At the forthcoming legislature’s bicameral conference on corporate tax reform, it should only be a choice between CITIRA (Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act, House Bill No. 4157) and CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, Senate Bill No. 1357). CITIRA is the House version of Package 2 of the comprehensive tax reform. CREATE, on the other hand, is the Senate Version. Both are good packages, each complete and balanced on its own, and worthy of our support.

The Ayungin Shoal incident last month, and the breakdown in the Philippine-China rapprochement marked by President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s open criticism of the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) harassment of the Philippine Navy’s (PN) supply boats near the BRP Sierra Madre during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China summit in late November in general, is instructive of the need to formulate a Philippine grand strategy.

Stretching 24 kilometers across Metro Manila’s heartland, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or EDSA is undoubtedly the most traversed, used, and abused highway in...

THE CORONAVIRUS that has upended the world’s economic and social life is turning out to be a mediocre election campaigner. The lesson of recent contests in Asia is that pre-existing conditions haven’t gone away and will likely be decisive, even in the bitterly fought US campaign.

MANY THINGS divide the 27 member states of the European Union these days, but one controversy in particular sums up the bloc’s fundamental dilemma. It’s over “enlargement,” and specifically whether to formally start accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Seething below the surface is the question of whether the EU can, in Eurocrat jargon, keep “widening” and “deepening” at the same time.

This continues the discussion started on Dec. 16 on aspects of the Concession Agreements (CA), which have been tagged as “onerous” and “grossly disadvantageous” by the administration.

In the frenzy of the week before Christmas on Sunday, the malls and restaurants were “occupied territory” to hordes of shoppers and diners, and the roads and highways of Metro Manila were “virtual parking lots” with people suffering bumper-to-bumper hours-long trips in heavy traffic from 7 a.m., waning only towards midnight.

Three weeks from now, Filipinos will be casting their votes for the country’s midterm elections. According to the Commission on Elections, there are around 60 million registered voters for the upcoming elections, 2.5 million of whom are new voters. We also have a relatively high voter turnout -- 84% in 2016, considering that voting is not compulsory unlike in other countries such as Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.

The continuing global pandemic posed several challenges and showed the gaps all throughout the health ecosystem. Undeniably, addressing the country’s COVID-19 situation has been the priority and concern of the government for two years now, and still counting. Patients who have other health conditions, such as those who were diagnosed with rare diseases, are sadly kept on the sideline.

Scarborough Shoal (also known as Bajo de Masinloc, Panatag, Panacot), Benham Rise (now Philippine Rise) and the Celebes Sea have been making the news...

The fashion industry is notorious for its adverse impact not only on the environment, but also on human rights and animal welfare. Studies show that the fashion industry contributed at least 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while others peg the figures as high as 10%.

Last week, significant developments involving other countries took place and reaffirmed our common commitment to the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region. On Friday,...