Published Aug 10, 2026 12:05 am
Two economic numbers on the country’s economic performance during the first half of 2026 deserve more than passing attention: the 2.3 percent GDP growth and the 6.2 percent inflation rates.
These figures come from different reporting periods — the inflation figure lags by a month — and they measure different dimensions of the economy. But for Filipino families, they converge in one painful reality: the economy is not growing fast enough while the cost of living is rising too sharply.
This is the real meaning behind the statistics.
A family does not experience GDP growth as a percentage. It experiences the economy through the grocery bill, the jeepney or bus fare, the electricity and water bill, school expenses, rent, medicines and the amount left after paying for necessities.
When prices rise faster than household incomes, purchasing power is eroded. When economic growth is weak, opportunities for better-paying jobs and additional income become harder to find. The result is a double squeeze.
Government must respond with urgency — but also with discipline.
The first obligation is to protect families from the immediate impact of high prices. Food security must receive sustained attention, from farm productivity and post-harvest facilities to transportation, storage and market distribution. Government must identify and remove bottlenecks that unnecessarily raise the prices of basic commodities.
Social protection must likewise remain responsive to those most vulnerable to inflation. But assistance cannot become a permanent substitute for economic opportunity. The durable answer to poverty is productive employment and rising household incomes.
This brings us to the more disturbing side of the equation: 2.3 percent growth.
Government must ask why the economy is failing to generate stronger momentum. Are public investments being implemented quickly enough? Are regulatory obstacles discouraging investors? Are infrastructure projects producing the expected economic returns? Are our industries competitive enough to create jobs? Are workers acquiring the skills demanded by a changing economy?
These questions require answers, not excuses.
For the Executive branch, the imperative is coherent economic governance. Key government agencies — such as the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (formerly NEDA); Department of Finance; Department of Trade and Industry; Department of Agriculture; and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — must work from a shared strategy that simultaneously addresses inflation, investment, productivity and employment.
Government spending must be judged not merely by how much is appropriated or disbursed, but by what it delivers. Expenditures should be examined for their capacity to create jobs, improve productivity, strengthen resilience and reduce the cost of doing business.
For Congress, the responsibility is equally consequential. Lawmakers must resist the temptation to respond to economic anxiety with populist measures that provide immediate applause but impose long-term fiscal burdens. Their legislative agenda should instead focus on competitiveness, food and energy security, infrastructure, job creation and stronger social protection.
Economic policy should not be designed around the convenience of government institutions. It must be designed around the lived realities of citizens.
The 6.2-percent inflation figure may eventually ease and the GDP growth may recover. But unless government addresses the structural weaknesses behind weak productivity, inadequate incomes and high consumer prices, Filipino families will remain vulnerable to every new economic shock.
The challenges facing the Executive and Congress are, therefore, straightforward. Make growth faster, make prices more manageable, and make government spending more productive.
The economy must work for the family, not merely for the balance sheet. That is the standard by which economic governance should now be judged.