Former three-term Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda expects the Philippines to score another credit upgrade, thanks to President Marcos' timely response to the flood control projects corruption scandal.

Speaking during a media forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City on Saturday, Feb. 22, Salceda, an economist, said tighter control over questionable spending helped reduce the deficit and opened room for priority investments. He said this strengthened the Philippines’ case for an upgrade.

"We are at the cusp or on the verge of another credit update, which means lower interest rate, which means more space for spending, for government investments in areas that will essentially support our competitiveness for foreign direct investments,” Salceda said.

The former House Committee on Ways and Means chairman recalled that President Marcos cut big-ticket allocations he linked to anomalous flood control projects-- a decision he said had the immediate effect of narrowing the deficit while keeping the government’s priorities intact.

“It was a blessing in disguise, I won’t call it a blessing, na ninakaw ’yung flood control (that flood control funds were stolen)," he said at the media forum.

"Pero dahil doon binawasan ni Marcos, andami niyang in-erase, hindi pinapalabas ang mga pera kaya tuloy meron tayong fiscal space and therefore (But because of it, Marcos made a lot of reductions and erasures, the blocked the release of funds leading to our fiscal space and therefore), I think we are on the verge of getting a credit upgrade because of that,” the Bicolano explained.

Salceda said improved fiscal headroom lowered borrowing costs and gives the government more capacity to invest in growth drivers, including areas that directly affect the quality of the labor force and the competitiveness of local industry.

The Philippines is currently at investment grade across major credit rating agencies, and S&P Global Ratings has maintained a positive outlook on the country’s “BBB+” rating--a signal that an upgrade is possible if improvements are sustained.

Salceda’s point, in effect, is that the administration’s push to expose and squeeze out questionable items in the budget--including the flood control allocations Marcos cited in his State of the Nation Address (SONA)--is freeing resources that can be redirected to social and economic priorities like education, health and agriculture.

Salceda is also a former three-term Albay governor.