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Tuesday, November 25, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 48
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
ANGLAO, Bohol—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will only intervene in foreign exchange when the markets behave irrationally or when there is excessive speculation, according to BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. “We don’t always intervene. We’re kind of shy about intervening,” Remolona said in a press briefing during the Central Banking Symposium on Monday here. “But if we do decide to intervene, we’re more likely to do it when the market is going crazy. If it believes in some superstition. It believes in some technical analysis,” Remolona added. The central bank does not have a specific target peso level for it to intervene, as it lets the market determine the exchange rate, Re-
molona added. What “worries” the BSP, Remolona said, is when there are large swings in the exchange rate. “If it’s too much of a swing, it becomes inflationary because of the exchange rate pass-through,” Remolona added. Remolona said at the symposium that the BSP “worries” about the exchange rate mainly because of its price stability mandate. “In particular, we worry about large swings in the peso that could See “Forex,” A2
PHL RANKS LOWEST IN DIGITAL SKILLS DEMAND ACROSS A&P By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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ESPITE rapid digitalization initiatives across Asia and the Pacific, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday that Philippine employers continue to require the least digital skills for the same occupations compared to their regional peers. Initial findings of a forthcoming ADB study showed that the Philippines posted the lowest digital skill score, followed by Malaysia and India. The score measured how digitally intensive job postings are—ranging from zero for jobs requiring no digital skills to one for those requiring advanced competencies—and covers six economies: Australia, India, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia,
Singapore and the Philippines. The Republic of Korea posted the highest digital skill score, with employers requiring digital competencies that are roughly 17 percent higher than those expected by firms in the Philippines for the same type of job. Across Asia and the Pacific, ADB found that digital competencies have become a baseline requirement for employability. About 45 percent of job ads now demand at least basic digital skills, such as email use, office productivity tools and digital documentation. Almost 30 percent require intermediate skills like online content management and basic coding, while over 10 percent of job listings look for advanced digital skills such as programming and See “Skills,” A2
‘Integrity’ key for PHL chairship of Asean By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
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ITH the flood control corruption scandal still raging, Integrity will be a “very key pillar” for one of the top business groups in the Philippines next year as this coincides with the country’s chairmanship of Asean. Donald Lim, who has been elected President of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) for 2026, told reporters on Monday: “Next year [is] Asean year. It’s embarrassing that it’s Asean year and yet we are still talking about corruption. So I think we want to make sure that, again, we want to help rally the private sector.” Lim added, “We want to also learn from the best practices with our ASEAN neighbors. So integrity will be a very key pillar for MAP next year.”
In a separate interview, Alfred S. Panlilio, MAP’s 2025 President, said Asean can serve as the platform as the Philippines aims to bring back its “credibility” and reputation after being burned by the flood control corruption. “I mean, Asean shouldn’t only be the motivation for government. They have their own pressures as officials that they want to run the country the right way. There’s transparency, there’s accountability and I think we’ve been hearing that in the past few weeks,” Panlilio said. The current head of MAP said, “What we’re looking at now are results or outcomes of these investigations of what’s happening.” Meanwhile, Panlilio explained that there is no need to revise the Constitution to weed out corruption in the government. Instead, he pointed out: “At the end of the day, it’s the values See “Asean,” A2
PROBE DEEPENS IN FLOOD CONTROL MESS Top officials led by Interior Secretary Jovic Remulla give an update at Camp Crame on Monday, November 24, 2025, regarding suspects now under
police custody over alleged irregularities in flood-control projects across the MIMAROPA region. Remulla urged remaining suspects to surrender, echoing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s warning: “My advice to the remaining suspects is for all of you to surrender, don’t wait to be pursued ...This will continue, we will not stop.” Remulla added, “No matter where you are in the world, we will find you,” as authorities pursue more accused individuals, including several believed to be overseas. At the Sandiganbayan, police escort the first batch of arrested suspects in what is expected to become dozens of graft and corruption cases tied to substandard or nonexistent flood-control projects. In Manila, luxury European and British vehicles seized from wealthy couple Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya—accused of involvement in the massive flood-control corruption scheme—are auctioned at the Bureau of Customs. The Discayas, whose reported lavish lifestyle became symbolic of the scandal, are among personalities linked to favored construction firms and alleged kickback networks exposed in Senate hearings and an independent probe. BM/NONOY LACZA & AP/AARON FAVILA
AMRO downgrades PHL GDP outlook for ’25, ’26 By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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@reine_alberto
ORE “aggressive protectionism” and potential slowdowns in major trading partners may lead to the further slowdown of the Philippine economy for 2025 and 2026, according to the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro). Based on Amro’s Annual Con-
sultation Report, the economy will continue to expand at a rate of above 5 percent growth rate, slower than the pre-Covid trend. “Real GDP growth is projected at 5.2 percent in 2025 and 5.3 percent in 2026, below the 5.7 percent growth recorded in 2024,” the Amro report noted. These are both lower than its earlier forecast of 5.6 percent for 2025 and 5.5 percent for 2026.
Amro explained that the Philippines’ “stable” growth outlook is clouded by external uncertainties, with risks tilted to the downside, while structural challenges pose greater obstacles to long-term growth potential. “Near-term growth prospects could be adversely affected by more aggressive protectionism, potential slowdowns in major trading partners, tighter-than-expected global
financial conditions, as well as renewed inflationary pressures,” Amro underscored. It explained that although the Philippines remains “relatively” resilient to external shocks in the short term, structural challenges persist as significant barriers to sustaining the country’s potential growth over the medium to long term. See “AMRO,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.9770 n JAPAN 0.3775 n UK 77.3247 n HK 7.5784 n CHINA 8.3008 n SINGAPORE 45.1585 n AUSTRALIA 38.1109 n EU 67.9651 n KOREA 0.0401 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.7259 Source: BSP (November 24, 2025)