Philippines on the Brakes

The Philippine economy grew just 2.3% in the second quarter of 2026, its weakest quarterly expansion since 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). 

In the first half of the year, its economy experienced a weak 2.6% growth rate. This slowdown happened because overall investments dipped by 9.2%, total construction projects slumped by 14.8%, and everyday consumer spending barely grew at 2.8%.

The deceleration marks a sharp drop from the 7.6% growth recorded in 2022, with annual growth easing to 5.5% in 2023, 5.7% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025. 

Ultimately, reversing this sharp macroeconomic downturn requires looking beyond domestic interest rate cuts and infrastructure backlogs. To prevent sinking into a deeper malaise, the Philippines must urgently resolve its public investment crisis while simultaneously building structural resilience against imported energy shocks, climate-driven agricultural risks, and cooling overseas remittances. For strategic investors and business leaders, navigating this prolonged slowdown demands a defensive pivot toward energy-resilient sectors and high-yield fixed income until consumer purchasing power and broader structural growth stabilize. 

Moreover, this economic drag is heavily compounded by the Marcos Jr. administration’s severe underspending and bureaucratic bottlenecks, which triggered a 32.4% collapse in public construction due to disruptive project reviews and corruption probes. 

At the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi, India, fifth-seeded Malaysian women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan – who received a first-round bye – faced Türkiye's Bengisu Erçetin and Nazlıcan İnci yesterday, beating their second-round opponents 21–16, 21–13 in 34 minutes.

While pleased to clear their opening hurdle, Thinaah accepted that there was still plenty of room for improvement. 

"Definitely happy that we won our first match, but there are still things that we need to work on and improve", she said. 

More encouragingly, Pearly declared herself injury-free after enduring a difficult few months which disrupted the pair's training and combination. The 26-year-old said they had only two weeks after the Taipei Open to work seriously on rebuilding their partnership ahead of the world meet. 

I expect they will do better in their next match.