FROM THE MARGINS More Filipinos are becoming part of the formal financial system. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Eli Remolona, Jr. has announced that their goal to raise to 70 percent the number of adult Filipinos with bank accounts will be achieved this year. This is great news! Only...
How would you feel if the government were to borrow some of your hard-earned savings from the banks? Well, generally, banks do not take your feelings into consideration. In reality, they are allowed to utilize the savings of their depositors, which are sitting idle in their vaults, and invest them....
Some senators have expressed their committment to continuously pursue creating a special budget for the treatment of indigent cancer patients. The late Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). (MB file photo) Senate...
The development of the country’s power grid network is still saddled with as much as P346.1 billion worth of unsettled right-of-way (ROW) claims, according to a top executive of the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), the owner of the country’s power transmission assets. TransCo OIC...
In order to meet the Marcos administration’s spending requirements, the national government had to borrow over P1.4 trillion in the first half of the year due to a lack of sufficient funds. Based on the Bureau of the Treasury report, gross borrowing of the Marcos administration amounted to P1.423...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mt 16:13-20 Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do...
PEACE-MAKER Vietnam is where we spent our initial foray in international relations, as a 30-year-old presidential assistant, concurrently assigned as minister, economic and press counselor at the Philippine Embassy in Saigon, the South Vietnam capital then (now Ho Chi Minh, capital of the united...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Let me start off with a short family anecdote. Back in 2016, my youngest son was in his last year of high school, and was seeking advice on what university course to take. Unlike me, he’s strong in the sciences and mathematics; and I really...
BEHIND THE SCENES Francisco M. Galvero Jr., with his apprentice Annie Ignacio, preparing the set for a ballet production Most often, audiences perceive the hard work that the actors, musicians, and rest of the cast, the so-called front liners of any production, put into a successful performance....
Spouses Leonilo and Bella Basister from Mayorga, Leyte grew their palay trading business with support from LANDBANK, now running two rice mills that produce more than 100,000 sacks of milled rice per year. As someone who was not able to pursue higher education due to financial constraints,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus warns the people and his followers about the scribes and the Pharisees who are guilty of insincerity. The Jewish religious leaders advertise their righteous deeds and dress themselves in clothes and ornaments to look spiritual. They love public recognition and aim for the...
IT'S THE SMALL THINGS To say that this year has been filled with all sorts of curve balls and the most unexpected of challenging circumstances would be putting it all extremely mildly. But how you stood up to every situation with so much grace has not only proven that the most precious of diamonds...
