The importance of the Olympics
Last July, New York Times columnist Lindsey Crouse wrote that despite the issues that constantly surround the Olympics—like the exorbitant…
A multi-medal haul
With the Tokyo Olympics winding down this weekend, our countrymen are already reveling at the fact that for…
Dealing with the Delta variant
AT the time this article was being written, Philippine health authorities have detected no less than 114 infections…
More venues for licensure exams
Unlike other countries that have already vaccinated a significant portion of their population, the Philippines still finds itself…
A pensionado program for our bright youth
Eighteen-year-old Dominic Navarro graduated with honors from the Ilocos Region campus of the Philippine Science High School last…
A learners’ crisis
Recently, news articles came out about a very disconcerting World Bank assessment on Philippine education. Specifically, the report…
A whole-of-nation immunization campaign
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund declared that the polio…
Mental health–A continuing priority
Three years ago, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11036 or the Mental Health Act, which we…
Unspent Bayanihan 2 funds
When we passed the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) back in August of 2020, every…
Schools on the brink
Last March, President Duterte enacted into law Republic Act 11534, more widely known as the Corporate Recovery and…
The fight against fake news and misinformation
IN September last year, the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of Barangay Balaya in San Carlos City, Pangasinan installed WiFi…
The case for artificial intelligence
Imagine this: On your next grocery trip (wearing a face mask, of course), you pick up an item…
Asia’s fastest-growing companies
The Financial Times, together with Nikkei Asia and Statista, recently came out with its ranking of High-Growth Companies in…
Hunger alleviation through the community pantry
We, Filipinos, are not known to easily give up. And in the face of adversity, we as a…
Self-reliance in food
Recently, the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW), led by Senate President Tito Sotto, conducted two extensive hearings…
Digital transformation in government
Earlier this week, the Anti-Red Tape Authority, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Information and…
Digital transformation in government
Earlier this week, the Anti-Red Tape Authority, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Information and…
Remote work for recovery?
The recent Decoding Global Talent survey by JobStreet has revealed some interesting employment trends amid the pandemic. For…
Our work is far from over
Last February, in anticipation of International Women’s Day on March 8 and National Women’s Month here in the…
Closer public-private collaboration
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused much human suffering. But it has also catalyzed notable feats of human cooperation,…
On Covid-19 vaccines
According to the February 24 Bloomberg data, some 213 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have already been administered across…
Lost opportunities and the youth
Last week, we wrote about the myriad ways the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made our youth even more…
The youth made even more vulnerable
Earlier this year, one of our Senate seatmates, Sen. Win Gatchalian, called attention to disturbing reports of school…
Keeping our guard up
Now that vaccines against the Covid-19 virus will soon be available, some may think we can finally lower…
The digital transition could start at the LGU level
The future is digital. When the Covid-19 pandemic required strict quarantine guidelines, it was no surprise that business,…
Our gaps in health care should be addressed now
Our experience in the past year demonstrated how shortages of beds, equipment, and health-care workers severely affect our…
Additional funding for the Philippine Children’s Medical Center
The heart of Philippine culture is the family, and children are often the most cherished and protected. Hence,…
A budget for recovery
All of Congress saw the urgency of approving the 2021 national budget on time. After all, too much…
The Christmas spirit is service
Christmas is the greatest story of a promise fulfilled. For many Filipinos, it is the embodiment of God’s…
Funding new laws
The reconciled 2021 budget that Congress has approved is currently awaiting the President’s signature. We have worked diligently…
The untapped potential of our blue economy
IN July 2019, at the beginning of the 18th Congress, we filed Senate Resolution 10, calling for the…
Economic opportunities and challenges in the next normal
Now that we are adapting to the “Next Normal” as required by the Covid-19 pandemic, assessing the opportunities…
Upgrading our public libraries for the next normal
Education has always been an important aspect of Filipino culture. How many times have we heard that a…
Digital payments stepping-stones to the next normal
The Next Normal will no doubt require a radical rethinking of how we approach interactions services, including how…
Community service as a multilevel solution
Any crime, if proven to be true, should be given the proper punishment—such as incarceration—with circumstances in consideration.…
Culture as an economic resource
The Senate’s Finance Committee recently had a hearing on the 2021 budgets of the National Commission for Culture…
Ensuring Filipinnovation becomes a growth driver
The Philippines’s performance in the recently released 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII) is encouraging, as we ranked 50th…
The 2020 Human Capital Index Report
People are a nation’s key resource. The healthier, better educated and empowered a population is, the more likely…
Bridging the digital skills divide
Our understanding of the digital world defines how we access it. The less we understand how it works…
Digital payment: Safety, efficiency in the next normal
A recent article in The Economist focused on one of the game-changing effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic—the…
Bayanihan 2–Keeping the economy going
The Covid-19 pandemic, undoubtedly, is a historical and global turning point. The term “new normal,” in fact, is…
Bayanihan 2: Strengthening our health response against Covid-19
AS this paper goes to print, the tally of Covid-19 cases in the country is most likely to…
Leaving big cities–Part of the new normal?
A young couple in London was interviewed in a recent CNN Business article about their decision to move…
What must be done about PhilHealth
It was only last year that the fraudulent claims of WellMed Dialysis & Laboratory Center Corp. came to…
Encouraging digital careers
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our society, especially our employment and economic realities. The April…
Better health care first
The Philippines currently has the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia. Indonesia may have registered…
Helping the unseen
OF the many who are bearing the economic brunt of the months-long lockdown, the informal sector has probably…
Saving lives with convalescent plasma
Plasma is the liquid portion of our blood, comprising up to 55 percent. It is mostly water, containing vital…
Restarting tourism: Industrial change and travel bubbles
Thailand is considering travel bubbles with nations where Covid-19 is largely contained such as China, South Korea, and Vietnam, although initial travel may be focused more for medical and business purposes. Vietnam, on the other hand, is planning to bring in international visitors on a trial basis, with Phu Quoc Island as the test destination. International tourists would have to undergo a Covid-19 test, but they will be able to move freely on the island—but only there.
Building the digital foundations for our new normal
The Covid-19 pandemic has now become, whether we want it or not, a global instigator for change. In our country, the pandemic has brought to light the strengths and weaknesses of our current digital infrastructure, and how well (or not) we make use of the connectivity the Internet provides.
The challenge of education in the new normal
Education is key for generations of Filipinos to become full-fledged, productive members of society. This is why we…
Determining the economic stimulus we need
IT is now painfully obvious that it will take no insignificant time for our country to recover from…
A disturbing lack of urgency
When we crafted the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, we included there certain forms of emergency compensation…
The challenge of mass testing
IT is common sense that in order for us to fight an enemy properly, we have to gather…
Contact tracing and our Covid-19 response
The Senate recently had a Committee of the Whole hearing to discuss updates on the Covid-19 pandemic situation…
The new normal is digital
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that indeed, the online world is a powerful tool. Many have managed…
The mental health of Corporal Ragos
Corporal Winston Ragos was our soldier. He served with the Army’s 31st Infantry Battalion, under the 9th Infantry…
Medical solutions to Covid-19
With much of the world still under a Covid-19 induced lockdown, the race is on to find a…
The case for digital transformation
The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent enhanced community quarantine in the country have far-reaching effects, not only on…
Regaining our economic foothold after Covid-19
While our frontliners and citizenry are fighting Covid-19, we need to consider how this pandemic is affecting—and will…
Innovation and ingenuity against Covid-19
Clearly, the Covid-19 pandemic is unfolding at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. Thankfully, in the face…
Supporting our frontliners against Covid-19
When fighting the good fight, even the best can be cut down. In this war we wage against…
A unified front against Covid-19
The Covid-19 epidemic is upon us. Starting from a few cases in select neighborhoods in Metro Manila, we…
Addressing Covid-19 in the Philippines
One of the risks of having an interconnected world is that a serious concern in one part of…
Building a resilient economy
The announcements that Nokia, Wells Fargo, and Honda will be minimizing or shutting down their business operations in…
Inquiries and the future for the Philippine youth
The youth are the torchbearers of the future. They not only hold our dreams in their hands, they…
Improving the Philippine economic engine
A country’s economy can be likened to a big engine. And just like an actual engine, it has…
An intergenerational response to climate change
The issue of our changing climate can be a matter of a few degrees—specifically, about 1.5 degrees Celsius.…
REITs: Real estate and economic development
IN our country, the main tools of financial stability have traditionally been savings, usually through a bank account,…
Protecting our OFWs
WE are, indeed, living in interesting times. With tensions in the Middle East escalating, our government aims to…
The gift of dignity and just compensation
The strength of an organization arises not just from its leaders, but also from its people. Their passion…
Rising to the challenge of making PHL education world-class
By now, more details about the PISA (Programme for Inter-national Student Assessment) results for the Philippines have been…
PISA 2018 results
This past week, there has been a watershed moment of sorts for Philippine education. The newly released PISA…
‘Pinyapel:’ How innovation works
The pineapple has a unique place in Philippine tradition. Aside from being a delicious food source, we have…
The wheels of justice and judges-at-large
There is a saying, that justice delayed is justice denied. Some say its origins date back to William…
Building a brand of success: The challenge of ‘Tatak Pinoy’
A brand is a promise—an emotional and psychological connection that businesses and organizations make to assure a good…
Social pension and our senior citizens
A hallmark of Filipino culture is how we treat our elderly with respect and utmost care. Indeed, it…
An open call
T he past few columns have been a discussion on keeping our youth from going overseas in their…
Keeping our people home
Part Two Last week, we talked about how younger Filipinos prefer to find work abroad, based on the…
Keeping them home
Many young Filipinos have their minds set on finding their future outside the Philippines, according to the recent…
‘Tatak Pinoy’ products in hotels
IN a June 2019 Facebook post, Ateneo School of Government dean Dr. Ronald Mendoza suggested a very simple…
The Pasig River–A road that runs through the Metro
During the pre-Spanish era, the Pasig River was the center of economic and transport activity in Maynila and…
Remembering our heroes in the digital age
Philippine history is not lacking in stories of heroes who fought bravely for our country. From the Spanish…
Addressing the plastic problem
The problem with plastic materials is that many of them last forever. While some types are considered biodegradable,…
No room for absurdity
The recent controversy regarding the possible release of former Calauan, Laguna, Mayor Antonio Sanchez is an object lesson…
Decongesting the metropolis through rail
IN December 1966, Toronto City’s Planning Board published Proposals for A New Plan for Toronto. At the time,…
Online opportunities for Filipinos
A recent Forbes Magazine article listed the Philippines as the world’s sixth fastest-growing market for freelancers (specifically those who work remotely…
Bringing the informal sector to the mainstream
Recently, some Metro Manila mayors have been very much in the headlines. Upon the President’s orders, the Department…
Clearing a constipated medicine distribution system
IN February 2019, in another win for social justice, President Duterte signed Republic Act 11223 or the Universal…
The Philippines as innovation achiever
The country’s continuing efforts to improve has once again been recognized as we inched up in rankings of…
A time of action
President Duterte’s State of the Nation Addresses are always interesting. He is, of course, a very candid person,…
Higher salaries for our public-school teachers
Teachers have an important role in Philippine society. In a country like the Philippines where education and learning…
Building a blue economy
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) held in January the country’s first National Galunggong Summit. This…
‘Storytelling’ as tourism strategy
During the Senate deliberations on the P3.37-billion budget of the Department of Tourism for 2019, Sen. Richard J.…
VAT-free medicines
Just before 2018 ended, the Department of Finance, the Department of Health (DOH), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)…
Philippine football’s second wind
Earlier this week, the Philippine Azkals played a very close match against South Korea at the ongoing Asian…
What we shouldn’t forget in 2019
For one of its 2018 year-ender publications, the New York Times asked a panel of experts and thinkers the question:…
An attitude of gratitude
The world’s major religions all extoll the virtues of gratitude. From Christianity to Islam, Buddhism to Hinduism—some reference…
‘Talent competitiveness’ erosion
The recently published 2018 IMD World Talent Ranking report ought to raise some eyebrows, since it showed that…
Pursuing more than Olympic glory
IN July this year, the government of the Republic of Ireland revealed its 2018-2027 National Sports Policy—an 11-chapter document…