Vanessa Pepino, Environment Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute The Philippine government is displaying an ambitious goal of speeding up infrastructure development through its “Build, Build, Build” program. The initiative is anchored on the goal of making economic growth more inclusive and pro-poor. While its first tax reform package, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and… Read More

Weslene Uy, Economic Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute One thorny issue that dominated the economy last year was inflation—one of the top concerns of Filipinos. With only a few months left before the midterm elections, political hopefuls are treading carefully. Some have kept their distance from the issue, while others have used it to… Read More

Weslene Uy, Economic Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute Duterte’s economic managers finally got a much-needed reprieve at the start of 2019. After months of struggling to contain increasing commodity prices, the inflation rate finally showed signs of slowing down. First, it clocked in at 6% in November, before easing further to 5.1% in December,… Read More

Edwin Santiago, Executive Director of the Stratbase ADR Institute The United States government has been on a partial government shutdown for more than 10 days now. By most accounts, some 800,000 federal employees are affected, either working without pay or placed on furlough, a temporary leave. This shutdown is a result of a political deadlock… Read More

Edwin Santiago, Executive Director of the Stratbase ADR Institute The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) lists eight major characteristics of good governance — participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. Of these, accountability and transparency are arguably the… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute The economic momentum has slowed down in the third quarter of 2018. But the economic managers are hopeful that the resilience of the Philippine economy in 2018 will likely continue over the medium term. As a result of the underperformance of the agriculture and unprecedented increase in inflation,… Read More

Dr. Renato Cruz de Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute During his six-year term, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III pursued a balancing or a challenging policy on China’s expansive maritime claim in the South China Sea. He countered China by shifting the Armed Forces of… Read More