NEWS & ARTICLES

In a column entitled “The journey of MSMEs: Are we there yet?,” I discussed the challenges that MSMEs — Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises — face in their entrepreneurial journey and proposed recommendations for policy makers. This follow-up will focus on Women-owned/led MSMEs (WMSMEs). On...

The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved a total of P1.16 trillion worth of investments for 2023, which marked not only a 59-percent growth from the previous year, but also a record high for the agency. For the year 2024, the BOI is eyeing to...

I am so happy to have met an enlightened civil servant who shared his insights about climate change. After all, he is a Commissioner of the Climate Change Commission. Albert dela Cruz, Sr. is so interested in sharing his sci-entific explanations for climate adaptation. He...

(Second of two parts) This article continues the enumeration of 28 strategic objectives that will help make Dream Philippines 2046 happen. The first 15 were published here on April 15. 16. Greater attention to food security and sustainability Even if government gives priority to promoting...

Many economists think of scale and clustering as the only way to be food secure. Entrepreneurs tend to think differently. I was recently in Batanes where they seem to have no issues about food security. It is because they learned to deal with the scarcity...

(First of two parts) In continuation of my article last Jan. 15 and Feb. 26, the 28 strategic objectives that will help make Dream Philippines 2046 happen are enumerated here, together with some suggestions on how each Filipino can contribute. 1. A virtues-based society It...

When I learned that Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental was the site of the Sablayan Prisons and Penal Farm (SPPF), the Philippines’ largest penal colony with a sprawling 16,190 square meters, I promised myself that I would help, even in some small way, some of the 1,800+...

The economist Arthur Pigou explained in his seminal “The Economics of Welfare” that in a competitive market, workers would be paid an amount equivalent to their marginal contribution to production. However, when market conditions deviate from perfect competition, workers could be exploited by being paid...

In recent years, the Philippines has been undergoing an extensive overhaul of its tax system. One such law is the CREATE Act, which was passed in 2021. Under CREATE (the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act), the corporate income tax was lowered, and...