In 2026, the Philippines made national history twice, producing its first trillionaire and earning recognition as an upper-middle-income-class country. But what looks like a moment of national pride or proof of national progress is, sadly, not at all the well-deserved breakthrough we were hoping for. Beneath these long-sought milestones, most Filipinos still remain financially vulnerable for many reasons, with the reality of struggling to make ends meet hardly changed. Financial insecurity remains the norm for 7 out of 10 Filipinos, leaving them completely unprotected during emergencies.
If the status changed and nothing else did, who or what was this milestone actually for? Certainly not for the vast group left behind: the Filipino middle class.
Historically, the middle class symbolized financial stability. Bridging the wealthy and the poor, it promised that education, hard work, and financial discipline could lead to a more comfortable life. This class is vital for providing the workforce and consumer demand by purchasing goods and services, paying taxes that fund public infrastructure, and investing heavily in education. Today, this particular group occupies a strange place in society. They are the forgotten majority, the backbone of the economy, and even the so-called “new poor.”
The Philippine Institute for Development Studies defines this class using per-person income, so each household’s required income to qualify rises with each additional family member. However, for the average Filipino family size of 3.6 members, this accounts for a wide and uneven distribution of families. Incomes range from two to 15 times the official poverty line, with monthly family incomes ranging between ₱24,060 and ₱144,360. While this increases the representation’s accuracy, this one policy treats everyone inside it as one group, fitting too many families under one umbrella.
Though research breaks down this class into sub-segments, many sweeping policies do not. This means that an average Filipino family getting by monthly on ₱25,000 pays the same 12% value-added tax on every purchase as a family with the same number of people living relatively comfortably on ₱144,000—which, by today’s standards, still does not guarantee financial security.
This is the same dynamic separating the entire middle and upper classes. High-earning upper-class Filipinos spend a much larger share of their salaries on daily necessities and increased income tax. Only the ultra-wealthy escape this burden through accumulated capital, trusts, and investments that let them shelter their fortunes where everyday salaries cannot access.
Along with this, the middle class also doesn’t qualify for government subsidies. Though both the lower and middle classes get crushed by income tax to a certain degree, only the former gets the ayuda and PhilHealth point-of-service aid. In addition, wages do get bumped up due to inflation, but the system doesn’t account for the tax brackets. A household can end up paying more to the government, even though the amount their income can buy hasn’t changed at all.
At that income level, a single hospitalization is often already enough to push a family back into a lower bracket. Achieving this long-awaited middle-class status is fragile, as it offers little support or guarantee of financial stability or security. Even this national status is fragile: the country remains at the bottom threshold of the upper-middle-income bracket classification, meaning a minor domestic economic disruption can easily slide the country back down.
It took a worsening cost of living crisis to push lawmakers to raise the tax exemption ceiling to ₱350,000 and address Meralco’s system losses, which currently get passed straight to consumers. Only when these bills become actual law can we hope to see actual improvement.
Many households in the middle class still remain financially vulnerable, despite what the name suggests or what it was historically promised. It’s easy to see why the realities of many families don’t reflect the country’s new average income. The growing number of ultra-rich individuals in the Philippines does not at all indicate a better standard of living for the general population.
For many of us, these numbers may not mean anything deeply significant to us. Yes, both the trillionaire and the new income classification made flashy headlines, but neither changed the precarious standard of living that the majority of Filipinos still experience today.
Perhaps the greatest irony is that many of us who complain about not getting what we want have never had to choose between paying for medicine or for dinner. Before we complain that we can't travel abroad this year or upgrade our phones, let us see beyond these milestones and realities outside our own.
The “M” in middle class does not stand for milestone; it stands for malapit nang maghirap. And for millions of Filipinos, financial stability means something far simpler: knowing they can afford tomorrow.
