On Nov. 22, 2022, while appearing in the TV news program One News: The Chiefs, National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos revealed that top Philippine security and foreign relations cluster officials were scheduled to meet to review the 1951 Philippine-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

According to her, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a review of the MDT considering several U.S. requests and proposals, particularly about the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Read More

Last month, the Stratbase ADR Institute held its two-day annual Pilipinas Conference, which gathered top government officials, industry leaders and other stakeholders to share their insights on the most pressing political, economic and social challenges faced by the country today.

The second session of the conference touched on the pivotal role of the private sector in nation-building and how its partnerships with the government can promote inclusive growth and sustainable development in the long run. Read More

The Stratbase ADR Institute’s Pilipinas Conference gave me a renewed sense of hope for our nation—both in the management of our internal affairs and securing our place in the community of nations. Read More

Not known to many is that data show that the Philippines actually has one of the most transparent budgets in the world.

Results of the Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2021 show that Philippines scored 68 out of 100 in budget transparency, placing the country at 19th place out of 120 countries.

Compared to our previous score, we went down eight notches from our ranking in 2019, when we got a score of 76 and ranked 10th. Despite this, we still maintained our over-all lead in the survey in Southeast Asia. Read More

With a national budget of P5.268 trillion in 2023, Filipinos are definitely interested to know how the government plans to use this much funds.

And according to an international survey on budget transparency, this shouldn’t be too difficult to do. Because the Philippines, as it turns out, is one of the most budget transparent in the world. Read More

The pandemic tested us in so many ways. It revealed gaps in our health system, exposed the tendencies of our leaders, and set back our economy. Now that we are about to end 2022 — our third year with COVID-19 in our midst — and as we make our way to the new normal, it is only prudent that we move forward armed with the lessons of the past and with a heightened perspective of what will and what will not work to our country’s ultimate benefit. Read More

Compared to former President Rodrigo Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been more consistent in his foreign policy pronouncements, particularly on the West Philippine Sea. Read More