Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso said business activity in the nation’s capital remained remarkably strong through the first five months of 2026, with new business registrations surging year-on-year and total new business investment reaching P3.303 billion.
This is even as the ongoing US-Iran war roils the global economy and pushes fuel prices to historic highs across the Philippines.
Data presented by Bureau of Permits director Levi Facundo showed that in the three months following the outbreak of war on February 28, 2026, Manila recorded some of its strongest business registration figures in recent history.
March 2026 saw 1,115 new businesses processed and P962 million in investments paid, against 2025 figures of only 126 registrations and P91 million — a staggering tenfold increase in investment value.
This underscores Manila’s growing appeal as a destination for formal business activity, even in a period of acute supply disruptions, currency volatility, and heightened risks of stagflation and recession globally.
April 2026 followed with 692 new business registrations processed and P644 million in investments paid. May 2026 posted 622 registrations with P576 million in investment.
With these numbers, Domagoso said Manila has remained resilient despite massive fuel price hikes that are hurting ordinary Filipinos, small businesses, and various industries nationwide.
Even before the war began, Manila’s business climate was already on an upswing.
January 2026 saw new business registrations jump from 303 in 2025 to 690 in 2026, while investment paid held at P283 million — figures that signal unbroken entrepreneurial confidence in the capital.
February 2026 recorded the sharpest single-month spike, with registrations soaring to 1,133 — more than triple the 373 recorded in February 2025. Investment paid climbed to P839 million, compared to P359 million the previous year.
Domagoso said that his administration has been working relentlessly to make doing business more efficient and accessible in Manila.
Through the city’s Electronic Business One-Stop Shop or E-BOSS, Domagoso said the city is streamlining registration processes, reducing red tape, and expanding digital services at City Hall to ensure that every peso of investment and every new enterprise is welcomed with speed and ease.
“The City of Manila remains open for business, and the numbers prove it,” Domagoso said.
“Amid the global uncertainty triggered by the war in the Middle East and its cascading effects on oil prices, our administration is doubling down on local economic programs that generate jobs, protect consumers, and attract investors to the nation’s capital,” he added.
