The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought the Philippines into an economic turmoil as it entered a recession, contracting by a record-low of 9.5% for the full-year. Prolonged and restrictive lockdowns imposed to counter the spread of the virus forced thousands of businesses to either temporarily or permanently shut down. By the fourth quarter, the unemployment… Read More

It is with pleasure that we present to you Stratbase ADR Institute’s Economic Snapshots for the first quarter of 2021. This report informs us of the state of economic affairs at the beginning of the year and provides a snapshot of economic events and developments that transpired in the first three months of 2021. It… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute The year 2020 turned out to be another indelible page in history; a period of great disruption not only for the Philippines but also for the rest of the world. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global recession resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic averaged -3.5% in 2020.… Read More

Dr. Renato De Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute On March 5, 2021, Philippine envoy to Washington, D.C. Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez announced, in a virtual interview, that the United States Department of Defense has forwarded to him a list of military hardware that the… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute One year after the lockdown, the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every fabric of our society, with the adverse consequences of the crisis invariably recasting the economic, social, and political dynamics in the country. Aside from the weaknesses exposed in our health care and social protection systems,… Read More

It is with pleasure that we share with you Stratbase ADR Institute’s SPARK for March 2021 entitled, “China’s Coast Guard Law: A ‘Time Bomb’ Ready to Explode”, written by Dr. Chester Cabalza, President and Founder of the International Development and Security Cooperation. This research discusses Asia’s regional security in the context of China’s new Coast… Read More

Dr. Renato De Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute Since 2011, Washington has been drawn to the South China Sea dispute although it is not a party to the overlapping territorial claims in the disputed waters. This is because the maritime row affects the conduct… Read More