL Program Act. “Education is intrinsically linked to labor and the development of a strong, competitive workforce,” she added.

“As our economic planners revisit assumptions and chart the country’s medium-term path,” Legarda said, “we must move away from growth that excludes and toward development that uplifts every sector of society. This means ensuring that every peso spent translates to stronger communities, better learning, and decent livelihoods.”