Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Updated on: July 18, 2026 Last July 7, 2026, I read an article from ABS-CBN called " A tale of two economies: Why the Philippines now lags Vietnam ". I found the art above on Facebook; perhaps it's AI art that shows the Philippines lagging behind Vietnam. The Philippines used ot be ahead, but what happened? Speaking of ABS-CBN, I'm still reminded of how the network has the tendency to be hostile to constitutional reform. Now, putting that aside, I'd like to share an excerpt from the article, for a start: The Philippine Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) admitted that the Philippines has been on a slow growth pace for the past decades. Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said many ASEAN neighbors have outgrown the country, including Vietnam. “If you’re asking why we are poor, the big part of the story is the country has not grown as fast as our neighbors,” Balisacan said. Comparing the Philippines to other ASEAN neighbors, Singapore’s GNI per capita ...

Foreign Trade University Some time ago, I remember writing two posts addressed to Kabataan Partylist. The first was where I addressed that  Kabataan Partylist needs to learn economics from Doan Thanh Nien aka the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union . Doan Thanh Nien literally means Youth Union, which makes it nearly synonymous to Kabataan Partylist . It was followed up by a post where KPL should also learn economics from the HCYU . KPL was established on June 19, 2001, while the HCYU was founded on March 30, 1931 . Both the KPL and the HCYU wear blue shirts or use the color blue. Both groups are engaged in community services, with their recruits like disaster outreach programs, cleaning services, and tree planting. However, one group updated its ideology while the other was left in the dust with outdated ideology . The KPL ideology examined  KPL's ideology can be found written in this KPL Laguna   WordPress blog: It believes that the Philippines, as a semi-colonial and...

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...

Foreign Trade University It's time for another Jollibee-related post. I first wrote an article about Jollibee's success in the world market in 2022 . I "followed up" the post I just shared with an article talking about hypocritically rejoing that Jollibee is rising worldwide, while still opposing FDI . My recent focus has been on Jollibee World's success in Vietnam . I'd like to share an excerpt from this ABS-CBN News report by Arthur Fuentes: Since debuting in Ho Chi Minh City in 2005, the chain has expanded to over 250 outlets across 50 provinces. Jollibee said its strategy has relied on "local relevance," tailoring its flagship fried chicken and spaghetti to Vietnamese palates while aggressively targeting the youth demographic .  “ Vietnam is a highly dynamic and competitive market, and our progress reflects our focus on understanding local consumers and executing well on the fundamentals ,” said Ernesto Tanmantiong, Global President and CEO of J...

Foreign Trade University The Lunar New Year isn't just celebrated by the Chinese. Chinese New Year is one form of the Chinese New Year. Other forms of Lunar New Year follow   the Chinese New Year cycle, such as the Tết Nguyên Đán of Vietnam, the Japanese Lunar New Year, and the Seollal in South Korea. There's also the Tibetan New Year and the Mongolian New Year. I remember when talking about Vietnam celebrating the Lunar New Year together with the Chinese, my fellow Chinoy made the squity-eyed gesture to talk about most Vietnamese looking like Chinese. Should we even be surprised that there's a Vietnamese student who looks like the deposed Alice Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping?  What was the Tet Offensive about? Right now, I want to talk about the infamous Tet Offensive , which was a Lunar New Year attack of January 31, 1968. The Western concept would prefer to talk about it on January 31 instead of the Lunar New Year. A Filipino would probably say, "So what if it was Lunar Ne...