BATANGAS 1st District Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste warned that the Philippines is heading towards a debt crisis worse than the current oil crisis if the government does not end wasteful spending and make serious budget cuts.
“This year, the Philippines will lose an estimated ₱300 billion from higher oil prices, but our bigger problem is that our national debt will exceed ₱19 trillion or 65% of GDP, the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the past 20 years,” Leviste said.
“The government did not save for a crisis, as the deficit reached 6% of GDP, yet growth still slowed to 4.4% in 2025. Now, over 20% of the taxes Filipinos pay goes just to interest payments. This is an economic burden worse than high oil prices and is getting worse each year,” he added.
“We cannot borrow our way out of a crisis we spent our way into. The government is now promising tax cuts and fuel subsidies, but the truth is we do not have enough money to protect Filipinos from high oil prices unless we cut wasteful spending in the current budget,” Leviste said.
Leviste yesterday filed House Resolution No. 911 to urge the government to generate at least ₱12.9 billion in savings from the Philippine hosting of the 2026 ASEAN Summit, which he cited as one of many possible sources of savings that he hopes the government can act on.
In a video, Leviste also encouraged the public to help convince government officials to cut wasteful spending, out of concern on the lack of urgent action to avert a debt crisis.
