Press Officer of Malacañang Expresses Palace’s Side on PH Economy Now
Malacañang is happy over the Philippines nearing the upper middle-income status and hopeful that the nation will achieve it this year.
Amid the claim of Vice President Sara Duterte that the alleged problems of the Philippine economy must be addressed, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan claimed that the country is approaching the upper middle-income status.
According to Secretary Balisacan, the Philippines is just $26 short to be considered an upper middle-income status country. For Batangas 6th District Representative Ryan Recto, he considers it a really missed opportunity for the country.
During the briefing of the House lawmakers with the economic team, Batangas 6th District Rep. Ryan Recto had the chance to question the country’s economic team which included his father, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.
The Batangas Representative is the son of former Senator and now Department of Finance Sec. Ralph Recto with actress-turned-politician Vilma Santos who is currently the governor of Batangas. Vilma’s eldest son, Luis Manzano, was her running mate for the gubernatorial race but he lost.
During the briefing of the House lawmakers and the economic team, Batangas 6th District Rep. Ryan Recto stressed that the Philippines is just shy $26 to be considered as an upper middle-income country.
“Madam Chair, we’re still a lower-middle income country, we fall in the range of $1,136 to $4,495. It was a missed opportunity, we could have been classified as upper-middle income, we were only short by $26,” the newbie Congressman said.
Finance Sec. Ralph Recto spoke and jokingly threatened his son that he will run against him in their district if he will have more questions. It turned the atmosphere during the budget talks lighter.
Meanwhile, on a serious note, the Finance Secretary assured his son that the Philippines will reach the target of being an upper middle-income country this year. His son, the Batangas Representative, assured his confidence that the country will achieve the target.
The younger Recto congratulated the Marcos administration as well as the economic team which include his father over the country’s economic standing. Recently, Malacañang spoke on the country nearing to be an upper middle-income country.
Based on a report on Inquirer, Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed that the Palace is happy over the Philippines nearing the upper middle-income status. According to her, it shows the Marcos administration’s work to boost the country’s economy.
“Of course, the Palace is happy because we can see that the administration is working to improve our economy,” the Malacañang press official said.
Based on the report, the Malacañang press official expressed the hope of the Palace that the Philippines will really achieve the target. It will only be known by July 2026.
Pres. Bongbong Marcos wants the budget talks accessible to the public. Previously, on the kickoff of the budget deliberation, Speaker Martin Romualdez clarified that the House will scrutinize the proposed 2026 budget as an “‘ally” of the executive department.