Philippine prisons are as abhorrent as the crimes -- rape, kidnapping and murder, among others -- some Filipinos have committed or have been accused of.

Filipinos must be wary of those who proclaim that democracy is bad for the country and of those who insist that we adopt the authoritarianism or totalitarianism of other countries.

Depression is a mental illness that is difficult to detect, recognize, accept, and treat. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors note that it happens across a wide spectrum. In some cases, it hits generations in families.

IT is customary to compliment someone not seen for many years and almost forgotten (don’t tell me you don’t know who I am) with the ready greeting: “Hey, you haven’t changed.” Is this a flattering remark? Maybe the greeter has used the aging app to approximate how a former classmate is supposed to look now? The present apparition is not at all gaunt and withered, with caved-in cheeks -- yes, a bit plumper.

Filipinos are generally spenders. This is our nature in terms of handling finances. After all, we only recognize the importance of savings and investments when in a crisis, we do not have enough money to spend.

When I went to UP Diliman, parking was not a problem. Far more students stayed in dormitories or commuted to and from school in those days. And of the few who drove to school, many of them were in car pools. In my case, I was lucky enough to be in such a pool, and there were five to six of us regularly taking the same ride going home to the south.

The continuing anti-coal paranoia of many leftist political groups and greenie environmentalists is largely based on emotion and alarmism, far away from reason and energy realism. And based on watermelon activism -- green on the outside, red on the inside.

IT’S SAD enough that the world is broken up into so many geographical parts. We have drawn lines of differentiation from the North to the South Pole, from the East to the West. Our beliefs, ethnicities, and cultural mindset further influence our attitude and treatment of others, putting them into stereotyped segments. Effective and successful leaders must strive to rise above all this murk. They must have an open and supportive mindset backed by immense tolerance for other people who do not reason, romanticize, or react to issues the way they do.

IN CAPITAL MARKETS, trust boils down to -- what else? -- money. The more trusted you are, the more money investors will give you at a relatively low cost. Trust is in the eye of the beholder, of course. The US government borrows fantastical sums at next to nothing, as you might expect. Then again, WeWork was also showered with cash despite a gaping wound of a P&L statement and multiple red flags.

This anniversary week for our martial law experience under Marcos is a reminder of how as our historical experience has confirmed that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The Philippines is where my wife and I would love to retire in, but I decided to check out other so-called retirement havens for comparison. An interesting source of information is the “Cheapest Destinations Blog” by noted travel writer Tim Leffel. One particular blog entry -- “The Cheapest Places to Live in the World – 2019” -- caught my interest because of the following entry.

Developing the mining potential of our country necessitates a far more complex and progressive way of capitalizing opportunities and benefits.