PHL World Talent index rank at 4-yr low By Andrea E. San Juan
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HE Philippines continued to plunge to the 64th spot in the 2025 IMD World Talent Ranking, its lowest ranking since 2021, due to low investment in and development of homegrown talent and the lack of availability of skills and competencies in the talent pool, among others. The IMD World Talent Ranking 2025 showed the Philippines’ rank over time. In 2021, the country placed 57th. It then climbed three rungs to the 54th spot in 2022. Heading to 2023, however, the Philippines’s talent ranking took a
SHIFTING TIDES The new nine-member Senate Minority bloc poses for a group photo
on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. The bloc is composed of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, former Senate President Francis Escudero, former Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, and Senators Bong Go, Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Robin Padilla, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bato dela Rosa. Their formation came a day after a sudden leadership change in which Senator Vicente Sotto III was elected Senate President, replacing Escudero. Despite joining the Minority, Cayetano said he is willing to work with the new leadership and urged colleagues to “move forward as an institution that loves God and loves our country” even in times of disagreement. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF SENATORS PIA AND ALAN PETER CAYETANO
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slump as it fell six notches down to the 60th spot. The country further slipped three spots as it claimed the 63rd place in 2024, and plunged further to the 64th spot this year, its lowest ranking within the five-year timeframe. The IMD World Talent Ranking “assesses the status and the development of competencies necessary for enterprises and the economy to achieve long term value creation.” IMD collated data from 69 economies. It used a set of indicators measuring the development, retention and attraction of a domestic and international highly-
skilled workforce. The global talent ranking defines Talent Competitiveness into three main factors: Investment and development, Appeal, and Readiness. It can be gleaned from the country’s talent competitiveness profile that its ranking across all three pillars took a slump. For the Investment and Development pillar, the Philippines ranked 66th out of the 69 economies, this is two notches down compared to its 64th ranking in 2024. IMD defined Investment and Development as the factor that “takes into account the invest-
ment in and development of home-grown talent.” “It traces the size of public investment on education by incorporating an indicator of public expenditure,” IMD noted. Under this category, the IMD world talent ranking said the country’s overall top weaknesses are: ratio of students to teaching staff in secondary education, with the Philippines getting a 26.33 ratio. The IMD report also underscored that the country’s weakness lies in how much it spends per enrolled student which is valued at $443. See “World,” A2
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Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 332
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ASTER inflation in August may prompt the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board to push back its policy rate cut to December, the last meeting for the year.
This is according to Citi Philippines, which believed that the BSP remains on track to reduce policy rates to 4.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from the current 5 percent. In August, the country’s inflation rate jumped to 1.5 percent from the 0.9 percent posted in July on the back of higher food, utilities, and transportation costs. “Barring a significant growth shock, the immediate uncertainty on inflation could push the timeline backward. We move our October rate cut call to December, as by then the inflation upside risk versus BSP’s base-case will probably have subsided,” Citi Philippines said. This projection, Citi Philippines said, is also consistent with what they believed to be a “less dovish” forward guidance made by BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. in the August 28 policy meeting. Moreover, Citi Philippines said,
inflation is expected to pick up on account of the 60-day suspension in rice imports starting this month. This is bound to halt the disinflation trend that is happening in rice prices. It has adjusted its headline inflation forecast to 1.7 percent by the end of the year from the previous estimate of 1.5 percent. For 2026, Citi Philippines maintained its inflation forecast to be within the 3 percent region. “We expect inflation to rise to 1.9 percent and 2 percent in September and October 2025, respectively, before slowing below 12 percent in November 2025 to February 2026, and rising [above] 2 percent from March 2026,” Citi Philippines said. In terms of core inflation, Citi Philippines said it has picked up to 2.7 percent in August. While it may be too early to expect that this will start a higher core inflation trend, there is now a reduced See “Faster,” A9
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN LIMBO AS FCP PROJECTS STALL By Justine Xyrah Garcia
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ONSTRUCTION workers on flood-control sites nationwide remain in limbo as government sanctions on erring firms leave subcontracted crews without pay and clarity on when projects will resume. In an exclusive interview with BusinessMirror, National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW) Secretary General Santiago V. Nolla said some members have been in “hanging” status for three weeks while the government investigates anomalies in floodcontrol contracts. “They have no work while the issue remains hot...They also have
unpaid wages, which is a big blow because until now their pay has not been released due to the suspension of permits of the contractors involved,” Nolla said. According to him, the affected workers are employed by subcontractors of construction firms earlier named by President Marcos as having cornered P100 billion worth of flood-control projects, equivalent to about 20 percent of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) P545.64billion allocation. In Pasig, Nolla said some crews were deployed under subcontractors of two companies linked to Sarah and Curlee Discaya’s St. Gerrard General Contractor and Development Corp. See “Construction,” A2
PORTRAIT OF PERSEVERANCE In a time when corruption scandals often taint government projects, Edwin and Roselyn Belosillo—a husband-and-wife duo of artist and photographer—rely only on each other’s hands and hard work. Side by side, they press and lay out ID laces, one of the many products of their humble arts and signage shop. Forty years ago, they began with almost nothing but grit: framing diplomas, printing shirts, sketching caricatures, crafting trophies, and mounting picture frames in a cramped stall along Recto Avenue. No connections, no questionable deals—just sipag at tiyaga. In a country where public funds sometimes vanish into irregular contracts, the Belosillos’ story stands as a quiet counterpoint: that honest labor, not influence, can still build a livelihood, a craft, and a legacy. BERNARD TESTA
FTA back in focus as PHL seeks tariff relief from US By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
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HE Philippines is reviving its long-standing ambition for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, as both allies explore sectoral arrangements and tariff exemptions amid renewed diplomatic momentum under the Trump administration. Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez revealed
that recent meetings with US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer signaled openness to future FTA talks, despite earlier indications that such a deal was off the table. “We said, we know the FTA is not at the table. And he [Greer] said, ‘No, no—we’re ready to consider it,” Romualdez recalled during the Manila Strategy Forum Tuesday. While a full-fledged FTA remains aspirational, the Philip-
pines is currently focused on securing exemptions from the 19-percent reciprocal tariff unilaterally imposed by the US on Philippine exports. Romualdez confirmed that Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go has formally requested relief for priority sectors, including agriculture and semiconductors. “We’re continuing to work with
Commerce and the USTR,” Romualdez said. “We’re confident that, at the end of the day, we’ll be able to get what we feel would be a fair tariff.” Former US Ambassador to the Philippines John Negroponte backed the push for both tariff reform and a future FTA, calling it a “fitting” step for the alliance and a way to address “unusually high tariffs” on Philippine goods. See “FTA,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.8020 n JAPAN 0.3851 n UK 76.9667 n HK 7.2892 n CHINA 7.9675 n SINGAPORE 44.2728 n AUSTRALIA 37.4325 n EU 66.8219 n KOREA 0.0410 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1403 Source: BSP (September 9, 2025)