rhk111's Blog

The latest Economic Data from the Philippine Government itself shows that its Total Debts as of June of this Year of 2026 was already at ₱19.07 trillion, which is already above the ₱19.06 trillion limit that they themselves targeted for this Year, despite the Fact that there is still another six more Months left to go in the Year.

This in Turn has pushed the Philippines' Debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Ratio to 66% also as of June 2026, which is the highest Level recorded since 2004 or 21 Years ago during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA).

By comparison, the Debt Ratio reached a record-low of 39.6% in 2019 during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The Debt-to-GDP Ratio is calculated by dividing the Philippines’ GDP with its current total Debt.

One of the main Reasons for such a high Debt Ratio now is due to the very poor GDP Growth suffered by the Philippines in the first six Months of this Year which was only at 2.8% in first Quarter or from January to March, followed by only 2.3% in the second Quarter from April to June 2026.

This resulted in lower Earnings to fund the current Budget which forced the Government to seek other Ways to get the Funds such as borrowing more from Local and Foreign Lenders.

The Ministry of Finance of Vietnam recently announced that overall Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into their Country in the first seven Months of 2026, or from January to July 2026 went up to $38 billion, an increase of 58% compared to the same Period last Year of 2025.

This includes all Types of Foreign Investments like newly registered Projects, additional Capital into existing Companies, Capital Contributions and Share Purchases.

The new Projects had a total worth of $21 billion consisting of 2,429 Projects. The Manufacturing and Processing Sectors had the most investments at $11.6 billion, or equivalent to 55% of all newly registered Projects.

The Electricity, Gas, Water Supply and Air Conditioning Sectors got the second most Projects with $3.1 billion, or 14.9% of all new Investments.

Singapore was the Source of the most Foreign Investors investing around $7.5 billion, which consists of 35.6% of all new incoming Investments while South Korea was second with $5.6 billion which consists of 26.7% of all Projects.

The Province of Thai Nguyen was where the Foreign Investors invested most of their Projects worth $3.6 billion while the Vietnamese Capital City of Ho Chi Minh had the second most Investments at $3.6 billion.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently reported that the Philippines' Economy in Terms of the Gross National Product (GNP) grew by only 2.3% during Second Quarter of this Year of 2026, or from April to June 2026.

This is lower than the previous Quarter of 2.8%, and much lower than the same Second Quarter of last Year of 2025 where the GDP Growth was at 5.4%. Worst is that this 2.3% is only around one-third of the initial, targeted Growth Rate by the Philippine Government itself of 6%.

The Philippines has since revised its Growth Rate for 2026 down to 3.5-4.5%, but they initially set it at 5-6%. If the Years affected by the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not included, then this is the lowest Rate since 2009 during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) when the Economy grew by only 1.8%.

Again, just to stress that this very low Growth Rate is happening right now without any Global Pandemic. The Reasons given for this low Performance is because of the slowdown in Public Construction which was affected by the ongoing Flood Control Corruption Scandal.

Other Reasons cited was the lower Household Spending due to the higher Inflation Rate of the Prices of Goods and Services, and lower Remittances by the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).

Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) recently announced that their Country has received around $26.8 billion worth of Investment Applications in the Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Fields in the last three Years, or from 2023 to 2026, which averages out to around $8.9 billion per Year.

These Applications consists of around 880 Projects of which around $9.85 billion are related to the manufacture of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). PCBs are Boards with conductive Pathways where Electronic Components are welded to, and they are present in all Electronic Devices such as Computers, Smartphones, etc.

More than half of all of the World's PCB Manufacturers have reportedly selected Thailand as their Production Base, and these Companies are now integrating with Local Thai Businesses to be their Suppliers.

The Advanced Electronics Market in Thailand alone is expected reach between $48 billion to $52 billion for this Year of 2026.

A 34 Year Old Personnel of the Philippine Navy (PN) who previously served onboard the BRP Sierra Madre and who was also later involved in its Resupply Missions is now reportedly under Investigation for the use of Illegal Drugs.

Assignment to the BRP Sierra Madre, which was grounded in the Second Thomas Shoal, is considered one of the most sensitive Military Outposts in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) since it is situated on disputed Territory.

The PN has confirmed the Case as true which came out in early May 2026 due to the unexplained Absences of the said Personnel. This Personnel reportedly served on the BRP Madre from September 2025 up to early this Year of 2026.

After that, he was assigned to the M/V Lapu-Lapu 2, a Civilian Vessel used to bring in and evacuate out Personnel, and also bring Food, Water and other Supplies to the BRP Madre.

If found guilty, the said Personnel will be discharged from Service as the AFP has a strict, "No Drugs" Policy on the Possession and Distribution of Illegal Drugs among its Ranks.

Top Officials of the Malaysian Government recently said in a Symposium that their Country must continue to remain Neutral so that it will continue to be a Trusted Destination for Foreign Investors.

The Chairman of the "Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)", Tengku Zafrul said that taking Sides in an increasingly fragmented World could undermine Malaysia's ability to attract Investments.

Quoting him directly, "One must not underestimate the importance of Geopolitics, that's why I believe it is important that the Government continues to play that Position where Malaysia continues to be neutral in its approach".

The Deputy Governor of the "Bank Negara Malaysia", Datuk Omar said that Malaysia's Neutral Stance has enabled it to diversify its Trade Relationships and Sources of Foreign Direct Investments.

Quoting him directly also, "I do agree with Tengku Zafrul that we should maintain our Neutrality because we have benefited from this. Our Trade is very diversified. Similarly, the Source of our Foreign Direct Investment is also highly diversified".

"So that goes to show that our position as the indispensable connector has benefited us and we should continue with an open Trade and Investment Policy".

Note that like the Philippines, Malaysia also has Territorial Disputes with China, which is one of Malaysia's biggest or perhaps its biggest Trading Partner. Malaysia also has various Territorial Disputes with the Philippines.

The Administration of Bong Bong Marcos (BBM) reportedly intends to borrow another around $8.9 billion in the next two Years, or around ₱549 billion from various International Lenders like the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and even the China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

A total of around $4.9 billion will be loaned from the WB while another $200 million will be loaned from the AIIB. And finally around $3.9 billion will be loaned from the ADB. If this pushes thru, then this will push this Administration's borrowings from an already all time high ₱9.7 trillion to an even higher ₱10.2 trillion.

This will again be the biggest borrowing of the last seven Administrations in the four Decades after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

The Japanese Company "Mitsubishi Motors" announced recently that it is investing an additional $470 million to its Factory in Thailand to turn it into a Hub for the manufacture and export of Electric Vehicles (EV).

The Thai Factory is one of the largest Factories by Mitsubishi Motors outside of Japan, and they have already invested a total of $3.2 billion into it so far, and it has also already produced around five million Vehicles for the Mitsubishi Brand.

Investments like these further strengthens Thailand's reputation as the Manufacturing Hub for the South East Asian (SEA) Region.

A Group of Lawmakers from the United States (US) led by Representative or Congressman Pramila Jayapal recently called for an Independent, Impartial and Credible Investigation into the Philippine Army's (PA) killing of 19 People in Negros Oriental, two of which were US Citizens.

The Incident happened last April 2026 and the Unit that did the killings from the 79th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that all of those that were killed were Members of the New People's Army (NPA), but the Lawmakers said that as many of nine may have been Civilians.

The US Lawmakers also said that the killings may be Part of a broader Campaign by the AFP against Activists and Members of Progressive, Civil Society Organizations in the Philippines.

Thailand's Board of Investment recently reported that the Foreign Investment Applications that they received for the first half of 2026 was already 80% higher compared to same Period last Year of 2025.

A total of 877 Foreign Investment Applications were received by them from January to June of this Year of 2026, majority of which had to do with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Center Projects.

Among the big Name Companies that applied were Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Other Industries that were included in these Applications include Electrical and Electronics Projects, Agriculture and Food Processing, Logistics, and Automotive Projects.

It is expected that these Investments could provide as much as 82,000 Job and provide Exports worth up to $37 billion.

The United States (US) which has repeatedly said many times over the last Decade or so that they have an "Iron-clad Commitment" to help defend the Philippines in Case of War like against China, has just imposed a new 12.5% Tax on some of the Goods it is importing from the Philippines.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) says that based on the Data last Year of 2025, they estimate that around 34% or around $6.25 billion worth of Goods will likely be affected by these new Taxes. The US imposed the Tax because the said that the Philippines failed to stop its importation of Goods that were made with Forced Labor by other Countries.

The DTI said that the Products affected are Leather, Travel Goods, Apparel, Footwear and Toys that are made in the Philippines. This new 12.5% Tax is higher than the 10% that the US imposed on the Philippines before.

The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) recently said that Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia now is responsible for producing around 12% of all Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) in the World, and that this Year of 2026 their combined Sales is expected to reach around $13.4 billion.

PCBs are Boards with conductive Pathways where Electronic Components are welded to, and they are present in all Electronic Devices such as Computers, Smartphones, etc. Thailand is currently the largest PCB Manufacturer in South East Asia (SEA) and their Sales for this Year is expected to reach $6 billion, which is a 20% increase compared to last Year of 2025.

Vietnam is the next largest PCB Manufacturer in SEA, with Sales of this Year expected to reach almost $5 billion, an increase of around 18% compared to last Year. Malaysia is next with PCB Sales expected to reach $2.4 billion for an increase of 15% compared to last Year.

This is a French-production, Drama-Action-Thriller about France’s “Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN)" Counter-terrorist Special Forces Unit. The Pacing is pretty good with only six Episodes, enough to keep each Episode entertaining to watch.

The Series is nicely distributed among its three main Themes, which are Drama, Action and Thrills, with some nice Plot Twists. Some of the Things I found very cool is how Full-Face, Transparent Bullet-Resistant Visors are Standard Issue among the GIGN’s Troops.

I also liked that Square Device they used to break down Glass Panels on the last Episode, and it was good to know about the CL20 Explosive which is real and even more powerful than the C4 or HMX Type of Explosives.

Here is one Article that is being ignored by the Filipino Supporters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) like the Philippine Press, it is about how Taiwan refuses to acknowledge the Philippines' Ownership of the Batanes Islands.

Apparently the Taiwanese Government has been playing around with its official wordings to evade the Issue on the ownership of the Batanes Islands, especially in the latest Incident when Chinese Scholars supposedly tried to claim it.

Here are some Excerpts from the Article itself: "But here at Domino Theory, it was what Hsiao didn’t say that raised an Eyebrow. Loudly proclaiming Batanes is not Chinese is not equivalent to saying Batanes is Filipino.

And saying that the Chinese claim is illegitimate because Taiwan is not a Part of China leaves the question of whether Taiwan itself might consider it has a claim on Batanes uncomfortably ambiguous.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines didn’t respond to an E-mail asking for Clarification. The Mainland Affairs Council, which handles Taiwan’s relations with China, said that it was a matter for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Presidential Office said that Spokesperson Hsiao had already addressed the Point.

When asked, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Domino Theory on July 16: “There is no Territorial Dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines regarding Batan Island. It is the unrealistic Fantasy of Chinese Scholars.”

Unfortunately, that still left the ambiguity intact. So the question was put to the Foreign Ministry a second time, far more explicitly:

“We are trying to work out whether MOFA is prepared to say that the ROC recognizes Filipino Sovereignty over the Batanes Islands. We noticed that in previous Statements, including your answer to us, this is left somewhat ambiguous.” (ROC stands for Republic of China, the Name of the State that governs Taiwan.)

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs refusal to clarify this Point doesn’t inherently mean Taiwan doesn’t recognize Filipino sovereignty over the Batanes islands. But it does beg the question of why they won’t go ahead and say that.

Regardless, this was the Foreign Ministry’s final reply: “Thank you for your interest in this matter and for your coverage. We have previously provided a response to your inquiry and will not be repeating that information here.”