OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Aside from his monumental work of literature, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ other celebrated novel is The Autumn of the Patriarch published in 1975. That was the time I was sworn in by the venerable then UP President Salvador P....
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo This broadsheet bannered last Monday that defeated Senator Manny Pacquiao was still the “People’s Champ.” Despite his disheartening loss to Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugas who retained his super WBA welterweight crown, Pacquiao remained the crowd favorite....
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo (The following column is written in Filipino in observance of the National Language Month.) Ngayong buwan ng Agosto, ipinagdiriwang natin ang Buwan ng Wika. Bago itinakda ito ng Pangulong Fidel V. Ramos sa kapangyarihan ng Pampanguluhang Proklamasyon 1041...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo We were pleasantly surprised to hear the announcement by the Philippine Statistics Authority last Tuesday that the Philippine economy expanded by 11.8 percent during the second quarter 2021, coming strongly from first quarter contraction of 3.9 percent and...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo By the dictates of the health protocols, the Batasan hall was half-empty. It was desolate. Upon his arrival by a chopper, President Duterte looked weak and disoriented, and was politely escorted through a brief military review. Inside the Batasan, the...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo We don’t know about our readers but we like adobo the way we prepare it in Bulacan. Pork belly is braised in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, pepper and salt until it is tender. Pork is seared in its own, copious fat and cooked slowly in lots of...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo As expected, many economists and analysts missed on their forecasts of the Philippine inflation rate of 4.1 percent for June 2021. Public announcement of the monthly inflation rate is highly awaited by the market because it is both a history of price...
Industry thought leaders called for urgent coordinated policy reforms and new development strategies to strengthen the country’s competitiveness through trade and investments. Former BSP Deputy Governor for Monetary and Economics Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo in his keynote address at the recent...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo I have used this chart many times in my previous life as a central banker at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). I would use this to show the resilience of the Philippine economy owing to decades of embracing policy and structural reforms. This chart...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo Seals of approval for sovereigns like the Philippines are difficult to obtain. International financial institutions (IFIs), credit rating agencies (CRAs) and foreign investors would usually scrutinize our ability to withstand global shocks. While...
OF SUBSTANCE AND SPIRIT Diwa C. Guinigundo D uring the weekend, the broadsheets reported that the Philippines’ foreign exchange (FX) reserves slipped slightly to $107 billion in end-May “as the National Government (NG) spent more to bankroll its COVID-19 response measures and paid more foreign...
Of substance and spirit Diwa C. Guinigundo Last January 2021, World Health Organization (WHO) head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted by BBC News saying that it was not fair for younger, healthy people in richer nations to be vaccinated before the older, more vulnerable people in poorer...
