The Peso by President: 60 Years of Decline
You've probably heard someone say the peso was worth a dollar under Marcos. It wasn't. Here's what Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data shows, president by president. (Rates are approximate, in pesos per U.S. dollar.)
The myth: "₱1 = $1"
The peso was officially fixed at ₱2 to the dollar until the early 1960s. It was floated and fell to about ₱3.90 before Ferdinand Marcos Sr. took office in 1965. It was never ₱1 to $1 under Marcos.
Marcos Sr. (1965–1986): ₱3.90 → about ₱20
The biggest collapse of any administration — the peso lost more than 80% of its value. Debt ballooned, crony businesses drained public funds, and capital fled after the 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino.
Cory Aquino (1986–1992): about ₱20 → ₱27
Aquino inherited a wrecked economy, coup attempts, the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption and a Gulf War oil shock. The slide continued, but she was cleaning up a catastrophe, not creating one.
Fidel Ramos (1992–1998): ₱27 → about ₱40
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis hit the whole region. The Philippines had less cushion than its neighbors because of the debt left over from the Marcos years.
Joseph Estrada (1998–2001): about ₱40 → ₱50
Political instability and a plunder scandal scared investors. Estrada was ousted in 2001.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010): about ₱50 → ₱46
One of the few periods of partial recovery, helped by rising OFW remittances.
Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (2010–2016): about ₱46 → ₱47
Relatively stable, with strong growth and credit rating upgrades.
Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022): about ₱47 → ₱55
Heavy borrowing, the pandemic and a strong dollar pushed the peso down again.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2022–present): around ₱55–₱59
The peso has hovered near record lows.
The takeaway
External shocks matter — oil prices, crises, a strong dollar. But so do debt, corruption and who the economy is built to serve. Sixty years, many presidents, one direction. The numbers don't lie, and neither does the history.
Sources
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