NEWS & ARTICLES

[Speech delivered by the author at the Philippines Council for Foreign Relations’ (PCFR) 40th anniversary celebration on October 2, 2025]   Tonight marks a milestone—forty years of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations (PCFR). But this is more than a celebration of longevity. It is...

CEOs today are faced with multiple uncertainties. Technological disruption, climate change, fractured geopolitics and other long-term megatrends are fundamentally reshaping how business leaders lead, adapt and grow.   Isla Lipana & Co./PwC Philippines, in collaboration with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), has been...

Conferences can sometimes feel like familiar rituals: greetings exchanged, insights shared, and then the world carries on as before. But the 23rd Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) International CEO Conference, held on September 9, 2025 at Shangri-La The Fort, was different. It was not...

From its inception in the 1950s, the battle cry of the Philippine Educational Publishers Association (PEPA) is to come up with Filipino-authored textbooks responsive to the varying requirements of students:  be it from the private schools which comprise 5% or from the public schools which...

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand its reach and importance in our day-to-day living, the conversations around its use almost always carry strong emotional undertones – unease, anxiety, fear, cautious acceptance, sense of wonder, and “no big deal’. In boardrooms, workplaces and classrooms, the...

The issue of corruption has become one of the hottest topics these days, following President Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr.’s recent State of the Nation Address wherein he highlighted the pernicious practice as the root cause of our country’s ills.   The stench generated by the...

Introduction   The Philippines is at a crossroads. While the country continues its pursuit of economic growth, familiar challenges persist—poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and growing distrust in institutions. If we were to build a future where every Filipino thrives, we must go beyond surface-level reforms...

In the Philippines, corruption does not operate in the margins—it is often intertwined with routine governance. It can surface in various areas, including public procurement, infrastructure projects, regulatory approvals, tax collection, law enforcement, election campaigns, and public service delivery. Its presence distorts incentives, erodes government...

In his fourth State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the role of digital transformation in shaping the country’s future—calling for wider internet access, improved government digital services, and stronger science and technology initiatives. But if we are to assess the true...