Another crisis that has been turned into an opportunity during these difficult times of the pandemic concerns the way the labor force is more aware of the need for educational and training programs that can more quickly equip them with employable skills. More than two million students have failed...
Have I lost my optimism about the future of the Philippine economy? This is a question I have been asked by friends when they compare my GDP forecast for 2021, which is at 4.0 percent, to others which can range from 4.70 percent (ING Bank) to as high as 7.60 percent (Fitch...
CHANGING WORLD Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas (Conclusion) There are those who object to active mortifications because they say that “life has more than enough suffering of its own; why actively seek out more?” We should ask them how well, how gladly and cheerfully they deal with the sufferings that...
There is nothing wrong in the desire of those who drafted he Constitution of 1987 to ensure that the “national economy is effectively controlled by Filipinos.” This is authentic nationalism. Limiting equity ownership of foreigners in strategic and capital-intensive industries, however, is...
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...
Those who are objecting to the removal of the restrictive economic provisions in the Philippine Constitution of 1987 are well intentioned nationalists. They are actually faithful to the spirit of what the majority of the members of the Constitutional Commission of 1986 imbued in the final draft...
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...
The winning of the economic marathon by the Philippines over the next decade or so will be further made possible by major reforms in the educational system. Parents and the youth must be convinced that their chances of being gainfully employed will increase significantly if they take...
Independent think tanks and financial institutions from abroad rate the Philippine economy as the worst hit in 2020 and is expected to be the slowest to recover in 2021 among the countries in Asia. The average estimate of the GDP decline expected of the Philippine economy for the year just...
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...
Anyone who wants to “contribute to the common good” of Philippine society cannot go wrong if he or she starts planting trees, either as an ordinary citizen, a civic leader, a government official, a businessman, a social entrepreneur or in any other capacity whatsoever. There is so much...
Every Filipino citizen is mandated to promote the “common good” by the Philippine Constitution. To most Filipinos, however, the concept of the common good is something very vague and even mysterious. What is the common good? Social doctrine of the Church defines it as a...
