OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Seven years ago, in October 2015, the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) published a study entitled “Demographic sweet spot and dividend in the Philippines: The window of opportunity is...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo It was necessary for the President to have met his economic managers last Oct. 18 and discussed inflation, exchange rate and interest rates. Our people should be reassured that today’s critical situation has the attention of those in the highest places....
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Hearing those tales of some Mangyan servants of God was more than heartbreaking. Their children had to trek for three hours each way to reach school to get some learning. Instead of entering school at seven years of age, they would wait until around 10...
Diwa C. Guinigundo OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Nothing was trivial for FVR, for at the time he was gunning for the presidency, every little support meant the world for him. There was no mistaking that FVR seemed to hold no chance at all. The New York Times reported on Dec. 1, 1991 that Laban ng...
Over the years, the Brigada Eskwela is a tradition that kicks off a new academic year, highlighted by “bayanihan” where community members help in cleaning up classrooms and school premises to make them ready for the students. Sometimes, there are minor to medium repairs and maintenance work...
After surveying the damage in Abra due to a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred last July 27, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. issued a four-point directive to concerned government agencies: first, provide immediate needs of food, shelter and water; second, expedite the clearing of roads and...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo We thought after the BSP delivered a decisive monetary action last Thursday, many market uncertainties would have died down. On the lighter side, as one broadsheet described the move as “surprised,”the BSP appeared to have done a patellar reflex, or an...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Two weeks ago, we wrote a cautionary tale about Sri Lanka. It was showing an economic meltdown, with grassroots reality of struggling in endless queues for food, fuel and medicine, with rolling blackouts. Power is also in short supply. It was the...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Two days ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority announced that inflation further escalated to 6.1 percent for June 2022. This was the fourth consecutive month of inflationary trend after peaking last year at 4.4 percent in August 2022. There is nothing...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo It’s difficult not to discern the similarities. But the impact of the crisis in Sri Lanka on the people’s lives is many times more severe even school examinations were called off. Their pupils had no pad paper to write on. People struggle with fuel,...
The camp of President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. made a low-key announcement over the weekend about an incoming official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Felicito Valmocina (Facebook) A statement from Press Secretary-designate Trixie Cruz-Angeles, which quoted...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo It is good to remain watchful of the impact of sustained increases in oil prices on output and inflation following the Ukraine-Russia war and whatever is left of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC’s leverage in oil pricing...
