As the local currency continues to slide, domestic manufacturers and producers are adopting smarter procurement practices, hedging strategies, and efficiency improvements to protect jobs, while the exporters’ group has welcomed the peso’s depreciation.
“These measures help cushion the impact of rising input costs, even as pressure on margins increases and the risk of price adjustments grows,” said Elizabeth H. Lee, chairperson of the Federation of Philippines Industries (FPI), amid the continuing decline in the local currency. The Philippine peso is leaning toward the PHP60 level against the U.S. dollar.
Partly, the weakening of the peso can be attributed to global challenges. Globally, a strong U.S. dollar, driven by high interest rates, has drawn capital away from emerging markets.
But Lee said that locally, “unresolved corruption cases and stalled infrastructure projects have tested confidence and slowed growth.”
The weak peso is also a reflection of the prevailing image of the Philippines as a place that is not good for business due to systemic corruption.
Thus, Lee said that the path forward is clear. “We must resolve corruption cases with transparency and accountability. Doing so will restore trust, attract investment, and unlock infrastructure spending—creating the stability manufacturers need to expand production, safeguard employment, and drive growth,” Lee said.
The government can also reinforce these gains by cutting red tape, fast-tracking clean projects, and providing targeted relief on energy and logistics costs, she added.
Handled with integrity, Lee said, this challenge can become proof that accountability builds stronger markets and livelihoods. By protecting jobs in manufacturing and showing that clean governance drives stability, the country can shorten the peso’s weakness, rebuild confidence, and put the economy back on a stronger, more sustainable growth path.
Meantime, the exporters’ group welcomed the peso’s depreciation. Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation (PhilExport), said that a weak peso is good for exporters. “Without any intervention from the government, the peso could further hit PHP60 to the U.S. dollar,” he said.
A weak peso is also welcomed by more Filipinos, since 50 percent of them benefit in one way or another from dollar remittances sent by relatives abroad. Ortiz-Luis estimated there are 2.5 million OFWs and another 10 million Filipino professionals working overseas.
“Almost half of the population benefit from their relatives working abroad,” he said. He added that this is also the time for local manufacturers to rely on local inputs to lessen importation.
The only challenge is the cost of fuel if the international market continues to hike oil prices.
“This is where the government should come implement some form of fuel subsidy to cushion the impact on inflation,” he said. “With savings from the anti-corruption measures, we can funnel some funds into fuel subsidy to prevent further oil price hike,” he said.
