The country risks pushing 1.3 million more people into poverty as an energy crisis and record-high fuel prices threaten to drive the national poverty rate to 14.4 percent, the state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) warned. Before the Middle East conflict triggered a national...
Sometime in 2017, we were in discussion with Ted Sazon—a Merrill Lynch alumnus of 23 years—about a discernible pattern of significant global “bad news” occurring at the end of each decade. This trend arguably started in 1929 with the Wall Street Crash that led to the Great Depression. This...
The 2nd JFINEX Summit, held last March 5, 2026, at the Brittany Hotel in BGC, brought together some of the country’s most promising young finance students—top teams from the Intercollegiate Finance Competition—under the theme: “Confident to Lead: Building the Next Generation of Finance...
As tensions in the Middle East, Ukraine, and many parts of the world persist, the Philippines took the lead in advancing regional peace efforts as it chaired the 18th meeting of the advisory board of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (IPR) at...
So much has been said about businesses bracing for a possible economic crisis ahead. But are we, as individuals, equally prepared? Everything begins at home—even if our businesses can withstand the crisis, how will we manage on a personal level? The right mindset, first of all, is not to panic....
Oil shocks have a way of reminding nations how exposed their economies remain to global energy volatility. When crude prices surge, the consequences ripple quickly through daily life: transport fares climb, delivery costs rise, and food prices inevitably follow. The Philippines is no exception. In...
The push for joint energy exploration between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) met fierce opposition from a think tank, citing Beijing 's long history of maritime aggression against Filipinos. The Stratbase Institute, an independent international think-tank and...
The Philippines is projected to increase its consumption of wheat-based products in the current marketing year (MY) to nearly seven million metric tons (MT), although rising input costs may temper growth, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In a report, the USDA...
A small group of patients, mostly suffering from chronic illnesses, accounts for a disproportionate share of hospital spending in the Philippines, according to state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). In a statement on Wednesday, April 1, PIDS cited its study...
We have seen this pattern before. A crisis hits, and at first, people freeze. Then slowly, almost quietly, behavior starts to shift. What feels temporary begins to leave permanent marks. We saw it during the pandemic; we are seeing it again now with rising oil prices. The current oil shock is about...
Local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines are spending far below what is needed to deliver basic primary health care (PHC) services, according to state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). A PIDS discussion paper t itled “Are Philippine Local...
The global oil shock triggered by escalating conflict in the Middle East is hitting the Philippines’ poorest households the hardest, as surging fuel costs spill over into food prices and erode purchasing power. A March 26 position paper by state-run policy think tank Philippine Institute for...
