CHANGING WORLD (Conclusion) Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas It is easier said than done to first try to improve the ease of doing business as compared with our neighbors. There are some deeply ingrained cultural and political factors that militate against immediate success in these endeavours. That...
CHANGING WORLD (Part II) Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas Let me stress that I am in favor of opening up these strategic sectors to more foreign equity not because I believe in untrammelled free market economics. Unrestrained free markets do not serve the common good. There should always be a strong...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas Last February 17, the whole Christian world started the Lenten season. This is the second time we will be spending this penitential period under the heavy weight of the pandemic which has, as we say in the Oratio Imperata for the Protection Against the...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Part 1) As one of the members of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, I am lending my voice to the clamor of some sectors led by House Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco to amend the restrictive economic provisions of this fundamental...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Part 3) How do we combat the evils of consumerism? The major faiths, whether Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism, have a common response: know how to tame or discipline your body, your excessive desire for material comfort. There is no alternative to...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Part II) An antidote (not the only one) to the rise of consumerism is Catholic Social Doctrine. From the beginning of the modern Catholic social thought in the pathbreaking encyclical of Pope Leo XIII entitled Rerum Novarum (A New Order) in 1892, popes...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Part 1) The unbridled search for profit by capitalists has been condemned by social reformers as a major cause of the prevalence of injustices in today’s modern societies. There is an increasing plea in many societies today, whether developed or...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas We are now in the Year of St. Joseph, as proclaimed by Pope Francis last December 8, 2020. This celebration of the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church will last till December 8, 2021. There is a beautiful...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Part 2) As already mentioned, those who took up the challenge of marriage during the pandemic showed both human courage and supernatural vision. With widespread unemployment and industries collapsing, starting a family will definitely not be a walk in the...
