Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute The COVID-19 pandemic induced the sharp decline in economic activities that crippled businesses, widened our pre-existing social inequalities, and inflicted hardship on the most vulnerable. Despite these, the pandemic also presented an opportunity to assess untapped resources that can be harnessed to move forward sustainably and inclusively. Before the… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute In his first State of the Nation Address in 2016, President Duterte and his team pronounced the new administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda, which in the next year was converted to a “Zero to 10-point” agenda. The President presented himself as a strongman populist, and enjoyed a supermajority hold on… Read More

Engr. Felix Vitangcol, Fellow for Environment at the Stratbase ADR Institute and Secretary-General of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship Recently, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned of the high probability of near to above normal rainfall conditions in the following months. At the same time, PAGASA also said that up to… Read More

Paco A. Pangalangan, Executive Director, Stratbase ADR Institute The average temperature on earth is now 1-degree Celsius hotter than it was in the pre-industrial era 1800s. However, half of that degree only happened in the last four decades and at this rate, the earth’s temperature will continue to rise until it hits the critical 1.5-degree… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute Amending the Public Service Act (PSA) is an appropriate and timely move by our legislators. The manifest intention is very clear — open up the public service/utility industry to more competition, especially during this time of pandemic. Through this, we would be able to encourage the entry of more… Read More

From 1999 to 2019, the Philippines ranked as the fourth country globally that was most affected by extreme weather events, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 report. These calamities often result in great economic losses. In fact, when the Philippines was hit by three destructive typhoons within just two weeks in the last… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute Latest data from the Department of Finance show that the Philippines has sufficient funds to vaccinate 70 percent of the country’s population, given the number of loans it has obtained from various foreign sources. Still, despite the huge budget to fund the government’s COVID-19 response, the country has continued… Read More