LIKE MOST INDUSTRIES, the banking sector has been left with no other choice but to follow their clients onto the digital space.

IN MAY, S&P Global Ratings upgraded its risk assessment on the Philippine banking industry, uplifting the country’s Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) score to “6” from the previous “7.” S&P uses its BICRA framework to evaluate and compare global banking systems. Scoring is done on a one-to-10 scale, with one being the best score, signifying lowest risks.

BILLIONAIRE John Gokongwei, owner of the Philippines’ largest snack maker and budget airline, and a Skype, Inc. founder will invest as much as $200 million over three years to lend to millions of unbanked Filipinos.

THERE ARE LOTS of opportunities for cryptocurrency to go missing -- some inherent to buying internet money, some involving crime. Below, a few common ways of going virtually broke.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte as disruptor has been quite a running theme by now, two years into his administration. But above all, this theme is a tangible reality being felt by the country -- by its citizenry and its stakeholders -- whether one considers the body count in the drug war or the presidential pronouncements almost out of the blue that have led to disruption here and there in the business community.

“Money cannot call forth goods, but goods can call forth money…” -- David Ricardo,
on the “mere increase of money” (1809)

THE CHORUS of lawmakers and various groups calling for the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)’s suspension amidst inflation rates peaking to four-year highs has only grown louder. The chief architects of the law have been put on the defensive, vehemently explaining that the rise in prices was predominantly driven by external factors. Even the president himself, who usually refrains from talking about economic issues, has offered his two cents on the debate. While he acknowledged that TRAIN is one of the factors driving up inflation, he emphasized that he needed money to run the country.

IN 2016, we witnessed power shifts around the world with the rise of populist, nativist, or nationalist politics on a global scale. Rebalancing themselves between change and continuity, the demands for radical social change have gotten more pronounced due to rising inequality amidst wealth, economic growth, and disruptive social forces. In 2017, we welcomed a new world order or disorder: where societies continue to face a state of political uncertainty, unpredictability and international factors beyond the control of national governments and economies. In 2018, more uncertainties have unfolded that characterize an ever-changing political dynamics and political economy of societies. In this post-factual world, we are simply caught in a tug-of-war between change and continuity.

AFTER ATTEMPTS by the past administrations to overhaul the 1987 Constitution, is the government’s bid, on President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s watch, toward federalism likely to succeed this time?

IN THE SECOND of three presidential debates in 2016, then-candidate Rodrigo R. Duterte asked contender Grace Poe, by way of testing her relative inexperience in her five-plus years in public office, what she would do in a Chinese attack on the Philippine Coast Guard.

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte’s two years in office in the Philippines have been marred by controversy, but with one big success: a booming economy. The jury is still out if that’s because, or in spite, of him.

IN THE 21^ST CENTURY, infrastructure development has become the new pivot of geopolitics. Power and influence are no longer measured by military prowess or economic size alone but also the ability of international actors to provide the necessary capital and technology to overhaul decaying or underdeveloped public infrastructure around the world.