Marcos resigning won’t fix PH woes, economist says
Even if President Marcos resigns or the government succeeds in cracking down on corruption, this will not be enough to fix the Philippines’ deeper economic problems, an economist said, arguing that the country’s challenges are structural and require constitutional reforms.
“I don’t think it will solve the problem,” said Federation for Economic Freedom president Calixto Chikiamco, referring to certain calls for Marcos to step down amid the corruption scandal.
“As I said, our problem is structural. Who’s going to replace that person? What will they do? What kind of reforms will they do to change this? Even the military—what will they do? Will they make the same economic policy?” he added.
Chikiamco said a struggling economy, paired with political instability, was a “cause for concern.”
He noted that the Philippines also has a weak manufacturing base, which in 2024 accounted for only 15.7 percent of its gross domestic product—the fourth-lowest share in the East Asia and Pacific region.
He also noted how the Philippines lags behind Southeast Asian peers in terms of agriculture.
For Chikiamco, these and other issues cannot be solved by leadership changes alone.
“It’s not just a question of morality or corruption or anything. There’s something fundamentally wrong with our economy,” he said.
“Graft and corruption are not unique to the Philippines. It’s just that the magnitude has gone up. But if you want to stop it, we have to change our political and economic system,” he added.
Protectionist
At the Pilipinas Conference 2025, Chikiamco noted how the string of corruption scandals has further eroded trust in public institutions.
Restoring confidence, he said, will require a stronger political system with safeguards against corruption and turncoatism.
“If you don’t change the Constitution, I’m afraid that the problem will keep repeating itself,” he added. “We cannot rely on morality to solve our problems.”
He said this also means removing protectionist provisions in the 1987 Constitution, which he said were shaped by “Filipino-first” and “Filipino-only” policies that hamper competitiveness.
Pandora’s box
Chikiamco said charter reform should be pursued through a constitutional convention, saying that a constituent assembly would not be ideal due to the public distrust in Congress.
He proposed holding a referendum alongside the 2028 national elections.
However, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chair George Barcelon warned that pushing for charter change while corruption investigations are ongoing could create new risks.
“I’m not against tweaking the constitution, but it’s the timing of it. We have this concern right now and, in a way, it’s a very serious situation,” he said.
“If you open up Pandora’s box on constitutional change at this time, ‘di natin masabi ‘yong mga vested interest ng mga politiko. They will take advantage of it. They will try to navigate and see how they can manipulate to their advantage,” he added.
(If you open up Pandora’s box on constitutional change at this time, we can’t foresee the vested interest of the politicians. They will take advantage of it. They will try to navigate and see how they can manipulate to their advantage.)
