‘Public infra could have yielded 5% growth in Q2’ By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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WORLD » A13
‘VERY, VERY STRONG’ DEMAND FUELS GLOBAL TRADE AMID SUPPLY SHOCKS
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HE Philippine economy could have grown by at least 5 percent in the second quarter had public construction merely stayed at its year-ago level, the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) said. DepDev Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon said public construction remained weighed down by additional government procedures and project checks introduced to strengthen oversight and ensure proper implementation of infra-
structure projects. “We estimate that if public construction were at the same level as the second quarter of last year, meaning 0 percent, then the [gross domestic product] would have grown by at least 5 percent,” Edillon said in a recent interview. The Philippine economy slowed further to 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, as investments continued to contract. Gross capital formation shrank by 9.2 percent during the period, marking a fourth straight quarter of contraction. The deterioration was more pronounced in fixed investment,
with gross fixed capital formation contracting by 13.7 percent in the second quarter, worsening from a 2.5-percent decline in the previous quarter. Construction was among the biggest drags, contracting by 14.8 percent year on year in the second quarter, much steeper than the 4.3-percent decline recorded in the first quarter. Edillon said the contraction in public construction reflected the lingering impact of additional safeguards imposed on government projects, which slowed spending while projects underwent further scrutiny.
For the second half, she said the government expects infrastructure spending to pick up as agencies move from project review to implementation. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had already released the funds it could make available to infrastructure agencies beginning in June, leaving project implementation as the key task for the remainder of the year, Edillon said. She added that a significant portion of the 2026 budget remains to be spent, with the government expecting the Department of Public Works See “Infra,” A2
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By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HE government is poised to collect P644.433 billion in excise taxes next year, as it seeks to generate more revenue while deterring the consumption of “sin” products. Combined excise tax collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is projected to grow by 8.69 percent in 2027 from this year’s P592.896 billion target, the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for 2027 revealed. BIR collections from selective excises on goods is seen to reach P380.861 billion, higher by 8.94 percent year-on-year from P349.578 billion. Nearly half of the BIR’s target will come from excise taxes on tobacco products, pegged at P182.209 billion, up by 10.84 percent from P164.386 billion this year. Collection of excise tax on alcohol products is estimated at P136.713 billion, a 7.21-percent increase from this year’s P127.508-billion program. Other sources of excise tax collections next year include sweetened beverages at P39.669 billion,
mining at P15.612 billion and automobiles at P6.241 billion. The BIR is also expected to collect P41 million from excise taxes on cosmetic procedures, P13 million from tobacco inspection fees and P364 million from other miscellaneous excise taxes. Meanwhile, the BOC’s excise tax collection is seen to rise by 8.32 percent to P263.572 billion in 2027 from this year’s P243.318billion target. The BOC collects excise taxes on specific imported goods at the port of entry before release from customs custody. These include petroleum products, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and vapor products, automobiles and other goods. In the first half of 2026, the BOC has collected P113.344 billion in excise taxes, or 46.58 percent of its full-year target. The BIR, on the other hand, See “Tax,” A2
DEEP FAITH A person wades through neck-deep floodwaters beside the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, popularly known as the “Sunken Shrine,” in Bacolor, Pampanga, on Thursday, August 13, 2026, following continuous monsoon rains. Pampanga has been declared under a state of calamity to enable authorities to immediately respond to the needs of flood victims in the province. NONOY LACZA
FOREIGN, LOCAL INVESTMENT PLEDGES UP 73% IN Q2–PSA
OFWs lost ₧50B from forex markup fees–fintech exec
N VESTMENT pledges from both foreign and Filipino nationals increased in the second quarter of 2026, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Approved investments from both foreign and Filipino nationals in the second quarter of 2026 reached P541.51 billion, a 73.1-percent increase from the P312.87 billion reported in the same period a year ago. Of the total, Filipino nationals contributed P426.31 billion or 78.7 percent of the amount. Foreign investment approvals, meanwhile, increased 68.2 percent to P115.20 billion. “Eight out of 16 Investment Promotion Agencies [IPAs] reported foreign investment approvals during the period,” the
ROUND P50 billion were lost by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in 2024 as they sent money home to their families due to foreign exchange markup fees, according to Wise Philippines, a financial technology platform. “So we estimate about 10 billion pesos for MSMEs and 40 billion pesos are being lost by personal customers when they send money across borders...so that is a very big problem. Because of the FX markups,” Areson Cuevas, Country Manager for Wise Philippines said at a briefing on Thursday. “Sayang [What a pity]. That’s P50 billion that should have been in the pockets of people to buy daily needs,” Cuevas also noted. To illustrate, Cuevas said if one is receiving a thousand US dollars in remittances through any bank or any other institution, markup would be around 3 to 5 percent. “So that would be around P3,000
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PSA said. These IPAs are the Authority of the Freeport of Bataan, Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Board of Investments (BOI), Bangsamoro BOI, Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. PSA data showed that in terms of country of origin, the Netherlands was the leading source of foreign investment (FI) pledges, contributing P50.74 billion, or 44 percent of the total approved foreign investment. Germany followed with P18.05 billion or 15.7 percent, and Singapore with P9.95 billion or 8.6 percent of the total. Data from the PSA showed See “Investment,” A2
By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
OVERSEAS Filipino workers line up at the OFW Lane at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City. FILE PHOTO
being charged at my remittance. And just goes to, of course, the banks and the intermediaries,” the country manager for Wise Philippines said. Cuevas pointed out that the 3 to 5 percent average cost to move
money across borders is “more or less uniform” across markets. Wise explained that the forex markup is the additional charge levied by banks and card issuers on top of the exchange rate. It is essentially the added fee for converting money.
The fintech firm explained further that the forex markup fee is applied to nearly all transactions that require a currency conversion. Wise said the markup impacts the exchange rate used in remittance, international spending, cash withdrawal and cross-currency spending. Moving forward, the country manager for Wise Philippines said this is one of the issues that the fintech platform would hope to be addressed. Citing an earlier survey it conducted, Cuevas said only 21 percent or 3 in 5 of the Filipinos surveyed engaged in international transactions are aware of hidden fees like exchange rate mark-ups. “So that’s why we are very strong in making sure that, you know, Filipinos, guys, you have to know how much you are paying for your remittances. Because that is your hard-earned money or the hardearned money of your family abroad. So that has been the biggest challenge,” added the country manager of Wise Philippines.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.3230 n JAPAN 0.3847 n UK 82.7615 n HK 7.8156 n CHINA 9.0904 n SINGAPORE 47.9161 n AUSTRALIA 43.2940 n EU 70.6686 n KOREA 0.0433 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.3336 Source: BSP (August 13, 2026)