NEWS & ARTICLES

For the past two decades, the Philippine economy has rested on two key pillars of foreign exchange earnings, helping to sustain its reserve position and stabilize the peso. These twin pillars—overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances and business process outsourcing (BPO) revenues—have provided crucial inflows that...

Historically celebrated for its remarkable beauty and biodiversity, the Philippines’ archipelagic geography has emerged as a critical economic challenge. Today, logistics costs consume an alarming 27.5% of the country’s GDP—the highest among ASEAN nations—significantly hindering economic growth, inflating consumer prices, and weakening global competitiveness. In...

A few weeks ago, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Proclamation No. 818 declaring May as Ease of Doing Business Month. Although primarily ceremonial, the move strategically emphasizes streamlining bureaucracy and promoting transparency in public service. By further empowering the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), this...

2nd of 2 Parts Miseducation: cross-generation LLL emergencies          The various miseducation crises of the Philippines published in EDCOM II’s first two year reports are forms of social cancer that spread insidiously across the body politic in different people, places and time. They must be...

1st of 2 Parts Enhancing national competitiveness and social equity through experiential education is recognized in the Philippines by EDCOM II, the body tasked with examining the foundational reforms needed by the country’s entire training system – formal, informal, or non-formal. Experiential or real life...

Back almost 15 years ago, I engaged with WeConnect International and had a dream to go global with coffee. I met Elizabeth Vazquez, founding trustee, who brought many American companies to the task of procuring from WOEs, or Women-owned enterprises. In Chongqing, China, we were...

Our nation’s greatest tragedy is not poverty, corruption, or external threats—it’s our paralysis in the face of these challenges. The current socioeconomic-political system, dominated by oligarchs and political dynasties, has proven immune to reform, absorbing and neutralizing every attempt at change. Elections, legislation, and advocacy...

Our country has more seawater than land. It is time we focus more on the sea as a means to sustain our lives through aquaculture, on top of agriculture.   Look at the difference of Philippine territories expressed in terms of kilometers covered by seawater...

I remember the Y2K phenomenon when right before the year became 2000, everyone was waiting for the start of the millennium because people said computers could blow up, files may forever be lost and anything we had saved in our laptops would disappear into thin...