State of the Nation

How many find the ongoing impeachment of a political spare tire relevant? How many car owners and public utility operators would use their savings—whose purchasing power has been reduced by inflation and peso depreciation—to replace the extra wheel tucked in their vehicle's compartment? Not many can afford such a caprice, yet the state uses the limited resources of the treasury to dispose a mere spare.

The US Federal Reserve, as in the decade of Quantitative Easing, is empowered to print money to stimulate the American economy. Our Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) cannot. It cannot legally print legal tender and infuse fiat money into circulation without consulting major foreign creditors. To finance the operations of the bureaucracy, fund economic projects in the pipeline, and even pay foreign debt, the country relies on revenue from taxes and fees generated by government services.



When national income is not enough to fund the annual budget, the national practice has been to borrow. In common parlance, utang. Foreign creditors are sought to fund the deficit. Pautang po. Without fresh infusions, many government obligations and contracts cannot be paid - such as the salaries of government officials and employees, day-to-day government operations, contractual obligations, and even the guaranteed servicing of foreign debt.

How much is this shortfall? In 2025, it amounted to ₱1.58 trillion. Previously, it was ₱1.506 trillion. To fund the entire bureaucracy, Marcos proposed a ₱7.2 trillion budget. Four years ago? ₱5.268 trillion. Yes, sir, the national budget has been on an upward trajectory. But our central bank cannot simply switch on its printing press to mass-produce peso bills for the government to spend, distribute as ayuda, and use to pay off its debt. No way.

Its cash-starved citizens cannot resort to photocopying machines and duplicate legal tender either. No, sir. The preposterous statement that a machine-generated duplicate is acceptable as an original, as asserted by a disingenuous prosecuting counsel during the impeachment trial, does not apply to currency, even if fiat money is viewed as merely a piece of colorful paper that the Bangko Sentral cannot convert into its equivalent value in gold or

any other asset.

What is perhaps the real state of the nation is its debt-to-GDP ratio. It stands at 63.2%, up from 39.6% in 2019. Plainly, this means that for every peso generated by the national economy, 63.2 centavos—or more than half—is represented by the national debt. The remainder, less than 37 centavos for every peso earned, supports the day-to-day operations of the government. To fulfill the constitutional promise of a just and humane society, figuratively speaking, that is not enough.

How the architects of the monumental ghost infrastructure heist bled the national coffers is unspeakable. Statistically, the government operates with only 37 percent of national earnings. Notwithstanding this, about ₱1 trillion over the last three years was allegedly siphoned from the pipeline for ghost infrastructure projects. Funds appropriated were paid out and collected but projects were fictitious or substandard. Political patronage was bought to fortify the syndicate-like scheme. A few privileged participants padded their personal coffers.

So why has a wide-scale effort been launched to deface a political spare tire? The spare tire barely touched the road. It was not even part of the set of tires the administration relied upon to drive its political machinery. Will a new spare bring accountability and justice for those economically deprived?

Whether yes or no, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but if we speak, the facts should not be twisted. The debt-to-GDP ratio speaks impartially - if we care to listen. We are skating on thin ice, as if we who are tropical people, understand what that means. Still, in my view, the number is the unpolitical state of the nation.