Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Inquirer A day ago, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos (above) was seen ceremonially  giving away 209 Apple MacBook Neo units in Dagupan City, Pangasinan. This was news from the Inquirer . On GMA News , I thought about the DepEd deal with Apple Inc. I will give an excerpt  from the  GMA News   article on the deal itself: " We welcome Apple's participation in this procurement to bring MacBook Neo to our teachers. It isn't just about handing out world-class hardware with five-year warranties; it's about giving our educators the best tools, backed by robust training so they can focus on what matters most: teaching our children ," he (Sonny Angara, emphasis mine) added. Apple Chief Executive Officer John Ternus also spoke about the deal during Apple's Financial Results Conference Call for 4th Quarter 2026. Ternus said he was excited for the opportunities that Apple had ahead of it, including services to fields such as health and education. H...

Presidential Communications Office Yes, it's almost Christmas, and I expect Filipinos to ignore their health . It's easy to get caught with the symptoms, right? I wrote a Throwback Thursday post where I discussed the wrongness of the slogan, " An apple a day keeps the doctor away. " This has resulted in the reactive healthcare side, where people  avoid seeing the doctor. In the case of the dentist, I remember growing up with the threat of the dentist, such as, "If you eat too many sweets, we will have to go to the dentist." The result was that the dentist and the doctor aren't seen as friends but as boogeymen.  Midland Sports Rehab In fact, proactive healthcare is something I'm switching to right now. I had a visit with a cardiologist who put me on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). It was discovered that I had asymptomatic hypertension . The doctor said, "We shall not wait until you come here holding your chest." In fact,...

I was just doing some random Instagram scrolling. However, I realized that after all those annoying AI doctors , I found a blind spot in myself. Up until now, I have usually traveled in groups, even if I book a Grab to go to the airport. However, we have this scam that I never heard of until now,  called the "please watch my bag" scam. How does it happen? I saw some videos on Instagram. One involved an old woman asking a couple ot watch her bag. The old woman said, "I am looking for my grandson. Can you please watch my bag for me?" The couple said, "Can you open your bag, please?" The old woman refused. The old woman tried to play the sympathy card, like, "You're gonna grow old one day, and when you need help—you won't get it! Karma will get you!" Sounds like a Dhar Mann  skit, right? However, life isn't a Dhar Mann video—it's way more complicated than that! The couple had every right to refuse.  It might seem heartless to avoid h...

Henry Rose Lee There's always the statement about stubborn boomers, isn't there? I'm glad not every boomer I meet is stubborn. There's this sad truth— we have boomers who tend to think everyone after them is "having it easy"—all the while ignoring the convenience cost . As of recent, I thought about how funny Facebook posts can be against the Philippines and foreign investments. I could see some classic Gen Z rants (done by the now-defunct Philippine Anti-Fascist League) posting against FDI as "destructive and exploitative". I often assume that there's a pipeline of ideas, like the parents were probably members of Makabayan Bloc's fronts. This time, I want to focus on a particularly funny pattern I wish I noticed sooner. That pattern is all about Filipino boomers (1946—1964) using foreign-made smartphones to type anti-FDI rants ! I noticed several anti-FDI rants (especially in the comments section  of several constitutional reform pages or in...

As a middle-aged man, I thought about my recent  dentist visit and the gentle chastisement for  not going for more than 10 years. I received a very severe prophylaxis and  fluoride treatment, and I had to gargle Orahex for seven days. I was suddenly reminded of my step-by-step process of preventive or restorative dentistry . Right now, the process is slow, but the dentist not giving a one-stop fix may be better in the long run, like me not taking cryptocurrency hoping for a quick win . Back in the 1990s, I remember Nutrition Month. Sure, we had the promotion for eating healthy foods, avoiding junk food (which really causes health problems, no questions asked), the need to eat vegetables, but we had the slogan, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." It was based on an outdated Welsh proverb. In fact, it was an era of reactive healthcare . I heard people didn't bother to to any doctor unless they felt bad. The same went for dental care, where the dentist's income was b...

Ateneo de Manila   It's sad, but life can get complicated. I'm currently having a series of lessons learned from certain health problems, for taking my health for granted. Right now, I'm thinking about making a blog entry on another person that I admire in the world of business and economics, namely Indian Singaporean, and founder of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy , Kishore Mahbubani. It was last October 2, 2026, when Mahbubani went to the Ateneo de Manila University, one of my dream universities back when I was younger. It was too bad I was in the middle of recovering from health issues that may kick in unawares in my 40s. When I think about it, I wonder if Hilario Davide Jr. even had the chance to be there, and I assume that the two probably met because they were both grandfathers who were once United Nations diplomats . Insights given by Mahbubani at the ADMU I gave thought to how Mahbubani recommends the Philippines, as a fellow ASEAN member, to deal with the ...

It's #ThrowbackThursdays, and I thought about making another post. I remember the time in the 1990s when the PCs and the Internet were luxuries . Yes, several of them tend to drive the costs up, given the price of PCs and the Internet. They also had this inconvenience factor: using the Internet means I couldn't make a call, unlike today, with the use of the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). Today, I can type this entry and make a phone call at the same time. The PCs were also inconvenient because, as far as I can remember, there was a tendency for hang-ups  and brownouts in the 1990s Philippines, which were annoying inconveniences .  Technological development will always have its earlier stages . The product life cycle is often Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. That would explain why Windows had to continuously evolve. The technology would've been so new, meaning that even the production process may have been harder. A PC would've been more expensive because of ...