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Monday, March 16, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 155
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
HE government paid a record P2.103 trillion to service its debt in 2025, driven by a surge in interest payments even as principal amortization slightly declined, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). Treasury data showed the government’s debt payments grew by 4.08 percent to P2.103 trillion in 2025 from P2.020 trillion in the previous year. Last year’s debt service also slightly exceeded the P2.054-trillion program, under the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, by 2.38 percent. Broken down, interest pay-
ments rose by 13.21 percent to P864.139 billion in 2025 from P763.313 billion a year ago. This also surpassed the P848.031-billion program by 1.9 percent. Most of the interest payments, about 73.46 percent or P634.846 billion, went to local lenders. Domestic interest payments jumped by 17.60 percent year-on-year See “Debt,” A2
FASTER DECOUPLING BETWEEN U.S., CHINA TO BENEFIT S.E.A. By Lorenz S. Marasigan
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ANOI, Vietnam— Southeast Asian economies, including the Philippines, stand to benefit from the accelerating decoupling between the United States and China, as companies pursuing diversification strategies increasingly seek alternatives to Chinese supply chains. At the launch of the DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026, New York University Stern Research Assistant Professor Steven Altman said the
report he coauthored found that the share of US imports sourced from China has collapsed to just 9 percent in 2025—down from 13 percent in 2024 and from highs reached before the first round of US-China tariff escalation in 2017. Notably, he said, the figure now sits below the level recorded when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Since 2016, he said the share of US trade, capital, information, and people flows going to or from China has fallen by an See “Decoupling,” A2
FUELING UP IN SAN FERNANDO! An oil depot and fuel storage facility in Poro Point in San Fernando, La Union, handles gasoline unloading operations, amid widespread apprehension over when the country’s fuel reserves would dry up amid the war in the Middle East. This facility—located within the Poro Point Freeport Zone and managed by the Poro Point Management Corporation— serves as a critical infrastructure for receiving and storing gasoline and diesel that supply Northern Luzon. MAU VICTA
PHL floats ‘Asean Geoeconomic Group’ concept By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
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@blessogerio
OUTHEAST Asian economies may soon have a more formal platform to navigate global economic shifts, as the Philippines proposed elevating the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) geoeconomics task force into a permanent regional body. The Philippines, as Asean chair, is pushing to elevate the Asean Geoeconomics Task Force into a formal unit, to be called the Asean Geoeconomic Group. “While the Asean region remains the global champions of the open market, the current landscape demands that the openness be backed by coordination and fore-
sight,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque said in her opening remarks during the 32nd Asean Economic Ministers’ Retreat. “Alongside the High-Level Task Force on Economic Integration, this body will ensure that we are not just reacting to global shifts— we are navigating them together.” The Asean Geoeconomics Task Force was originally created to help the bloc coordinate strategies in dealing with international trade uncertainties and strengthen the region’s economic resilience. The group’s work includes discussing policy responses and aligning decision-making across member states on emerging economic and trade issues. In a press briefing on Friday af-
ter the retreat, Roque clarified that discussions with Asean ministers so far have focused on how each country is responding individually to ongoing developments. At present, member states are pursuing their own strategies rather than adopting a coordinated regional response. “All the Cabinet secretaries in the country are all working together to make sure that we’ll be able to handle this crisis as best as we can,” she explained. “All the departments have their own tasks on what to do.” “We haven’t discussed regarding the way forward regarding this crisis because we just actually brought it up during this meeting,” she added. Despite the lack of a common ap-
proach for now, Asean economic ministers affirmed in a joint statement on Friday their commitment to an open and rules-based global trading system. The ministers urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to avoid protectionist policies and unwarranted trade restrictions that could disrupt global commerce. They emphasized the importance of maintaining a multilateral trading system that is predictable, nondiscriminatory and transparent, with the WTO at its core. Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry on Saturday warned retailers against hoarding essential goods or engaging in profiteering, saying such practices would not be tolerated.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 59.5310 n JAPAN 0.3736 n UK 79.4739 n HK 7.6062 n CHINA 8.6486 n SINGAPORE 46.5704 n AUSTRALIA 42.1063 n EU 68.5440 n KOREA 0.0400 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.8652 Source: BSP (March 13, 2026)