Pinoy Pie

TAGUIG CITY (MindaNews /13 May) — There are economic slowdowns that feel cyclical. Temporary. Recoverable with time, lower oil prices, or better global conditions. And then there are slowdowns that expose deeper structural weakness. The Philippines’ first-quarter 2026 GDP growth of only 2.8% increasingly looks like the second kind. The Makati Business Club’s Q1 report gives the number its proper weight: 2.8% is not only below the 5.4% growth recorded in Q1 2025 and the 3.0% in Q4 2025; it is also below the government’s 5–6% target and below the 3.4% median forecast of economists.   That means the slowdown was not merely disappointing. It was a miss against history, target, and expectation. The problem is not that the economy stopped growing. The problem is that it is growing too slowly for a young, developing country that still needs to create jobs, build infrastructure, reduce poverty, attract investment, and compete with faster-moving neighbour...