Diwa Guinigundo If the Philippine economy fails to expand at least nine percent over the next three years, Filipinos will grapple with lower wages, joblessness, and worsening poverty, according to an economic expert. “Unless the economy is able to sustain a growth rate of more than nine percent...
Discussions around the marketplace, including at the influential Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), centered on the historic Tuesday and its effect on the political arena, which eventually influences the environment of doing business. Sandwiched between former president and chief...
Philippine financial markets could be upset following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, but this could only be a temporary risk, as foreign investments could bloat in the long run, according to an economic expert. The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrested ex-president Duterte...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT We have been participating almost every year in the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asian Regional Forum on Investment Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves, before and after my retirement from central banking in 2019. While there was some lull during the pandemic in...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT When the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics in Stockholm last Oct. 14, the role of political institutions in economic development and long-term prosperity received some kind of a revival. It’s been 12 years since the...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT It was the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that announced the winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics at a press conference in Stockholm last week. They were Daron Acemoglu of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Simon Johnson also of MIT, and James...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT The photos of those who trooped to the Manila Hotel and other Comelec offices to file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) gave us the impression that they have all figured out what they seriously intend to do in the next few years once they get...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Two days ago, Oct. 1, poll aspirants started to flock to various filing centers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to file their certificates of candidacy (COC) for 18,280 elective positions for the May 2025 national and local elections. Filipinos will be choosing 12...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Disrespecting the law is no less than an act of insolence, and in the “Law Insider” formulation, that is arrogant, presumptuous, impudent, or in fact even insulting. It could even be at once rude because it is no less than the Philippine law that is being crushed. ...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT While we were rocked by the news of alleged irregularities in the use of confidential funds in one government office, it was as shocking to know of another irregularity in the procurement of laptops in the Department of Education, of all departments. As...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT (Concluding Part) Last week, we concluded our piece with the quote from Finance Secretary Ralph Recto that the full remittance and appropriate use of PhilHealth’s ₱89.9 billion could boost GDP by 0.88 ppts and employment by 600,000. It is not as simple as deciding...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT (Part 1) Clear from the genealogy of PhilHealth is its continuing mandate to provide comprehensive and equitable health care. Policy-wise, there should be no more question that aside from quality education, effective public health is a good “strategy for bringing about...
