Media powerhouse NET25 has closely monitored a week in which the economy slowed and the dry season drew nearer. The NET25.com portal carried news of a 2.1 percent growth figure, a warning of power shortages under a Super El Niño, as well as a Senate call for a state of calamity in the areas El Niño has already hit.
For the Filipino household, a slower economy means fewer pesos coming in, and a drought means more pesos going out for essential consumables such as rice, water and electricity.
The Philippine Statistics Authority’s report, carried on November 9, put third-quarter growth at 2.1 percent, down from a revised 2.4 percent in the second quarter.
Department of Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan gave three reasons, and the first was that high food and energy prices held household spending to 2.4 percent growth from 2.9 percent, with the Middle East conflict raising fuel costs for transport, electricity and production.
The second reason was agriculture, which contracted 4.8 percent after storms disrupted production, and palay and corn output fell by more than 17 percent, reducing rural incomes and adding to food supply pressures. The third was investment, with public construction down 15.1 percent for a sixth straight quarter.
The report’s areas of strength were carried as well: exports grew 8.6 percent, with electronics up 19.4 percent on demand for AI-related products.
The weather came next. On November 10, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin warned of possible power shortages under a Super El Niño, as extreme heat cuts power plant output while demand rises, with up to four red alerts in the Visayas, one in Luzon and two in Mindanao if the shortfall is not addressed.
The same day, twenty senators asked President Marcos, in Senate Resolution 765, to declare a state of calamity in El Niño-hit areas to speed up aid, and to have agencies watch the prices of basic goods against overpricing and hoarding. The Department of Agriculture counts Php 8.57 billion in damage as of October 21.
Vice President Sara Duterte, in an item carried that morning, called on the government to prepare the food supply rather than rely on buckets for rainwater, warning that drought could cut harvests and force imports, with PAGASA expecting El Niño to last into the first quarter of 2027.
At the pump, the DOE asked motorists on November 11 to report gas stations that fail to pass on the mandated price cuts, with surprise inspections under way and reports taken on the 8888 hotline or the “Gas Station Concerns” feature of the eGovPH app.
On the dining table, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will close sardine fishing in nine bays of Fisheries Management Area 9, among them Macajalar, Iligan and Butuan Bays, from December 1, 2026 to March 1, 2027 to let the stock recover from overfishing.
Taken together, the week’s stories tell the Filipino household what the coming months may hold: a slower economy already visible in its own spending, a harvest cut by storms and drought, and a power grid that may not keep up with the heat.
NET25’s reporting efforts place the growth figure and the El Niño forecast not as a statistic and a bulletin but as the rice price, the electricity bill and the pump price.
This is what makes the portal’s national news useful and relevant to the Filipino household.
As always, these stories are free to read anytime, anywhere on the NET25.com portal and are carried on Mata ng Agila and “Open for Business” on Digital Free TV Channel 28 and Analog Free TV Channel 25 as well.
The “alternative mainstream” network’s commitment to the Filipino household continues through news that follows the economy intently, narrating how market figures and statistics actually affect the lives of ordinary Filipinos.
