Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

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 this art above on Facebook; perhaps this is an AI art, which demonstrates 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 is $81,76...

It's time for another Throwback Thursdays post. It's often how irritation can sometimes give me inspiration . I want to think about the problem with boomers. I was thinking about how, as a millennial, I can navigate life with some boomers who are open-minded (even if they still use boomer talk, such as "When I was your age," which can be irritating but can be bearable once they admit they achieved it via open-mindedness) vs. those who are plain stubborn. In fact, I often read some stories on Facebook where some boomers,  or better called the stubborn boomers , often try to operate in a world that no longer exists. This is the difference when the stubborn boomers start opening their mouths because blah blah blah, they were honor students, successful businessmen, etc., and try to make their children (and grandchildren) "extensions of themselves", rather than succeeding as individuals. It made me think about how boomers tend to marry in their 20s . Some can bra...

Bilyonaryo News Channel It's time for me to address IBON Foundation yet again. I often receive comments that I'm not an economist like the IBON Foundation writers. I can cite authoritative sources to support my criticism. It's easy to accuse me of ad hominem. However, I'm focusing on the argument of IBON because how can an economic think-tank even keep suggesting proven,  outdated economic plans? Recently, the Bilyonaryo News Channel has featured Jose Enrique "Sonny" Africa. Here's something that Africa said that Lee Kuan Yew would've called third-world  mentality : “ We have to get over this thinking that foreign capital will save us ,” he said. “We also have to get over this thinking that we can’t produce enough food and therefore have to import everything. More household purchasing power means more aggregate demand. More aggregate demand means a bigger market for Filipino agriculture and Filipino industry. If Filipino agriculture and Filipino indus...

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....

Chinoy TV This is a viral Facebook post right now. Zhang Yingfei, who was dubbed as "Linda Walker "in a micro-drama  The Heiress Who Won With Brains . Sure, there are tensions right now between the Chinese government and ASEAN countries. Back then, I remember I was "outstanding" in the Chinese class, in the sense of being disconnected from the Chinese language classes and getting bad grades . It's because the classes were taught in Hokkien , where your only reward was actually passing; the siansi (teacher) didn't spank you with a ruler or do any absurd punishment for compliance, and the foundations were built on dead repetition . Thankfully, the Chinese School Association shied away from the mandatory Hokkien to the  open-house approach . It's because the open-house approach would mean, "You learn Mandarin in the language you already know. Let's teach Mandarin using English or your local dialect." It's like one of our Chinese siansis a...

Bongbong Marcos' Facebook Page It's June 12, and it's time for Philippine Independence Day. Given that today is a Friday , it's an Independence Day long weekend . I was thinking about not writing anything today, but the IBON Foundation wrote an entry called "Still Dreaming of Freedom" , which is built on the Filipino First Policy . I would be writing this Philippine Independence Day post to talk about economic interdependence . In 2024, I wrote a post where I discussed that Philippine Independence Day doesn't mean rejecting FDI altogether .  Wait, isn't FDI a form of neocolonialism? For a start, FDI isn't neocolonialism. To understand, Britannica defines neocolonialism as: neocolonialism , the control of less-developed countries by developed countries through indirect means . The term neocolonialism was first used after World War II to refer to t he continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries, but its meaning soon broadened to ap...

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...