The distribution of free rice to roughly 1,500 residents in Pavia, Iloilo marked one of several assistance activities led by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Tuesday, August 25, as he outlined why the country’s economic footing points toward sustained growth.
Central to that outlook, Recto said, is a sharp drop in poverty. Figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority placed poverty incidence at 9.7 percent in 2025, a record low that fell from 15.5 percent recorded in 2023. Over those two years, an estimated 6.5 million Filipinos climbed above the official poverty threshold.
Recto tied that milestone to the country’s move into upper-middle-income status, framing both as markers of measurable progress. He also credited the affirmations from credit rating agencies that have kept the Philippines within investment grade.
“Another good news is our credit rating agencies [have maintained] the Philippines [at an] investment-grade rating,” he said. “With that, we can expect that the progress of the country will be continuous.”
Those affirmations arrived in close succession. On August 21, Japan-based Rating and Investment Information Inc. held the country at A− with a stable outlook, while Moody’s kept its Baa2 rating, also with a stable outlook.
Funding for local governments featured heavily in Recto’s remarks. He said the National Tax Allotment for 2027 is projected at about P1.4 trillion, a sum he described as the biggest in the nation’s history. The figure reflects an increase of roughly 11 percent and flows automatically to local government units.
Beyond the NTA, the proposed 2027 budget sets aside more than P58 billion through the Local Government Support Fund, which underwrites local initiatives such as the Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program. “Around ⅔ of the P58 billion will go to the free rice distribution initiative,” Recto said.
Even with the encouraging numbers, Recto cautioned against easing off, pointing to instability tied to the Middle East crisis. He said subsidy programs are meant in part to shield middle-income households from price spikes and similar pressures.
“We are also making sure that we help the middle class, particularly middle-income Filipinos, through rice subsidies so that they will not fall back into poverty because of the Middle East crisis,” he said.
His Iloilo itinerary extended well beyond the rice handout in Pavia. Recto launched the Bawat Barangay Makikinabang program, handed over P200,000 Socio-Civil Projects Fund checks covering 1,721 barangay across the province, and released Local Government Support Fund allocations to Luzon municipal mayors at the League of Municipalities of the Philippines National Congress, held at the Iloilo Convention Center.
