Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

GMA News Online Today is the fifth year of Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III's demise . The Philippines can be too easily divided. Honestly, I can admit that I didn't vote for or support Noynoy, or that I actually got caught in between one-sided political debates . As always, I will confess there would be biases,  and I'm not free from them. Now, to make an assessment, it's easy to see tributes for Noynoy can go from what deserves credit ot actually crediting him beyond his power . Whether we want to admit it or not, Noynoy's legacy should be viewed as a complicated legacy . Even good kings made terrible decisions too! We must give credit where credit is due. In fact, even former Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong actually wrote this on his X account: Saddened to hear of the passing of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III yesterday. Had the pleasure of meeting him many times over the years, including when he visited Singapore in 2014....

Here's a video from Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong enjoying Filipino shaved ice,  aka halo halo. This is a short video where Wong says, "Halo halo!" during the ASEAN. For some reason, he also sets the video to the song "Salamin, Salamin" by the Filipino girl band BINI. Salamin means mirror. The short video also has him greeting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Vietnamese official Lê Minh Hưng, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. I can only imagine Flor Contemplacion Crybabies  may be overreacting on social media when this came out. Migrante International is still stuck with its narrative that FDI is bad . It's presumably born from the Flor Contemplacion crybaby narrative. They can cry all they want, but the facts remain as facts. Flor was guilty. The movie, The Flor Contemplacion Story,  remains a problematic film .  Ironically, some Filipinos may actually be...

Bongbong Marcos' Facebook Page The ASEAN Philippines 2026 was taking place in Cebu City. It's the 48th Asian summit. Last time, I wrote an article in 2023 where I talked about the great ASEAN opportunity . That post was a critique last 2023. I was writing how the Philippines has potential but it's held back by Pinoy Pride Economics . What has Pinoy Pride Economics done anyway? As I read the late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First , there was a stinging rebuke not just about the Marcoses but also about the sad state of OFWs: Mrs. Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, whom she backed, was more practical and established greater stability . In November 1992, I visited him. In a speech at the 18th Philippine Business Conference, I said,  "I do not believe that democracy necessarily leads to development. I believe what a country needs to develop is discipline more than democracy."  In private, President Ramos said he agreed with me that  a British parliame...

PEH.ph Last year, I wrote an article talking about Flor Contemplacion crybabies spreading fake news for 30 years . I noticed that the movie could be watched for free on YouTube (which is one hour and 52 minutes long), and the one that you had to pay for via rent or personal soft copy ( which is two hours and two minutes long). I was looking into the film and realized the "for free" version lacks the exaggerated water dunking and electrocution torture scene, which I believe is available, which is a ten-minute difference. I remember seeing the old version where Flor was tortured by Singaporean police via water dunking and electrocution, to get an answer out of her. The famous line by the late Nora Aunor was, "I did not kill anybody!" It's 31 years, and I don't expect the fake news about Flor to stop just because  it's past 30. No, fake news is that hard to kill even in the digital age. It reminds me of the fate of Flor's sons , where one of them, Sandr...

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...

Inspirational Quotes Back when I was in high school, I often felt I "never lived up" to the "legacy" of my family. It's an often bad habit by boomers to put their children under their shadow, brag about how "great" they are, and even talk and talk about the "good old days". Newsflash! An old man had something that would offend boomers. This old man is former Malaysian Prime Minister  Mahathir Mohamad . To avoid the Duterte vs. Aquino dichotomy--I often put the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III under scrutiny. More likely, put the presidential system under scrutiny! I'll admit Noynoy had his ups, but he too had his downs.  Now, for Mahathir's words that reflect on how surprisingly updated this old man is, compared to stubborn boomers: He said education today was not only about learning history or literature, but more about learning new sciences that are revolutionising the world. “ Even business is now affected by n...