By Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro
If six in 10 Filipinos believe the country is worse off than it was a decade ago, economic growth is clearly not delivering for enough people. Rising prices, expensive electricity, inadequate wages and insecure employment point to a deeper problem: an economy that continues to struggle to generate productive jobs and improve workers’ lives.
The government’s response to inflation, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ latest interest rate hike, may help address immediate economic pressures. Subsidies and assistance programs may provide some relief. But neither monetary policy nor temporary assistance can substitute for a development strategy that tackles the structural causes of the cost-of-living crisis.
Malacañang may have programs and plans, but are these backed by the investments needed to create meaningful jobs, strengthen local industries and raise workers’ incomes?
What the country needs is an industrial policy that deliberately builds our capacity to produce, rather than leaving our economic future largely to market forces and the hope that private investment will eventually create enough decent jobs. The government must identify strategic industries, direct public investment and development financing toward them and use incentives and procurement policies to build domestic production, strengthen local supply chains and generate stable, well-paying employment.
This means investing in agriculture and food processing, manufacturing, renewable energy and other sectors that can create jobs on a large scale while reducing dependence on imported goods and exposure to global price shocks. It also means making government support conditional on clear public benefits, including job creation, skills development, technology transfer and respect for workers’ rights. Public money should build productive capacity and decent livelihoods, not simply subsidize private profits.
The threat of a very strong El Niño in 2027 makes this shift even more urgent. Investments in irrigation, water systems, climate adaptation and food production can protect livelihoods while creating jobs that communities need. Public employment can also address urgent social needs through investments in housing, public transport and essential infrastructure. These efforts should be linked to a broader industrial strategy, not treated as disconnected projects.
Economic progress must be measured not only by GDP growth, exports or investment figures, but by whether the country develops its productive capacity, creates decent jobs and raises workers’ incomes. Workers should not have to bear the burden of economic adjustment while waiting for growth to eventually improve their lives.
Malacañang must therefore put forward a clear, adequately funded industrial policy with concrete employment targets, a timetable for implementation and mechanisms to ensure that public investment delivers benefits to Filipino workers and communities. Job creation cannot remain a promise separate from economic planning; it must be a central objective in deciding where public resources go and what kind of economy the country builds.
The Philippines cannot keep responding to each new economic shock without addressing the vulnerabilities that make working families bear the brunt of every crisis. We need a government willing to shape investment, build industries and expand decent work as deliberate national priorities.
The real test of economic policy is not simply whether the economy grows, but whether we build an economy capable of creating decent jobs, paying better wages and enabling Filipinos to live with dignity.