by Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Secretary General Rovik Obanil said under Marcos Sr., the Philippines faced a debt crisis. Before that, the national debt surged, but due to corruption and mismanagement, only a few benefited from the loans incurred.
“It took us more than a generation to pay off [that debt]. So that is not automatic [that] just because the debt keeps growing, so does the economy,” he added.
“We are very concerned,” Obanil said, noting that the Covid-19 crisis provided an excuse for increased borrowing. “The economy has reopened after that but the debt has not gone down to prepandemic levels.”
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