Category: Business Mirror

Learn and enjoy a gentle and mindful exercise class designed to help improve strength, flexibility, balance, and posture through controlled and low-impact movements at Sunshine Place as it collaborates with Ms. Heidi Alemania for a course on Mat Pilates.

Mat Pilates focuses on core stability, proper alignment, and body awareness, helping you move more comfortably and confidently.

It is perfect for those who want to stay active, maintain mobility, and build strength while

enjoying a safe and supportive approach to exercise. It is also a great way to keep the body moving and support better movement in everyday life.

Heidi Alemania is a certified Pilates teacher since 2013. She trained under Romana’s Pilates and currently teaches at Integrated Body Arts (IBA). She has experience working with clients of all ages and levels, particularly seniors. She continues to develop her

skills by attending seminars and conferences both locally and abroad. Before Pilates, Heidi had a background as a TV dancer and competitive ballroom dancer in the Latin category, giving her a strong foundation in movement and coordination. Her passion for Pilates comes from her belief that through the practice, she can help each person move with greater strength, balance, mobility, and confidence.

The MAT Pilates course will be conducted every Friday, starting October 09, 2026 from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.

To enroll and to know more, please contact M. (0917) 801 6440 or email hello@sunshineplaceph.com .

TWO public interest organizations pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to act against the proliferation of cigarette-like sweets, such as candy sticks and lollipops.

They said these cigarette-like sweets contribute to the behavioral and psychological conditioning that normalizes smoking for children.

In a letter sent to FDA officer in charge Franklin Anthony M. Tabaquin IV on September 25, Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH Philippines), and Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, expressed deep concern over online product listings and reels promoting children’s consumption of cigarette-looking candies.

Among the products monitored and reported to the FDA are Cigarette Candy, Good Flavor Smoke Candy, Lollipop Cigarette Pop, Lollipops (Non-Cigarette Candy), MM Xiong Trendy Candy Stick, Sugar Tobacco Stick Lollipop, and Trendy Lollipops.

As pointed out by the groups, tobacco-themed candy sticks and lollipops glamorize and normalize smoking practices among children at a very young age, allowing them to experience the act of smoking, from holding the cigarette stick between their fingers to putting it to their mouth.

They said it also desensitizes the minds of young children to the dangers of tobacco, subliminally instilling that smoking is a fun, harmless, and acceptable activity.

The groups also emphasized that these cigarette look-alike sweets contravene the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), signed and ratified by the Philippines, which lists the banning of sales to and by minors as one of the tobacco control measures to be enforced by parties, including ‘prohibiting the manufacture and sale of sweets, snacks, toys or any other objects in the form of tobacco products, which appeal to minors.’

To stop the unbridled marketing of tobacco-themed candies that glamorize and normalize tobacco use, ASH Philippines and the EcoWaste Coalition urged the FDA to:

1. Issue an advisory to explain the problems associated with cigarette-like candies and the responsibility of the government and society to safeguard children from future cigarette use and nicotine addiction, including warning businesses not to manufacture, import, distribute, promote, advertise, or sell tobacco-themed products.

2. Order the administrators of online shopping and social media platforms to take down product listings of cigarette-like candies, noting that these products lack certificates of product registration and their importation, distribution, promotion, advertising, and sale are deemed illegal under RA 9711, or the FDA Act of 2009.

3. Encourage importers, distributors, and retailers who still have stocks of cigarette-like candies to voluntarily surrender them to the nearest FDA offices for environmentally sound disposal.

4. Work with Congress to enact more stringent sanctions against manufacturers, importers, distributors, promoters, advertisers, and sellers of look-alike tobacco sweets, snacks, toys, and other objects appealing to minors, as well as sanctions against digital platforms where these are traded.

Stringent sanctions, ASH Philippines and EcoWaste Coalition said, will align with stricter implementation of the FCTC, Article 16 in particular, to better prevent youth uptake of tobacco and similar products.

FOR a decade, the creative space Benilde Hub of Innovation for Inclusion (HIFI) has served as the home of promising startups established by leading trailblazers and budding entrepreneurs.

This launchpad has assisted purpose-driven, sustainability-centered, and income-generating projects and ideas come to life through academic and industry mentorships, incubation programs, immersive fellowships, and aid in securing government grants.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of HIFI, a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) accredited by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), attention must be drawn to some of the game-changing local startups it has aided through the years.

1. HA.MÜ. Founded by Abraham Guardian and Mamuro Oki, the Filipino artisanal label celebrates individuality and free-spirited aesthetic through its maximalist upcycled garments and playful fits which challenge gender stereotypes. Its iconic pieces include the viral Sinigang Bib Top, whimsical birthday crowns, and bespoke barongs with floral embroidery.

2. Dehusk. A vegan plant-based coconut milk brand co-founded by actress Nadine Lustre, entrepreneur Christophe ‘Chris’ Bariou, Quan Tan, and Samuel Tecuala. Billed as the Philippines’ first locally produced and fortified coconut milk drink, Dehusk utilizes Philippine coconuts to offer a dairy alternative that is lactose-free, cholesterol-free, and fortified with vitamins and minerals.

3. Pumapapel Pop-Up Design Studio. Helmed by paper engineer Amy Lopez Nayve, it is the Philippines’ pioneer pop-up book and paper engineering studio. Since 2018, it has designed custom pop-ups and dimensional advertising for cultural institutions, brands, and publishers-including the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, Bvlgari, and the Mind Museum-and published six pop-up books with UK-based Nextquisite Publishing.

4. The Busking Community PH. Established in 2017 by Martin Riggs, it is now an organized group which awards multiple earning opportunities for some 300 buskers. Their systematic approach primarily uses data-mapping to match buskers and locations, maximize the potential of each busking session, and make sure it is sustainable and secured for years.

5. EcoUling. This social enterprise works closely with rural farming communities in the Philippines to manufacture eco-friendly charcoal briquettes from coconut waste, instead of wood. It was established as a livelihood project in 2015 by Aya Fernandez, and has since begun scaling its operations when co-founder Katrina Mamaril joined the team.

6. Para sa Sining. Co-built by cultural advocate and creative producer Micah Pinto, Para sa Sining (For the Arts) is a Manila-based non-government organization which teams up with both local and international institutions and partners with different communities through inclusive cultural initiatives. They foster the spirit of cultural collaboration through art as a tool for dialogue, engagement and social inclusion.

7. Mylo Speech Buddy. A speech development app for children with speech delays, it was developed by Vincent Rocha, a father whose own son inspired the app, alongside co-founder Enrico Aquino. The app uses video modeling and research-backed methods to assist children to build their verbal communication skills.

8. Ziv Rei Alexi. The young Caviteño designer is acclaimed for his artistry, avant-garde pieces, and raw style depicting the everyday life of Filipinos. His Manila-based namesake brand is heavily influenced by the authenticity of Pinoy heritage. One of his prominent creations is the tansan dress of repurposed bottle caps, an outfit which required more than 300 hours of hand embroidery.

9. EdukSine Studios. An ode to Philippine cinema, EdukSine is a streaming platform which showcases educational and socially relevant independent Filipino films. The brainchild of CEO Karen Jane Salutan-Krukover, the multi-awarded cultural enterprise was built to uplift communities and make local films accessible and affordable to students and cinephiles in cities and remote provinces. It is the pioneer of hybrid block screenings and has integrated Filipino Sign Language (FSL) into local films to extend an inclusive storytelling to the Deaf community.

10. AIMHI. Artificial Intelligence meets Human Intelligence (AIMHI) is a Tagum City-based construction technology startup which improves project visibility, cost management, risk analysis, and decision-making through its AI-powered solutions. It was recognized as the Startup of the Year at the Davao Startup Champion Awards.

THE National Food Authority (NFA) raised its selling price for milled rice by P2 per kilo to trim the losses it incurred from selling the staple below prevailing market prices.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the grains agency increased its selling price to P35 per kilo from P33 per kilo, which took effect last August 15.

‘This would trim our losses. Also, our selling price is already too low compared to the market [prices],’ Lacson told this newspaper.

The newly approved selling price covers milled rice sold to local governments (LGUs), government agencies, and the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) for the P20 rice program.

The price only differs for aging rice stocks or those stored in warehouses for more than three months, which is sold at P32 per kilo.

Latest figures from the grains agency showed that it has distributed 207,648 metric tons (MT) of rice from January to September, of which 126,737 MT went to the P20 rice program.

Earlier this year, the NFA and FTI formalized a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which covered funding and supply commitments for the cheaper rice program for 2026.

The MOA outlined the procurement of about 1.8 million 50-kilogram sacks of well-milled rice, backed by a P3 billion budget, which formed part of the P10 billion Rice-for-All program under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) budget.

The P20 per kilo program, launched in May 2025, stipulates that FTI serves as a procuring entity, while the NFA will supply rice stocks under a negotiated agency-to-agency framework to expedite implementation.

With rice stocks released into the market, the DA previously noted that revenues were reinvested into further palay purchases, thus creating a continuous procurement cycle.

The steady turnover also frees up space in the grain agency’s warehouses, enabling the NFA to purchase more unmiled rice from farmers, particularly during peak harvest periods when prices are most vulnerable, it added.

At present, the NFA purchases wet palay at P22 per kilo and dry palay at P27 per kilo, adding that it can purchase up to 500,000 MT of paddy rice in the wet season harvest.

The grains agency said its expected milled-rice inventory as of mid-September stood at 278,444 MT, which can feed Filipinos for seven days.

THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) is preparing reforms to speed up government hiring and give it a clearer view of long-unfilled positions and delayed promotions across agencies starting in 2027.

CSC Chairperson Marilyn Barua-Yap told a Senate budget hearing that the commission is moving toward competency-based screening, which would allow agencies to immediately determine whether applicants have the technical skills required for a specific position instead of relying only on minimum qualification standards.

‘Hopefully in 2027, we can make this as an official policy of the Civil Service Commission. Kasi ang shift po naman natin ngayon is all competency-based, hindi na lang po iyong basta minimum basic qualifications [Our shift now is toward competency-based hiring, instead of relying only on minimum basic qualifications],’ Barua-Yap said.

The CSC earlier issued Resolution 2600005, directing government agencies to develop competency-based human resource management systems covering recruitment, performance management, employee development and other personnel functions.

Barua-Yap said the existing process can be slow because applicants who meet basic requirements in education, training, eligibility, and experience still go through several stages even when they lack the specific technical competency required for the job.

Under the proposed approach, an applicant for an internal audit post, for example, could be screened early for an auditing background instead of proceeding through the entire recruitment process despite lacking relevant competencies.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo raised the issue after questioning why thousands of funded plantilla positions remain vacant and why some long-serving government workers complain of being repeatedly passed over for promotion.

‘Who persuades this agency’s head? Can you do that? Can you ask them, like, Secretary, kailan po kaya ma-fill up ito [When can this be filled up]?’ Tulfo asked.

Barua-Yap said appointment and promotion decisions ultimately remain with agency heads, limiting the CSC largely to reminders and oversight under the present setup.

She said a planned human resource information system could give the commission real-time access to personnel records, vacancies, publication of openings and promotion proceedings.

‘Makikita mo, hindi ninyo fini-fill up ito, bakit? Ito pala, marami naman puwedeng i-promote. Bakit hindi kayo nagpo-promote [We will be able to see why a vacancy is not being filled when there are employees who can be promoted]?’ Barua-Yap said.

She said records of agency human resource merit promotion and selection boards would also be uploaded to the system, allowing the CSC to identify staffing gaps and take remedial action based on actual personnel data.

Tulfo said the reforms could help address complaints from qualified government workers who believe they have been bypassed in favor of other applicants.

Barua-Yap acknowledged that the CSC receives such complaints but said the appointing authority retains discretion over whom to select, provided qualification requirements are observed.

She said the CSC is also overhauling qualification standards and strengthening the certification of government human resource officers as part of the shift toward a more competency-based personnel system.

The reforms were discussed as the CSC defended its proposed 2027 budget and sought the restoration of P783 million in unfunded requirements, including modernization and field-operation needs. PNA

FILIPINO consumers will only feel a ‘minimal’ increase in prices of pork jowl products like ‘sisig’ and processed meat goods if the bid for reclassification and tariff hike on the commodity pushes through, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. made the pronouncement after the DA’s petition to levy higher duties on imported pork jowl stoked concerns among processed meat manufacturers, saying consumers would feel the pinch of price hikes.

‘The profit margins are healthy and more than usual due to cheaper source [of raw materials],’ Tiu Laurel recently told reporters.

‘The [hike in tariffs on frozen pork jowl] should not increase [prices of processed meat products]. If it does increase, it should only be minimal,’ he added.

The DA lodged its petition with the Tariff Commission (TC), seeking to modify the tariffs levied on frozen pork jowl by reclassifying it as swine meat.

If this materializes, duties slapped on pork jowl will be increased to 25 percent from the current 10 percent.

Furthermore, the DA chief said the agency stands ready to implement stringent measures like imposing a price cap on frozen pork jowl if manufacturers ‘abuse’ the cost passed onto consumers.

‘If they happen to abuse it a bit, then we’ll have to issue a price cap on [imported pork jowl in the future],’ he said.

While Tiu Laurel did not disclose the possible cost of the price ceiling, he said current pork jowl prices should be maintained.

The prevailing price of imported pork offals, of which pork jowl is included, retails at P140 per kilo as of September 27.

This is lower than the price of local pork offal at P248.63 per kilo, based on the latest government price monitoring report.

Earlier, a local manufacturer that uses frozen pork jowl as a raw material warned that the government’s proposed move will trickle down to the cost of processed meat products, such as sausages and longganisa.

Mishie Tongson from PrimeAgri said reclassifying and imposing higher duties on frozen pork jowl would be ‘unfair’ for producers of processed meat goods, already subject to value-added tax (VAT).

‘If we impose a high tariff or reclassify it to be similar to the classification of [swine] meat, everything will have a domino effect on the supply chain,’ Tongson said.

She added that on top of imposed taxes, the increase in minimum wage and transportation costs would be added to manufactured goods, ‘which will ultimately be passed onto the consumer.’

‘The business owner is just processing it; everything that increases [along the supply chain] is passed on to the consumer. So if that happens, almost all of our pork products will become more expensive,’ Tongson added.

Architecture will step beyond the confines of buildings and design studios as Anthology, the Philippines’s architecture festival, returns to Intramuros for its 10th year with a program that puts community, culture and collective action at the center of the conversation.

Now on its 10th year, Anthology 2026 will be held from October 2 to 4 under the theme ‘Shared Ground,’ bringing together Filipino and Southeast Asian architects, designers, government institutions, developers, cultural workers and the public to examine how architecture can respond to the communities and societies it serves.

The festival is being mounted in partnership with the Intramuros Administration and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), reinforcing its ambition to make architecture a public conversation rather than an exclusive discussion among professionals.

‘Buildings only become architecture when they are public,’ Anthology founder and curator Architect William Ti Jr. said, underscoring the festival’s central premise that architecture must engage communities and be shaped through collaboration across different sectors of society.

For Anthology, architects are not the sole authors of the built environment. Rather, architecture emerges from the interaction of designers, communities, government, developers, cultural institutions and the people who ultimately inhabit and use spaces.

That philosophy is reflected in this year’s program, which replaces the conventional lecture-heavy format with conversations and dialogues organized around three themes: care, culture and collective futures.

Benjee Mendoza, co-founder and principal architect of BAAD Studio, emphasized the importance in the design. ‘I don’t think you can be a good designer or should even do a design if you don’t really care for the product that you’re doing, the people who are going to use it-whether it’s a product, a space, or an idea,’ says Mendoza.

‘So I think the best made products or the longer lasting products are the ones who really had been taken care of not just by the designer, but also the manufacturer, the builder, but the entire idea. So I think the best things that last are the ones who have the greatest fear,’ adds Mendoza.

Mendoza said attaching emotion is important that should be felt by the users as well.

‘Although technical performance is frequently evaluated in design, Plaza-Ti points out that architects often overlook social impact and how architecture affects the surrounding community.Rather than simply maximizing leasable ground-floor space, the developers prioritized human experience and community engagement,’ she says.

Plaza-Ti says architecture begins with understanding a site and its surrounding community. While it is an art form that strives for beauty, she says it differs from other media. ‘The buildings we create will outlive us, standing the test of time and profoundly shaping generations to come,’ she says.

The first day will focus on care, challenging the conventional view of architecture as a process that ends once a building is completed and turned over.

Anthology will explore how architects can remain involved in the life of buildings beyond construction, particularly in their maintenance, stewardship and long-term sustainability.

The second day will tackle culture, asking the provocative question: ‘Whose culture gets built?’

Rather than treating culture as something imposed from the top down or reduced to architectural motifs, the festival will examine how everyday rituals, traditions and community practices shape the spaces people inhabit.

The third theme, collective futures, looks at how cities and public spaces can be shaped in an era increasingly defined by technology, artificial intelligence and rapid social change.

The discussions will challenge the idea that the future city can be designed by a single architect, institution or generation, arguing instead for broader participation and collective authorship.

A major component of Anthology 2026 is Groundworks, featuring 10 installations created through collaborations between Filipino architects and their ASEAN counterparts.

The installations will be distributed across Intramuros, including Plaza de Roma, the Pasig River Esplanade and other public spaces, transforming the historic walled city into an open-air platform for architectural experimentation and public engagement.

The participating international architects represent some of the leading practices in the region and beyond, with many experiencing the Philippines as a place where they have not previously built.

Anthology organizers envision the installations not simply as objects to be viewed but as physical conversations-places where people can wander, interact and experience different approaches to architecture and public space.

The festival will also feature Anthology Talks, replacing traditional lectures with paired conversations between architects and other practitioners; Shelter Dialogues, which will bring architects together with government, developers and other stakeholders; and Anthology Lab, an open forum for unfinished ideas.

Davao’s dynamism is seen not just in its residential market but also in its office segment. Among the major business hubs outside of Metro Manila, Davao has the lowest vacancy rate and this enticing property firms to build more office strategically across Davao.

The dynamism of Davao’s property market is now enticing more property firms to develop and expand in the city. This is transforming Davao’s property market and should enable the city to attract a more diverse group of investors moving forward.

More office leasing in integrated communities

Colliers now sees companies looking for space in integrated communities to strengthen their business continuity plans. Firms are increasingly gravitating toward these developments to maximize their live-work-play amenities.

In Davao City, about 70% of the new office space due to be completed between 2026 and 2029 will be located within integrated communities. The live-work-play concept will continue to gain traction in the city.

Colliers sees Davao as a competitive office location outside Metro Manila due to its skilled workforce. The city produces about 20,000 college graduates every year, with nearly two-thirds earning degrees in Business, Health and Welfare, Education, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The city is also considered an educational hub in Mindanao.

Capturing demand for township developments

Colliers has observed an aggressive launch of township developments outside Metro Manila as developers take advantage of the growing interest from occupants to expand in provincial locations. In 2025, Colliers saw continued office space absorption outside the capital region as total provincial deals reached 242,700 sq meters, or 20% of total office transactions across the country. Davao accounted for about 20,900 sq meters (224,900 sq feet) of total deals. In our view, this should partly support residential demand in Davao moving forward.

Colliers recommends that developers assess the viability of Davao for more integrated communities featuring residential, office, and retail components. The completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects such as Davao City Coastal Road, Davao City Bypass Road, and Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge should also help prop up the demand for mixed-used developments in Davao.

Ongoing township projects include Cebu Landmasters’ Davao Global Township (DGT) in Matina. The first phase of the integrated community will feature residential condominiums, office towers, a cultural center, and the DGT City Center which will feature retail shops. Another township project in Davao is Alsons Development’s Northtown which features a residential enclave, commercial blocks, and Davao’s first CityMall branch. Meanwhile, Ayala Land has two masterplanned communities in the locale, namely Ascenda and Azuela Cove.

Convenience, accessibility, and connectivity

Residential investors and end-users continue to put a premium on accessibility and convenience. The 15-minute community concept appeals to them, especially now that everything is fast-paced. Residential projects’ proximity to offices, malls, and other institutional facilities such as schools and hospitals is highly important especially to a new breed of residential investors including millennials.

Colliers recommends that developers continue highlighting the advantages of living within integrated communities, and to consider improving amenities and facilities in their projects to meet constantly changing buyer preferences.

In our view, Davao will remain a popular hub for these differentiated masterplanned communities.

THE country’s easing inflation trend is facing twin pressures as higher wages and transport fares hit households within days of each other, economists said.

The P60 daily minimum wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) took effect over the weekend, followed by higher fares for major public transport modes nationwide on Monday.

The fare increases-covering jeepneys, buses, taxis, and ride-hailing services-range from P1 to P35 in minimum or flagdown fares, depending on the type of transport.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said the two developments could compound existing price pressures, particularly as renewed instability in the Middle East threatens oil supplies and pushes up domestic fuel prices.

While the exact impact remains difficult to quantify, he said inflation is likely to accelerate as higher transport costs and wages add to rising food prices and stronger holiday demand.

‘Previously, the main driver of inflation was food, but in the remaining months of 2026, it might be transportation,’ he told the BusinessMirror.

Headline inflation slowed to 6.1 percent in August, marking its fourth straight month of easing after peaking at 7.2 percent in April.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the biggest contributor to headline inflation in August, accounting for 28.8 percent of the total, with prices in the category rising 4.6 percent.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels followed with a 26.6-percent contribution, while transport accounted for 20.1 percent. Inflation in the two categories stood at 7.9 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.

Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Dante B. Canlas also said the fare increases could immediately pinch household budgets, potentially prompting public-transport workers and commuters to push harder for the full implementation of the P85 NCR wage order that remains suspended under court-issued temporary restraining orders.

‘Once the NCR wage order is fully implemented, production costs are expected to increase causing commodity prices to rise and stay elevated,’ Canlas told the BusinessMirror.

The P85 wage increase under Wage Order No. 27 has been challenged before the Pasig City and Navotas City Regional Trial Courts, which issued temporary restraining orders against its implementation.

While the P85 increase remains under legal challenge, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has issued a separate P60 wage increase, which took effect over the weekend.

Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. estimated that the combined fare and wage increases could add around 0.2 to 0.5 percentage points to headline inflation over the next few months, adding to existing price pressures.

‘That is added pressure, not a shock, and the [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] has already factored wage risks into its forecast. Rice inflation near 20 percent and fuel prices remain the bigger threats,’ Lanzona told the BusinessMirror.

Lanzona also pointed out that the P60 wage increase would provide only a modest boost to workers’ purchasing power once higher transport costs and still-elevated inflation are taken into account.

He noted that the wage hike is equivalent to an 8.6-percent increase, but higher fares could absorb roughly a fifth of that gain, while inflation remains close to 6 percent.

The impact is even more pronounced for informal workers, who are not covered by the minimum wage increase but will still have to absorb higher transport costs, Lanzona said.

This, he said, could make the usual holiday boost in household spending more muted this year.

‘Expect an essentials-first Christmas, cushioned by the 13th-month pay but not a spending boom,’ he added.

Rivera similarly warned that higher wages could easily be cancelled by rising costs, limiting any improvement in households’ purchasing power.

‘Given the economic conditions now, I would expect consumer behavior to be subdued, similar to what happened in 2025. Therefore, this will have impacts on private consumption,’ Rivera said, adding that the Christmas season could still provide a modest lift to consumption.

The impact could extend beyond household consumption and further weigh on economic growth, Canlas said, as the economy struggles to regain momentum after four consecutive quarters of slowing growth.

The economy expanded by just 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, its weakest growth in five years. Excluding the pandemic period, it was the slowest expansion since the fourth quarter of 2009 when the economy grew by 1.8 percent.

According to Canlas, the higher transport costs could force households to redirect part of their income toward fares and away from other goods and services.

‘The twin shocks can further slow down real [gross domestic product] growth. Fare increases crowd out household spending while full implementation of the NCR wage order may still hike production costs,’ he added.

Managing pressures

For Lanzona, the government should focus on keeping rice supplies stable, providing targeted transport assistance to vulnerable households and preventing excessive price increases during the holiday season.

He also called for support for informal workers and poorer households who are outside the wage order’s coverage, while urging authorities to stagger fare, power and water increases to avoid piling up major cost increases in a single quarter.

Rivera, meanwhile, expects the BSP to take a cautious approach to monetary policy, with rates either held steady or increased by only 25 basis points.

He said the central bank would likely avoid aggressive rate hikes as it balances price stability with the need to support economic growth, particularly after weak first- and second-quarter growth.

THE Philippines has room to create fiscal space equivalent to as much as 7.1 percent of economic output through reforms to improve tax collection and cut inefficiencies in government spending, according to the World Bank.

The World Bank on Monday said the country could generate 3.6 percent to 7.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal savings and additional revenues without relying primarily on higher statutory tax rates.

‘That’s a very significant number, actually. That’s equivalent to hundreds of billions of pesos that can be redirected to health, education, infrastructure, social protection, and to lower public debt,’ World Bank Division Director Zafer Mustafaoglu said at a media briefing.

‘These resources are vital to building greater human and fiscal capital and to strengthen the macro foundations of this country, which together will attract investment, create more and better jobs, reducing poverty, and growing middle class. The reforms that can unlock this are concrete, sequenced, and achievable.’

The potential gains come as the World Bank estimates that more than 11 percent of GDP in potential revenue is being left uncollected from the country’s three main taxes: value-added tax, corporate income tax and personal income tax.

Official data showed that the government collected P1.26 trillion in VAT in 2025, P121.7 billion below its P1.37-trillion target; while personal income tax collections reached P809.1 billion, falling P40.4 billion short of the P849.5-billion goal.

Corporate income tax collections, meanwhile, hit a total P685.4 billion, P48.8 billion above the P636.6-billion target.

The World Bank said the additional fiscal space can be unlocked through three sets of reforms: reducing government procurement costs and tightening the budget; improving tax collection; and making existing public spending more targeted and effective.

The first package, ‘Fiscal Space at Hand,’ could generate 2.2 percent to 4 percent of GDP. It would seek to lower procurement costs by combining government purchases, simplify tax rules and review corporate tax incentives.

It also calls for capping Unprogrammed Appropriations at 5 percent of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) and strengthening the medium-term fiscal framework.

The World Bank said combining procurement needs would allow agencies to negotiate lower prices, particularly for commonly used goods and services.

Under the proposed 5-percent cap, Unprogrammed Appropriations would also be limited as a standby spending authority outside the regular budget, with clearer conditions for their release.

The second package, ‘Closing Fiscal Gaps,’ could add 1.4 percent to 3.1 percent of GDP through better financial management and stronger tax administration.

Measures include e-invoicing, matching taxpayer information across sources, stronger audit capacity and reducing some non-food VAT exemptions.

The World Bank also proposed expanding the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) alongside the VAT changes to cushion poor and near-poor households.

World Bank Senior Country Economist Jaffar Al-Rikabi noted that some existing VAT exemptions are poorly targeted because higher-income households tend to consume more exempted goods in absolute terms.

‘A policy that is intended to support the poor actually does it, but in a quite poorly targeted manner. There is scope to improve how this policy works,’ Al-Rikabi said.

The third package, ‘Targeting Human Capital,’ would focus on improving the use of existing public funds rather than generating large new fiscal savings.

It calls for better targeting of health and social assistance and directing education funds toward foundational learning, classrooms and teaching materials, particularly in underserved areas.

These reforms, according to the World Bank, could reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 57 percent by 2032 while supporting GDP growth of 5.8 percent.

Gov’t response

For its part, Finance Secretary Frederick Go said the Department of Finance (DOF) will review the World Bank’s recommendations and use them to refine the government’s approach to revenue mobilization and tax policy.

‘We will work closely with the World Bank to build our technical capacity and to track our progress. We will pursue this agenda as a whole-of-nation effort,’ Go said in a prerecorded keynote message during the report’s launch on the same day.

Go said the government, Congress and the private sector would need to work together to advance the fiscal reform agenda, with fiscal credibility helping support lower borrowing costs and investment.

He said the agenda centers on improving tax collection, making public spending more effective and strengthening institutions to ensure government programs are properly planned, implemented, and reported.