FILIPINOS are not too optimistic about the performance of the Philippine economy, especially with the surging prices of goods, rising interest rates, inadequate jobs and opportunities, and political gridlock. Poverty incidence remained stubbornly high at 15.5 percent of 110 million Filipinos in 2023 despite declining from 18.1 percent in 2021. Economists are alarmed by the P15.18-trillion national debt reported in

Feb. 2024. Meanwhile, the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is now roughly 62 percent of GDP. It means P62 out of every P100 is owed to our creditors. Our economy runs on borrowed money.