Corruption mess may delay ratings upgrade By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE Philippines could attain a credit rating upgrade, but it could take the next two to three years as the alleged corruption tied to government-funded flood control projects risks delaying a credit improvement, according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings. “The political spillover of alleged corruption related to flood-control projects may slow the credit improvement,” S&P said in a statement. In November 2025, S&P affirmed the Philippines’s “BBB+” long-term
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and “A-2” short-term sovereign investment-grade credit ratings. An investment-grade credit rating will allow the government to borrow at cheaper costs, freeing up resources for essential services and infrastructure. Likewise, it supports businesses in accessing more affordable financing, supporting expansion and job creation. Before, S&P said that while the probe into the anomalous flood control projects has intensified political pressure, the credit rater does not foresee the protests leading to political instability. “The direction of policymaking has not changed, and the govern-
ment remains committed to delivering probusiness and progrowth conditions,” it said. The government admitted that the flood control corruption scandal has weighed on business and consumer confidence, which impacted the country’s economic growth and posted a disappointing growth of 4.4 percent in 2025. Still, S&P said its outlook on the Philippines is positive, although a credit rating upgrade could be seen over the next two to three years. “We see the Philippine sovereign credit metrics strengthening as shrinking fiscal and current account deficits augment sovereign
credit buffers to better support a higher rating over the next two to three years,” it said. The Marcos Jr. administration keeps on pushing for a credit rating upgrade as it reinforces prudent fiscal discipline and keeps inflation under control. “We still want to get our upgrade. It’s becoming more and more challenging at this moment, but we are not giving up,” Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said earlier. The Philippines attained an Arating with Stable Outlook from Japan-based Rating and Investment Information Inc. and the See “Corruption,” A2
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
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By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
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FTER missed growth targets and miscalculated forecast estimates brought about by negative shocks, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) alongside the Philippine economic team, should find better ways to capture what’s actually happening on the ground as well as quantify how political/corruption events translate into actual economic behavior. “I think BSP Governor [Eli] Remolona’s comments suggest their macroeconomic model may need better indicators for capturing governance shocks and confidence effects—essentially better ways to quantify how political/corruption events translate into actual economic behavior,” Ateneo De Manila University See “Advice,” A2
MEAT IMPORTS RISE AMID SUPPLY GAPS A recent photograph shows a meat vendor at work in his shop in Las Piñas City. A BusinessMirror report, citing an industry group, noted that persistent supply gaps caused by African swine fever, slow herd rebuilding, and rising demand from a growing population led pork and chicken imports to grow faster than the country’s overall meat consumption last year. NONIE REYES
ILO: 12.7-M Pinoys exposed to generative AI By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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VER a quarter of the Philippines’s total employment is exposed to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), the highest exposure rate among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries with comparable data. A new research brief released late Tuesday by the International Labour Organization (ILO) showed that around 27.2 percent of Philippine jobs—or about 12.7 million workers—are potentially affected by GenAI. This is relatively higher than the 21 to 22 percent exposure recorded in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The ILO clarified that GenAI exposure does not necessarily translate to outright job losses, noting that its impact on the Philippine labor market is more likely to come through task transformation within occupations rather than
full job replacement. Only 3.6 percent of total employment falls under the highest exposure category, where the risk of displacement is elevated, the report said, while the majority of exposed jobs are expected to experience changes in work processes and task composition. “In comparison with the other Asean countries, the sharp difference in potential GenAI exposure in the Philippines reflects the country’s unique labor market characteristics and distinct economic structure underpinned by knowledge-based market services, including the Information Technology and Business Process Management [IT-BPM] industry,” the ILO noted. The report showed that clerical support workers face the highest GenAI exposure, affecting about 3.5 million jobs. Of these, 37.8 percent fall under Gradient 4, or the highest exposure category, which the agency
said carries an elevated risk of job displacement due to the high automability of tasks. GenAI exposure is also elevated among service and sales workers, at 58 percent, although most of these jobs fall under low- to moderateexposure categories. Of the 1.7 million jobs classified under Gradient-4 exposure, the ILO said vulnerability is concentrated in a limited number of occupations. These include general and keyboard clerks (985,200), sales workers (271,700), numerical and material recording clerks (237,100), other clerical support workers (101,400), and business and administration professionals and associate professionals (75,600). GenAI exposure is also not gender-neutral, with jobs held by women facing significantly higher exposure than those held by men. About 40.3 percent of occupations filled by women are exposed to GenAI, compared with
19.3 percent for men. The report attributed this gap to women’s greater concentration in clerical support, service and sales occupations, which register higher levels of GenAI exposure. GenAI exposure likewise varies widely across regions. In Metro Manila, about 2.6 million of jobs (42.4 percent) are exposed to GenAI, reflecting the concentration of IT-BPM firms and other professional services. Exposure also exceeds 30 percent in Central Luzon and Calabarzon, both of which have emerged as major hubs for business process outsourcing (BPO) and administrative services, the ILO said. By contrast, regions that are more reliant on agriculture and other manual-intensive sectors show significantly lower levels of GenAI exposure. The ILO called for stronger upskilling and
FITCH ARM: PHL MAY BECOME LEADER IN TRANSITION FINANCE
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HE Philippines has a strong potential to become a regional leader in transition and adaptation finance, but needs stronger governance to attract investors, according to a unit under the Fitch Group. In an interview with BusinessMirror, Sustainable Fitch Associate Director Melissa Cheok said one of the risks facing developing economies, including the Philippines, is the transition of hard-to-abate sectors to lower carbon alternatives and being less pollutive. This is where transition finance, or providing financial services to
high-carbon-emitting industries to fund the transition to decarbonization, comes in. However, Cheok said only a few transition-focused financing transactions have been done in the Philippines. “But from my conversations with investors, as well as issuers, it is very clear there’s interest in this space.” “There is an urgent need to push forward on this front, because in this region, especially in emerging markets, there’s not always very clear opportunities for purely green financing,” See “Leader,” A2
See “ILO,” A12
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.8670 n JAPAN 0.3780 n UK 80.6419 n HK 7.5349 n CHINA 8.4826 n SINGAPORE 46.3739 n AUSTRALIA 41.3364 n EU 69.5808 n KOREA 0.0406 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.7021 Source: BSP (February 4, 2026)