PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to strengthen protection for middle-class families by creating more jobs, raising incomes and lowering the cost of living.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said Marcos has ordered government agencies to strengthen programs aimed at sustaining the country’s gains after 6.5 million Filipinos were lifted out of poverty between 2023 and 2025.
“That is the marching order of the President: Support the middle class and prevent 6.5 million Filipinos from sliding back into the zone of poverty,” Recto said.
The country’s poverty incidence fell sharply from 15.5 percent, or 17.5 million Filipinos, in 2023 to 9.7 percent, or 11.08 million, in 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Recto said the Marcos administration would not be complacent despite the improvement, noting that challenges remain, including the Middle East crisis, which poses risks to fuel and food prices, trade, employment and economic growth.
“But this is not the time to rest. That goal is not the finish line. The work goes on,” Recto said.
“Our next challenge is to ensure that their progress continues. Those who have risen out of poverty should not fall back into it, more people should be lifted out of poverty, and we must further protect our middle class,” he added in Tagalog.
Recto said the administration is also factoring in climate disruptions, including the projected strengthening of El Niño, which could bring periods of heavy rainfall in some parts of the country before conditions become warmer and drier.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has said El Niño is likely to intensify and persist into the first half of 2027.
Among the government’s proposed measures is raising the annual personal income tax exemption threshold from P250,000 to P350,000. The proposal could provide workers with up to P17,500 in additional take-home pay, depending on their income.
Recto also emphasized Malacañang’s legislative push to exempt small businesses from the Minimum Corporate Income Tax, grant a general tax amnesty, abolish the travel tax, and amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) to prevent distribution utilities and electric cooperatives from passing system-loss charges on to ordinary consumers.
Recto assured the public that the administration is working to maintain price stability for food, fuel, electricity and other basic necessities as the country faces economic shocks. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)