We are pleased to present Stratbase ADR Institute’s July 2021 Occasional Paper entitled, “Signs of the Times: Building Back Better”, co-authored by Dr. Jaime M. Jimenez, Deputy Director for Research, and Francesco ‘Paco’ A. Pangalangan, Executive Director.

The unfortunate death of former president Benigno Simeon Cojuanco Aquino, III on June 24, 2021 prompted Stratbase to come up with a special publication to honor the achievements of his presidency bsetween 2010 and 2016.

This paper primarily aims to promote the achievements of the Aquino administration as a good barometer of building back better, as demonstrated by the discussions of its principled leadership, “good governance is good economics,” and a dignified foreign policy. In conclusion, the paper claims that only by contrasting the Aquino legacies with reference to the breaks and continuity in reforms under the Duterte administration can we put Philippine politics and governance in a vantage position of progression onward to the 2022 national elections.

It is also expressed in this paper that the value of extracting lessons from the Aquino Administration’s successes depends on a deeper comparative analysis once the President Duterte’s term has been completed.