[EDITORIAL] Filipinos are Drowned in Debt

Currently, the Philippines has a debt of P14.148 Trillion. This means that every Filipino individual — including newborn babies — has a total debt of P124,105.0. According to the Marcos Administration, the debt of the Philippines will continue to increase and will increase up to P16 Trillion next year. Why is this?

Sec. Benjamin Diokno stated that “It’s not bad to borrow money. We are using the money for infrastructure, we are expanding the capacity of the economy. And also, productivity-enhancing measures, like improvement of teacher education.” Based on what he said, the government is using the borrowed money to give opportunities to Filipinos. However, Filipinos cannot feel any progress and cannot see any commendable opportunities.

We know that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was the son of former President Ferdinand Marcos. Not only did they have the same name but also had the same legacy. When former President Ferdinand Marcos sat on the President’s seat, the debt of the Philippines was $600 million (33,966,003,600.00 PHP) but when he was ousted it ballooned up to $26 billion (1,473,810,000,000.00 PHP) — a 4300-percent rise. Furthermore, at present — in his son’s time, from the late Duterte Administration the debt was ₱12.79 Trillion when the Marcos Administration took over it rose up to P14.148 Trillion.

Where did those P2.69 Trillion go? As said by the Marcos Administration, they were using it to improve the economy of the Philippines. However, looking at the current state of the Philippines, we can only see that it has worsened. How would the government pay trillions of debt? We can only hope that our country will not be like Venezuela where the government excessively printed money to pay back the country’s debt which caused inflation causing its people and currency to suffer.

According to Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, it will be better if Filipinos bear more babies to increase the population because according to him bigger population will result in a bigger economy. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is very embarrassing to say that he is one of the Philippines’ senators. His resolve cannot be possibly the resolve of a professional lawmaker.

The Government should think thoroughly if their way is always right and if it is beneficial in the long run. It is true that debt is not bad if it is used right however, how can they be so sure that they are doing the right things? Increasing debt can be bad for our country and our people in the long run.

It is true that debt is not bad if used right but is the government really doing the right thing? Is rising debt beneficial to anyone? Can Filipinos really experience good opportunities because of this debt? No.