Looking forward!

Welcome to the New Year! Thankfully, we have gains to build on and much to look forward to for the Philippines in 2025 and beyond. Just a few days ago, the London-based Center for Economics and Business Research opined that the Philippines is projected to be the world’s 23rd largest economy by 2039 (from 33rd in 2024). Inflation has finally slowed down to a manageable level, and our economic growth in 2024 is among the highest in Asia. Such studied positive outlook aligns with our AmBisyon Natin 2040 of a Philippines that is a “prosperous, predominantly middle-class society where no one is poor.” We’re on an “OK” track, but we need to be fast, focused and forward-looking to truly flourish.

What do we have to look forward to? This year, students from the poorest households can continue chasing their dreams rather than be forced to abandon studies due to their families’ lack of funds. For instance, the Department of Education’s programs for government assistance and subsidies for junior and senior high school students has a formidable P40 billion for deserving indigent students. Learners with disabilities are also not left behind and, in fact, are better equipped through the Alternative Learning System with P634 million. There’s also P28.06 billion for basic education facilities, dedicating resources for classrooms, libraries and laboratories for learners across the Philippines from kindergarten, elementary and secondary levels. We should also laud the continued funding and refinement of the DepEd’s school-based feeding program (Masustansyang Pagkain Para Sa Batang Pilipino Act of 2018 (RA 11037, co-authored by Senator Grace Poe) that established the country’s national feeding program for “undernutrition and nutrient-deficiency among children aged three years up to grade six level.” For the academic year 2023-2024, data report our efforts benefitted over 1.5 million children nationwide. We hope it leads to more children with less empty stomachs, with happier moods and who are more eager to learn!

Adding to the public discourse on education prioritization though, salaries of public school teachers should really be drastically increased moving forward. One of Senator Grace Poe’s reforms to the education sector is the law she co-authored called “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act” (RA 11997), granting annual financial assistance of up to P10,000 to all public school teachers, to fill the gap.

It’s also plain to see that our country needs more strategic railways, roads, seaports, airports, agricultural facilities, hospitals, schools, parks and power plants. In a word, infrastructure. As keenly underscored by Senator Gatchalian, for example, the 2025 national budget permits us to meet our 100 percent national electrification objective by 2028 and ensures electricity in every home, particularly the Philippines’ many far-flung rural areas. It also brings P7.5 billion to the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s Free Public Internet Access Program, thereby enhancing our nation’s ICT infrastructure, ensuring public schools have free internet and even reaching geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, and rural marginalized areas. As Senator Grace Poe, co-sponsor of the Free Public WiFi Act (RA 10929), previously asserted, free internet is yet another bridge for equal opportunity for all Filipinos, and particularly beneficial for the youth. Relatedly, we are hopeful for a better year for our farmers and fisherfolk through the Department of Agriculture’s programs, including its Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program with the considerable P126.76 billion, farm-to-market road projects worth P23.24 billion and others like small-scale irrigation and fuel subsidies.

Our national security, of course, provides the stability for any of our successes. It is why we fought for prioritized funding (3rd highest) for the Department of National Defense; our frontliners, intelligence networks and service personnel need all the help they can get.

Finally, we’re happy we found ways to dedicate fundings for our furry family members, thereby solidifying support for animal welfare in the amount of P221.75 million. Hopefully, it paves the way to the eventual passage of the Revised Animal Welfare Act (Senator Grace Poe’s Senate Bill No. 2458 filed on Oct. 2, 2023).

All of this is not to say that everything is picture perfect for the Philippines. Indeed, several urgent reforms are required now. It includes, among many others, lowering energy costs, building our manufacturing sector, casting off our import dependency, nurturing rapid growth of domestically-located knowledge-intensive industries (e.g., artificial intelligence) and furthering our augmented international trade.

Still, the national budget is around 22 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Though government spending is far-reaching in multiple dimensions, harnessing the private sector’s productive powers is key. Our capital markets are now ripe for creative reforms. In 2024, the PSEi closed at 6,528.79. While seemingly a measly 1.2 percent from 2023, it is the first time since 2019 that the index actually logged a year-on-year increase. Such interest-despite-uncertainty should be quickly met with attractive incentives for investment in the Philippine market, whether through special tax breaks, easier ways to do business and more. The Department of Trade and Industry reports that the Board of Investments approved P1.62 trillion, which surpasses the 2024 target of P1.5 trillion, while the Philippine Economic Zone Authority recorded P214.7 billion in approved investments, thus exceeding the target of P200 billion. Uncertainty in the global markets has destabilized the flow of capital from conventional hotspots. If transformative reforms are swiftly introduced and implemented here, we can establish the Philippines as a safe haven for foreign direct investments and private capital.

We are still far from our long-term aim of a comfortable life for every Filipino. Many Filipinos still suffer every day. However, 2025 brings with it a new hope that more progress will be achieved for our country and our future.