For the second time, the Philippines will host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in 2015, following China in 2014 and preceding Peru in 2016. This year’s Apec is in Indonesia. The Philippines first hosted the Apec in 1996 where the association’s Manila Action Plan for Apec (Mapa) was adopted.
The Philippine government report last Tuesday says that the country’s unemployment rate moved up to 7.5 percent in April this year from 6.9 percent in the same month last year. This prompted critics of the new Aquino government to say that while Philippine gross domestic product growth went up under its watch, it remains exclusive which keeps many of our people in poverty. Indeed, poverty incidence was over a quarter of the population in the first half of last year based on another government report released early this year.
To protect their interests in Cuba during the revolt of the Cubans against their Spanish masters, the US government sent its battleship USS Maine to Havana in January 1898. A few days later in February, the forward gunpowder magazines of the battleship exploded killing nearly three-quarters of its crew. The cause of the explosion was [...]
Do you think before you eat and see if you can save something from not ordering or cooking this or that extra food? How much food do we leave in our plate after we dine outside or eat at home? And did you know that May 28 was World Hunger Day and last Wednesday, the World Environment Day?
I often use in writing the word “inept” to describe people in government who do not know what they are supposed to do or are unable to do what is required of them in certain critical situations. They may not be corrupt but their ineptness leads to waste in government similar to what we lose through corruption. The worst happens when inept government officials are also corrupt because, freed from work through their ineptness, they now have all the time to think of ways and means to take advantage of their positions for their own profit.
High trust by the business sector on the new Aquino government is now paying off handsomely. After correcting last year’s real GDP growth from 6.6 percent to 6.8 percent overall, the government reported yesterday that the economy registered an almost unbelievable 7.8 percent growth (in real terms or after discounting for inflation) in the first quarter. This is higher than the 6.5 percent growth registered in the same period last year and the 6-7 percent GDP growth target of the government for the year. This is also the third consecutive quarter now in which GDP growth runs at more than 7.0 percent. This 7.8 percent growth in the first quarter could also be the highest among the ASEAN member countries if not for the entire South East Asia except perhaps China.
When Congresswoman-elect Aileen Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City announced her proposal to convert the city into a province with two municipalities (Olango and Opon also to be created) and one component city (what remains of Lapu-Lapu City after carving out the two new municipalities), her main contention was that doing so would mean a bigger share of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the national government would go to the people of the new province.
As we prepare to go to the polls on Monday to elect new local officials, congressmen and senators, I looked up many old books about the Philippines that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg to see what was said about the time the first election was held in the country during the American period. I have not seen anything written about the elections in Cebu. However, there was one for Capiz that I think is sufficient to give an idea what also happened in the rest of the country on that first election day. I got this from Mary H. Fee’s “A Woman’s Impressions of the Philippines.”
I teach economics part time at the University of San Carlos with a load of 6 or 9 units per semester. This increased to 12 to 15 units in the last two years when the Department of Political Science asked me to handle subjects in the their newly opened program on public management and development. [...]
Should I congratulate Filipino workers for today’s celebration of Labor Day? I am not sure, but what I am sure of is that many Filipino workers, whether working for others or self-employed, still find themselves in dire situations with their meager income or from being chronically unemployed or underemployed.
The main challenge in the Philippines today is poverty. It remains high compared with that of neighbors that used to be as poor as or even poorer. This issue has come to the fore again with the recent government report which shows that poverty remained unchanged in the last six years. The nature and causes of Philippine poverty are no longer unknown but what is perplexing is what exactly is needed to cut it down.
Arsenio Balisacan, National Economic Development Authority Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, will speak at a forum this afternoon at the Cebu City Sports Club on the Philippine economy and prospects for the year. This should be interesting. What caused last year’s surprising high 6.6 percent economic growth? Given that the global economy is still weak after almost five years since the 2008 to 2009 Global Recession, was that growth a fluke? If not, can we sustain it this year?
The ten years of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave the Philippines a much faster economic growth at around 4.8 percent annually. The only decade-long gross domestic product (GDP) growth higher than this was recorded in the 1950s. There was a problem, however, with the Arroyo government performance. Poverty incidence did not fall. It was at 33 percent [...]
