Philippines could be the next venezuela?

[Sanitough]

Some of you might have heard about the arrest of former President Duterte by the ICC for crimes against humanity. But honestly, I think that’s not the only story here. It feels like the government is trying to distract us from the real situation in the country by going after their former ally.

As a citizen, I can’t help but notice, infrastructure projects? Super few, compared to the previous administration. Instead, they’re focusing on giving out financial aid. Don’t get me wrong, helping people is good, but there’s no return on that money. It’s not an investment that grows; it’s just money out.

And guess what? Our national debt keeps climbing. As of January 2025, the Philippines' debt hit a record high of ₱16.31 trillion (around $279 billion!).

Now, why am I comparing this to Venezuela? Well, if you look at Hugo Chávez’s time in power, it’s a very similar story. He focused on social programs, but the country’s income didn’t really improve. Politicians do this to stay popular, give money, make people happy, and worry about the problems later.

It feels the same in the Philippines right now. A huge chunk of the budget goes to aid that everyone loves. But with corruption everywhere (one politician even admitted that only 40% of the budget actually goes to the projects!), it’s not surprising that debt will keep piling up.

As a citizen, I’m really worried. If corruption and overspending continue, we might end up like Venezuela facing hyperinflation and serious economic collapse.


https://mb.com.ph/2025/2/27/philippines-debt-hits-record-high-16-31-trillion-in-january-2025

[coupable]

Venezuela's problem is that it was primarily dependent on its oil exports. Chavez failed to establish a diversified, multi-resource economy and believed he could make Venezuela like the Gulf states. He found the socialist model appropriate for his ideas, which cost nothing more than oil extraction. This policy made the economy extremely fragile and hypersensitive to oil prices. As soon as prices fell, the economy collapsed, and Venezuela entered a crisis from which it has not been able to recover to this day.
The Philippines is no better than Venezuela, but each country has its own circumstances that create the factors for crisis. The outcome may be the same, but not under the same conditions.

[freedomgo]

The Philippines is no better than Venezuela, but each country has its own circumstances that create the factors for crisis. The outcome may be the same, but not under the same conditions.

They could have different sources of income.. for example, the Philippines, where one of the major sources is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). But if a country is sanctioned by a powerful nation like the US, that income could easily disappear.

However, as the OP mentioned, the real problem lies in corruption. I believe corruption is already rampant in many countries, and no matter how good a country’s economic policies are, corruption becomes a huge barrier that prevents those policies from being effectively implemented. So that should be address first, but the question is, who can eradicate that corruption?

[Fortify]

Some of you might have heard about the arrest of former President Duterte by the ICC for crimes against humanity. But honestly, I think that’s not the only story here. It feels like the government is trying to distract us from the real situation in the country by going after their former ally.

As a citizen, I can’t help but notice, infrastructure projects? Super few, compared to the previous administration. Instead, they’re focusing on giving out financial aid. Don’t get me wrong, helping people is good, but there’s no return on that money. It’s not an investment that grows; it’s just money out.

And guess what? Our national debt keeps climbing. As of January 2025, the Philippines' debt hit a record high of ₱16.31 trillion (around $279 billion!).

Now, why am I comparing this to Venezuela? Well, if you look at Hugo Chávez’s time in power, it’s a very similar story. He focused on social programs, but the country’s income didn’t really improve. Politicians do this to stay popular, give money, make people happy, and worry about the problems later.

It feels the same in the Philippines right now. A huge chunk of the budget goes to aid that everyone loves. But with corruption everywhere (one politician even admitted that only 40% of the budget actually goes to the projects!), it’s not surprising that debt will keep piling up.

As a citizen, I’m really worried. If corruption and overspending continue, we might end up like Venezuela facing hyperinflation and serious economic collapse.

Why does it have to be compared to some random South American country, instead of having it's own unique set of problems and circumstances? Venezuela has been in trouble for a long time and while both countries might be struggling, they don't necessarily have the same root causes. Venezuela is actually rich in oil reserves, but it has been squandered by a few elites at the top who are trying to control all the wealth for themselves, but getting sidelined by most of the world because of that. The Philippines does not have access to such large reserves of liquid gold and has generally relied on overseas workers sending money back home to sustain many families. You'll find that the national debt of many countries is climbing, so that is not necessarily just their problem.

[Marvell1]

I saw the arrest of Duterte in the media. I don't really know the exact reason. Duterte was arrested for anti-human activities. From what I heard, he declared zero tolerance against drugs. And many drug lords may have been killed in the operation. However, Duterte's opponents have alleged that many innocent people have also been killed in the anti-drug operation.

As far as I know, the Philippines is not a poor country. However, from what you say, it seems that the Philippines' debt is increasing day by day. And this is not unusual. However, gradually reducing the debt burden is good for the country. However, if what you say is true that corruption is one of the reasons why the Philippines' debt is increasing day by day, then this is definitely a matter of concern. If it continues like this, inflation will happen very quickly. The value of the Philippine currency will continue to decrease.

[Darker45]

The debt in the country is piling up quite fast. Considering that there's no pandemic, no active separatist movements or any serious uprising, no grave natural disasters, and so on, I wonder why it is so.

Given the fast rising debt, it's interesting there seems to be not much happening around apart from direct dole-outs, which is obviously done with political motives.

What's worse right now is that in addition to rampant corruption, it seems the government isn't working at all. You can't feel somebody is managing the country. Even the prices of what's otherwise abundant agricultural products are soaring. Even ginger and tomatoes have become luxuries.

I guess this is the necessary result when a county choose to elect a leader who's the only son of the most corrupt couple in the country's history. It doesn't help that he's also a dropout and has known nothing but parties and private concerts.

[MusaMohamed]

And guess what? Our national debt keeps climbing. As of January 2025, the Philippines' debt hit a record high of ₱16.31 trillion (around $279 billion!).

Now, why am I comparing this to Venezuela? Well, if you look at Hugo Chávez’s time in power, it’s a very similar story. He focused on social programs, but the country’s income didn’t really improve. Politicians do this to stay popular, give money, make people happy, and worry about the problems later.

It's global issue and all nations have sharp increases of national debts since Covid-19 pandemic. It's part of the pandemic consequences and mass money prints from governments and central banks.

About Venezuela, I think there are bigger contributors for their national crisis from the regime of dictator Hugo Chávez and his long lasting corruption. What's happening in your nation, in my opinion, is better than in Venezuela.

I am unsure but with information I got from social media, there is no regime and dictactor in Philippines like in Venezuela.

[Reatim]

As a citizen, I can’t help but notice, infrastructure projects? Super few, compared to the previous administration. Instead, they’re focusing on giving out financial aid. Don’t get me wrong, helping people is good, but there’s no return on that money. It’s not an investment that grows; it’s just money out.

i am not really surprised i think the corruption is pretty obvious right now it is almost being done right in front of our faces confidential funds with no transparency is a pretty suspicious sign that there definitely is some corruption going on

As a citizen, I’m really worried. If corruption and overspending continue, we might end up like Venezuela facing hyperinflation and serious economic collapse.

we should be worried really there is nothing much we can do but vote for the right politicians i hope it does not end up that way because we can try and improve our financial status on our own but the country's economic state will remain the same

[Russlenat]

It's global issue and all nations have sharp increases of national debts since Covid-19 pandemic. It's part of the pandemic consequences and mass money prints from governments and central banks.

But the pandemic ended years ago, so the Philippines shouldn’t still be affected by it. In fact, compared to the time when the pandemic was ongoing, the increase in the national debt is even larger now.

About Venezuela, I think there are bigger contributors for their national crisis from the regime of dictator Hugo Chávez and his long lasting corruption. What's happening in your nation, in my opinion, is better than in Venezuela.

I am unsure but with information I got from social media, there is no regime and dictactor in Philippines like in Venezuela.

There is no dictatorship in the Philippines, but the level of corruption is extremely high.
From the highest ranks all the way down to the lowest. It’s as if corruption has already become an ingrained part of the system.

[Sanitough]

As a citizen, I’m really worried. If corruption and overspending continue, we might end up like Venezuela facing hyperinflation and serious economic collapse.

we should be worried really there is nothing much we can do but vote for the right politicians i hope it does not end up that way because we can try and improve our financial status on our own but the country's economic state will remain the same

We can choose the right leader, but if the majority of voters elect the wrong ones, we’ll still end up losing the battle. We all know that most of the voting population lives in poverty, so many might just turn a blind eye especially if they’re benefiting from the politicians' programs.

In fact, in our city, vote-buying is very rampant. I just don’t understand why the government can’t seem to stop it, even when they have good intelligence. Or maybe… they choose to ignore it, because cracking down on it might expose people in power,  people they don’t want to cross. It feels like a cycle that keeps repeating, where those in authority either benefit from the system or are too afraid to challenge it.

[bhadz]

You hit that very well Sanitough my friend. These things that are in the news and current affairs, they're done to cover up the real issues of our country. And they thought that they can keep on hiding in the curtains of the corruption they've done with this scene they've made with Digong and the impeachment of VP Sara. The GAA and other infra projects, the continuous aid of money to people as sort of vote buying, they're all wanna hide those real issues. The gold reserve of the central bank that has been sold and we're hitting the Guinness for the most gold sold last year, it's no longer the talks. I guess in diversion, they've become successful but I don't think we'll be the next Venezuela, we'll possibly the next Sri Lanka.

[Wind_FURY]

Venezuela's problem is that it was primarily dependent on its oil exports. Chavez failed to establish a diversified, multi-resource economy and believed he could make Venezuela like the Gulf states. He found the socialist model appropriate for his ideas, which cost nothing more than oil extraction. This policy made the economy extremely fragile and hypersensitive to oil prices. As soon as prices fell, the economy collapsed, and Venezuela entered a crisis from which it has not been able to recover to this day.

The Philippines is no better than Venezuela, but each country has its own circumstances that create the factors for crisis. The outcome may be the same, but not under the same conditions.

I'm not very familiar with the Philippine Economy, in fact, I know absolutely NOTHING about it, but with Venezuela it was a very good example of putting all their eggs in one basket - their over-reliance in Oil exports, there's also their BAD macro-economic policies which got them sanctioned by the U.S.A, and BAD political management.

During the price crash of Crude Oil and their Economic Crisis during 2014, what did Venezuela do? They turned on their money-printer which caused Hyperinflation.

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OP, wait for your country to turn on the money-printer too.

[Gozie51]

What Op said is general about third world countries and that is why they are called so. They generally have the characteristics of distracting the people from the reality on ground by giving at food as palliative, money as palliative by targeting those that they classify as poor yet such money don't get to the people it is meant for, it ends up in the pocket of the politicians assigned to disburse it. Corruption is always at the increase with no hope of stopping, the next government that enters appears worst.

It is unfortunate that you are sharing this here and that is because you are pained but you are not the only one bearing such pain.

Solution is for the people to unite and have electoral laws that will ensure transparency so that people will be give tools to fish and not to hand them fish. A government that is working doesn't share money as palliative when it is not that they are under natural disaster or catastrophe, a government that is working will create environment for jobs, grow small businesses so that standard of living will improve.

[moneystery]

i think that the philippines may not suffer the same fate as venezuela, as the philippine economy is better, it does not rely on just one type of export, and has good support from sectors in services, manufacturing, agriculture, and remittances from overseas. even though there is inflation and a heated political situation due to duterte's arrest, it has not caused the philippines to collapse like venezuela.

if i want to compare it, the condition of the philippines is like indonesia. right now the situation in my country is not as good. politics are a bit chaotic, there is a lot of corruption, and the government issues public policies that are completely useless to the people. many people here are just struggling to survive while the political elites are fighting for power.

[coupable]

Venezuela's problem is that it was primarily dependent on its oil exports. Chavez failed to establish a diversified, multi-resource economy and believed he could make Venezuela like the Gulf states. He found the socialist model appropriate for his ideas, which cost nothing more than oil extraction. This policy made the economy extremely fragile and hypersensitive to oil prices. As soon as prices fell, the economy collapsed, and Venezuela entered a crisis from which it has not been able to recover to this day.

The Philippines is no better than Venezuela, but each country has its own circumstances that create the factors for crisis. The outcome may be the same, but not under the same conditions.

I'm not very familiar with the Philippine Economy, in fact, I know absolutely NOTHING about it, but with Venezuela it was a very good example of putting all their eggs in one basket - their over-reliance in Oil exports, there's also their BAD macro-economic policies which got them sanctioned by the U.S.A, and BAD political management.

During the price crash of Crude Oil and their Economic Crisis during 2014, what did Venezuela do? They turned on their money-printer which caused Hyperinflation.

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OP, wait for your country to turn on the money-printer too.

Last December, the World Bank projected that the Philippine economy would remain strong amid rising global geopolitical tensions, even growing at an average rate of 6% during the period (2024-2026), leading to a reduction in poverty. The country's growth is expected to reach 6.1% in 2025 and 6.0% in 2026 if it continues to pursue anti-inflation policies.

I find these indicators positive and leave no room for comparison with a bad example like El Salvador. The most distinctive feature of the Philippine economy is its vulnerability to climate change, as the Philippines is geographically located in a region prone to typhoons, floods, and other natural disasters, making it difficult to maintain sustainable development.

[pooya87]

The problem with Venezuela was that it was located near US and it had a lot of oil. So US started infiltrating and mostly destroying the country from within while attacking it from outside (sanctions aka economic terrorism).

Now I haven't really followed the situation with Philippines to compare it with Venezuela but the situation is not like Venezuela so far. However Philippines has a flaw! in this particular time in history. It is located near China (specifically close to South China Sea) and US regime that is waging a war against China is using countries nearby as their base of operation (eg. Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, etc.) and when we look at each of these countries they all have destabilized political structure (they arrested South Korean president, assassinator Japanese PM, carried out a coup in Myanmar, etc.) which helps US regime's infiltration...

So the situation looks similar although I can't say for sure since I haven't followed Philippines news as I said... it is a theory worth investigating though... so you tell me whether it rings any bells or not.

[Wind_FURY]

Venezuela's problem is that it was primarily dependent on its oil exports. Chavez failed to establish a diversified, multi-resource economy and believed he could make Venezuela like the Gulf states. He found the socialist model appropriate for his ideas, which cost nothing more than oil extraction. This policy made the economy extremely fragile and hypersensitive to oil prices. As soon as prices fell, the economy collapsed, and Venezuela entered a crisis from which it has not been able to recover to this day.

The Philippines is no better than Venezuela, but each country has its own circumstances that create the factors for crisis. The outcome may be the same, but not under the same conditions.

I'm not very familiar with the Philippine Economy, in fact, I know absolutely NOTHING about it, but with Venezuela it was a very good example of putting all their eggs in one basket - their over-reliance in Oil exports, there's also their BAD macro-economic policies which got them sanctioned by the U.S.A, and BAD political management.

During the price crash of Crude Oil and their Economic Crisis during 2014, what did Venezuela do? They turned on their money-printer which caused Hyperinflation.

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OP, wait for your country to turn on the money-printer too.

Last December, the World Bank projected that the Philippine economy would remain strong amid rising global geopolitical tensions, even growing at an average rate of 6% during the period (2024-2026), leading to a reduction in poverty. The country's growth is expected to reach 6.1% in 2025 and 6.0% in 2026 if it continues to pursue anti-inflation policies.

I did a little DYOR, and OP posted that a political rival be the current president was sent to the Netherlands to face trial over his "crimes against humanity". 👀

Was he a sort of dictator that killed a large amount of innocent people like Adolf Hitler, or those South African Warlords?

But sending him out of your country could ease domestic political tensions.

I find these indicators positive and leave no room for comparison with a bad example like El Salvador. The most distinctive feature of the Philippine economy is its vulnerability to climate change, as the Philippines is geographically located in a region prone to typhoons, floods, and other natural disasters, making it difficult to maintain sustainable development.

But how is the corruption in your country? I believe that your government is one of the most corrupt around the globe? Because typhoon is a problem in Japan too.

Now I haven't really followed the situation with Philippines to compare it with Venezuela but the situation is not like Venezuela so far. However Philippines has a flaw! in this particular time in history. It is located near China (specifically close to South China Sea) and US regime that is waging a war against China is using countries nearby as their base of operation (eg. Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, etc.) and when we look at each of these countries they all have destabilized political structure (they arrested South Korean president, assassinator Japanese PM, carried out a coup in Myanmar, etc.) which helps US regime's infiltration...

What would be the best solution?

[pooya87]

What would be the best solution?

That's the million dollar question.

I can't say what Philippines should do without doing an extensive investigation first but generally speaking during this particular time in history where the New World Order is being established and that means lots of conflicts of different forms in the world, the countries have to be very careful which side they lean toward or go as far as joining. Making the wrong mistake would destroy their countries.

Look at Cuba for example, it is like an island similar to Philippines that is close to US mainland. They joined USSR side at the time US and USSR were at war. 50 years after that the US regime declassified stuff and with abhorrent insolence confessed that during that time they were carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians and they used some fancy name for it naming it Operation Mongoose.

Note that I'm not saying one side is better than the other (they are all bad!) or which side to join. But it is important to not allow your country to become the battlefield for others. Ukraine is a good example of a mistake they made by allowing US/NATO in and got their country destroyed because of it.

Another important thing which I forgot to mention in my previous comment is that such issues (economic or otherwise) is not specific to one country; and we can't just attribute everything to corruption like in Philippines. These issues are happening everywhere these days. And they will continue to get worse for everyone until the New World Order is completely established.

P.S. Wasn't Duterte leaning toward China more than US? And isn't Marcos completely falling into the arms of US and going completely against China?
I think that explains the reason for the arrest. Otherwise you can find corruption in the Marcos family as well. Not to mention that ICC has other arrest warrants that are more serious than accusations on Duterte for his international War on Drug campaign. Like the one ICC issued for genocide for the head of Zionist terrorist organization Netanyahu and nobody is arresting him despite his travels to places like New York! But suddenly Interpol decides to enforce an arrest warrant for someone who favors China over US

[WatChe]

Now I haven't really followed the situation with Philippines to compare it with Venezuela but the situation is not like Venezuela so far. However Philippines has a flaw! in this particular time in history. It is located near China (specifically close to South China Sea) and US regime that is waging a war against China is using countries nearby as their base of operation (eg. Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, etc.) and when we look at each of these countries they all have destabilized political structure (they arrested South Korean president, assassinator Japanese PM, carried out a coup in Myanmar, etc.) which helps US regime's infiltration...

China is so far silent despite the aggression shown by US in it's neighbourhood. One common perception is that China no doubt has huge army that is well equipped too but they lack combat experience. Moreover we haven't seen China going after countries globally in the name of bringing democracy, eliminating terrorism etc. China main concern for last few years is Taiwan and from Ukraine conflict Taiwan must learn that it's best to solve the conflict with China amicably without relying what external powers are saying to them.   

[Cryptohygenic]

Always better to be in safer side when we applies both the negative and positive impacts in cases like this,  what you said might be right because the governments has psychologically read the mind of the people in a struggling economy that what the masses cares about mostly is their needs of "now" and "then" can always come later.
So at that juncture they governments has created a social event of earning applause like they have done the best for the people because the people can be focused on while the government are busy doing their shits that has not positive long agendas for the masses.
However, I am still in support of the Duterte's arrest so to curtail his disasterous inhuman acts in the future.