It is said that if the world were to be destroyed in the aftermath of a nuclear war and every living thing were to be annihilated, one creature will survive. The cockroach.

BECAUSE OF better nutrition and health care, the average life span of individuals has increased. There are more old people around, and they seem to be occupying all the rocking chairs in the mall. Still, the life expectancy for the Philippines is among the lowest, ranking 123^rd in the world as of 2018. The top country in life expectancy is still Japan at 83.7 years for both sexes. (Can you pass the sushi?)

YOU KNOW they say that it is more fun in the Philippines. Yes, and I’d like to add that there is also love and great service in the Philippines. Here we have fun, share love, and serve wholeheartedly.

The Philippines celebrated a 29-place jump in its Doing Business score in the World Bank’s 2020 report, having raised the country’s ranking from 124 to 95.

The Philippines with 7,600+ islands and islets and 108 million population still has difficulty reaching $10 billion in tourism revenues, something that many of our neighbors in the region had attained nearly a decade ago.

From our discussion last week (Nov. 18, www.bworldonline.com/rule-of-law-in-hong-kong), we continue with the law enforcement issues of the Hong Kong police.

HONG KONG -- A small ray of hope has emanated from Hong Kong’s ballot boxes. Nearly 3 million voters, or 71% of those eligible, turned out to hand pro-democracy groups a big victory in the Chinese special administrative region. The outcome puts pressure on Chief Executive Carrie Lam to make some concessions. Even after six months of bumbling, she now has a chance to take steps that could help keep the calm and reverse an economic slump.

IF YOU WANT a picture of the future, imagine a human face biting into a burger -- forever.

There is no question that the Philippines needs a boost to its dismal investment rate (22-24% of GDP while our neighbors are punching at 25-35%). But the question is how? The government’s Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act (CITIRA) claims that a lower statutory corporate income tax has to be part of the mix! The subsequent strident debate on CITIRA mostly centers on how the replacement of gross income tax (GIT) at 5% with a corporate income tax (CIT) will impact locators and foreign investment in PEZA, the source of most of our manufactured exports. But truth to tell, this replacement issue, as important as it is, is a derivative one. While overstaying incentives are a legitimate issue, the major prior reason for the restructuring of PEZA incentives -- including the replacement of gross with corporate income tax for locators -- is to plug the potential fiscal hole punched by the proposed lowering of the statutory corporate income tax (CIT) rate from 30% to 20%. The crucial claim is that lower statutory CIT will boost investment and growth -- a claim, mind you, that is by contrast largely glossed over. Surely, the Department of Finance (DoF) team must have this issue well-covered. But merely pointing to the lower average CIT in our Asian neighborhood (average 20% today), where the investment rate today is higher, is no proof that higher investment rate will result in the Philippines. In 1980s when they were making their move, Malaysia’s and Singapore’s CIT was at 40% while Indonesia’s was at 35%. Nor does it suffice to point to Sweden’s and Denmark’s corporate income tax at 22% in 2019, since Sweden’s was at 60% in 1989 and Denmark’s was at 50% in 1985. A cursory check of the evidence seemed in order if only to confirm the claim.

Last month, residents of Metro Manila suffered another round of water rationing as water levels dipped in the city’s principal water source, the Angat...

Those who knew Ernest from afar -- perhaps as a technocrat and a former Finance Secretary -- might ask: What on earth was he doing in Papua New Guinea where he contracted malaria, leading to his death?

The trending verbal joust between the administration and the oppositionists started from a piece of criticism by Senator Franklin Drilon at the Senate review of the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program of President Rodrigo Duterte. As quoted in the Philippine Star of Nov. 14, Drilon said that “the program was a ‘dismal failure’ because only nine of 75 flagship projects have been completed three years into the six-year term of the Duterte administration.” Salvador Panelo, the president’s spokesperson, immediately sequestered national TV airtime to publicly shame the opposition: “The Aquino administration had built not a single infrastructure project,” he declared with damning finality.