FILE PHOTO: Members of religious group Iglesia ni Cristo attending an anti-corruption protest at a park in Manila in Nov 2025. In addition to the adverse economic effects of weather and climate-related disruptions, the flood control corruption scandal also weighed on business and consumer confidence. — AFP
MANILA: The country’s economic growth slumped to a post-pandemic low of three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025 amid fallout from the graft probe and a string of devastating typhoons.
As gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the final quarter further slowed from the already disappointing 3.9 per cent revised third-quarter growth, the country thus closed 2025 with below-target performance.
The economy expanded by just 4.4 per cent for the whole of 2025 as subdued momentum persisted throughout the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday (Jan 29).
This marks the third consecutive year the Marcos administration has missed its growth target, falling short of the 5.5 to 6.5 per cent goal set for 2025.
”This outcome reflects several converging factors. These include the adverse economic effects of weather and climate-related disruptions. Admittedly, the flood control corruption scandal also weighed on business and consumer confidence,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
The three-per cent fourth-quarter growth marked the country’s worst economic performance since the 3.8-per cent economic contraction recorded in the first quarter of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Excluding the pandemic period that resulted in economic recession, it was the worst performance since the 1.8-per cent economic contraction seen in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Growth also eased from the 5.7-per cent economic expansion in 2024.
Missing the target
As it stands, the figure missed even the government’s 4.7 per cent to 4.8 per cent forecast, which was set after they had already anticipated a slowdown following the four-year low growth recorded in the third quarter that rattled the economic confidence.
Yet again, the subdued momentum was driven by the sweeping flood-control corruption scandal, which dragged government spending in infrastructure to a nearly 42-per cent contraction.
“While these developments weighed on short-term growth, the Marcos Administration emphasises that the investigations into the flood control corruption controversy had to be undertaken,” Balisacan said.
”In infrastructure, we are resuming and accelerating the completion of public works while enforcing stricter anti-corruption safeguards,” he added. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
