OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT In one of the episodes of Karen Davila’s ANC talk show about three weeks ago, former NEDA Director General and Socio-Economic Planning Secretary “Mareng” Winnie Monsod clarified a few important points critical to the issue of Charter Change. First, she questioned...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Last week, some think tanks observed that the monetary authorities are becoming less hawkish based on their policy statement, that references to keep monetary policy sufficiently tight “is completely gone” and that keeping it steady is emerging to be the norm. Economists...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It was truly a big surprise for us to read Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsi Balisacan saying that “while growth is below our target of 6-7 percent for this year, this keeps us in the position of being one of the best performing economies in Asia.” A bigger...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It’s not the first time we heard about that sense of uncertainty that triggers fear among investors, whether domestic or foreign. Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsi Balisacan was concerned that in the Philippines, the issue of Charter change has compounded the widening...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT By this time, all the chips are down and we know that the 1987 Philippine Constitution might be revised — as when we revamp our form of government, for instance, or change how Congress should vote on any proposed change — or amended — like some alterations to improve...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT No, this is not about inflation being driven by the growth of the money supply as Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman talked about it in India in 1963. That inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon is true in the long run during episodes of persistent inflation....
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT As we observed in our In Brief for GlobalSource Partners last Monday, the Jan. 5 release of the December 2023 inflation report in the Philippines could signal another episode of price downtrend. At 3.9 percent, the December inflation is the fourth month marked by price...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT New year is an opportunity for this hopeful nation to initiate change, to achieve more progress, to work for greatness. New year is creating doors of opportunities to make 2024 as close as to what it actually means. The 4 in 2024 in Hebrew is daleth, and it means door. And...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Let me share an edited version of what we sent out through GlobalSource Partners as principal advisor for the Philippines last week. This is about President Marcos’ Executive Order (EO) No. 49 which established the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It was Mark Amand who argued that rejection doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough. He said that the other person who rejected us actually failed to appreciate what we can bring to the table. In fact, the Platonic philosopher Atticus would even say “I’ve never met a...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Today is the last meeting of the Monetary Board of the BSP for the year 2023. Early this week, we wrote in GlobalSource Partners In Brief that the BSP must be at a crossroads on what to do next, whether to pause, or lift its policy rate by another 25 basis points. We...
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