Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

24h.com I wasn't planning on blogging today. However, I saw from my Facebook feeds, I found something in interesting on the ANC 24/7 Facebook page. This was what I found: I read the full story on the ABS-CBN website. One reason why I'm critical of ABS-CBN is how they're very anti-reform. They tend to treat the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines as if it's so holy and pure, as if not one provision   of it must be amended! Oftentimes, Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. and/or Atty. Christian Monsod, are frequently featured when it comes to the welfare of the Philippines. Now, I'd like to share an excerpt from the ABS-CBN website, which makes me cringe.  Balisacan replied that the pandemic caused a bigger contraction in the Philippine economy compared to Vietnam .  “First, Vietnam over the last decade has been growing faster than the Philippines. Second, during the 2020 pandemic, our economy contracted by almost 10 percent. Whereas Vietnam contracted only a little. That pa...

Washington Times It's really entertaining (while it can also be frustrating ) dealing with economic neanderthals from my own country. Such people operate on what I call "Pinoy Pride Economics", never mind its high socio-economic post (read here ).  I ended up remembering the now-defunct Philippine Anti-Fascist League old page (and the new page is barely getting any views), which I believe is run by a group of Gen-Z brats blaming the USA for Venezuela's plight. I went Googling and found out that six years ago, President Nicolas Maduro showed he might be the champion of blaming other countries for his own country's poverty.  This incident was a massive blackout that hit Venezuela in 2019 . The news from CNN gives this detail why Maduro might win any blame contest if there was one: As the March outages left the country in the dark, Caracas saw dueling protests by supporters of Maduro and of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has been recognized as Venezuela’s interi...

Back in 2022, I wrote about why it's deadly to believe someone is rich based on their lifestyle . During my childhood to teenage years, I used to think someone was wealthier because of reasons like: Their parents spoil them with generous allowances.  They're driving a luxury car everywhere they go. They have expensive parties every year.  They have a lot of luxury brands. The children have so many toys.  The list can go on and on , and I believe I might type too many words from there. I grew up with people bragging about  how rich they are, even if the claims are preposterous. It's common among children to brag about what they don't have . Unfortunately, some never outgrow that dangerous habit and grow up with a fake rich lifestyle. This is the lifestyle where one wants others to think they're rich, even if they're not rich. The rule of fake rich reverses the advice above. Instead, the fake rich lifestyle says, "Buy a USD 500.00 bag never mind you have noth...

It can be easy for some Filipino social media influencers to rejoice that Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan has taken over Senator Robin Padilla. I confess I never voted for Padilla because I don't like voting for celebrities. However, Padilla has been more active in reforming the constitution than most lawyers. It's easy to talk about Padilla's bad-boy image in the 1990s. However, Padilla was right in some areas where lawmakers could be wrong.  Right now, I want to present this post, not to derail Pangilinan, but to give some constructive criticism, as a taxpayer. Just because I'm a nobody doesn't mean that I should just shut up and never talk. Unfortunately, is it me or do many Filipino youngsters, yesterday and today, have been taking the national heroes for granted ? Talk about voting for the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III, without thinking that his father, Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr., actually risked his neck t...

Lawrence Wong's Facebook Page Happy 60th anniversary to Singapore. I could remember the first time I went to Singapore. It was when I experienced a city far better than Cebu City. It was a fine city because you get fined  a lot if you refuse to keep the place, clean and orderly. It's that fine that makes Singapore a fine city. As Singapore hits 60, it reminds me that Singapore was once an impoverished country , as documented in the late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First . What truly sickens me, though, is how often LKY's words on the Marcoses are held high, all the while his useful economic advice is often ignored (read here ). In fact, we have stubborn Filipino boomers who can quote LKY in one moment, then they would choose to listen to Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. instead of the  more proven Kishore Mahbubani (read here ). The Philippines' obsession with symptoms (short-term) I was thinking about the logic of Facebook pages like Silent No More PH . Do t...

I rewatched the Jose Rizal (1998) film on Netflix, because it's Buwan Ng Wika or Month of the Language. However, it's become more of National History Month instead. Back then, I remember the image of a fat priest known as Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda. I Googled his name and exclaimed, "Socrates Villegas, is that you?"  Although Villegas no longer sits as the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines as its president, one may not be able to deny how the CBCP still runs with Padre Damaso-style  economics. Padre Damaso was often pictured in Noli Me Tangere as a person who is overly resistant to change . Damaso was known to be overly close-minded, evidenced by talking too much. In fact, Damaso also turned out to be Maria Clara's biological father, as Captain Tiago was actually  sterile , for some reason. Sure, the Spanish colonization days are over. Now, Chinese Filipinos can enter and exit Intramuros without facing discrimination legally. Chinese Filipino...