Two weeks ago, I traveled from Manila to North Luzon by bus. Going up via NLEx, SCTEx, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, finally to Gonzaga, Cagayan. I went there to visit a friend, also gave a talk on TRAIN law and inflation at Cagayan State University (CSU) Gonzaga campus. Going back I took the Cagayan Valley route, passed Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, SCTEx, NLEx.

One could not have thought of a better title for the latest book of UP Economics Professor, former Dean and National Scientist Raul Fabella, a deceptively slim volume (120 pages) but a real heavyweight. It has amazing sweep and depth on what ails our economy, and provides possible solutions, cogently pulling together literature and research on what has worked here and elsewhere.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity...some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” -- A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens

The filing of certificates of candidacy for those aspiring to capture political seats in the 2019 midterm elections has just finished and as expected by most of the Filipino populace, the same names and faces surfaced. But the trouble is the usual confusion for those who have identified certain candidates with particular political parties and those they are allied with. The colors red, blue, orange and yellow have not emerged but a combination of everything and everyone -- the usual list as they say.

The filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) by those running for the Senate ended two days ago on Oct. 17. As usual, the media focused their attention on high-profile and so-called “nuisance candidates.” But they failed to mention that the outcome of the May 2019 elections, particularly for the House of Representatives and the Senate, will be crucial to the survival of this rumored democracy.

For progressives, Brett Kavanaugh’s true alleged sin is not sexual assault. Rather, were they sincere, his crime is actually much much more horrible: Kavanaugh is a lawyer who believes and upholds the textualist and originalist schools of constitutional interpretation.

In this season of discord and discontent, people are angst-ridden and anxious. Like the strange and fickle weather, the collective mood is blue one day, bright the next and gray in between.

The government recently announced that it will suspend part 2 of the oil excise tax hike this coming January 2019. So another increase of P2/liter for both diesel and gasoline will be temporarily suspended but the tax hikes in 2018 of P2.50/liter for diesel and P2.65/liter for gasoline (from P4.35 to P7.00/liter) will remain.

No, I am not from La Salle. Neither am I anti-Ateneo. But, I am pro-Green. And by Green, I mean the environment. I understand that going about change is difficult, so is moving out of comfort zones. In this sense, going Green or making our lives Green -- or doing things in ways that do not further harm the environment -- can take much time, effort, and resources.

The recently concluded Annual Public Policy Conference of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) aptly entitled “Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe): Creating Our Future Today” aims “to promote awareness and understanding of the FIRe and encourage everyone to be proactive in preparing for and adapting to the changes that come along with this industrial era.” According to the World Economic Forum, FIRe is building on the third industrial revolution, which focused on the digital revolution but this era is “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.” Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are just some of the tools of this rapid technological change.

THERE is a great imbalance between the available supply of celebrities and the high demand for their appearance (paid or unpaid). When the event for the star, rock or corporate, invited six months ago to be keynote speaker, ribbon cutter, master of ceremonies, or wedding sponsor finally comes around, he realizes it is too late to back out. He makes his excuse (I need to undergo minor surgery) and scrambles to offer a proxy as sacrificial lamb.

Responding to concerns of alienating the private sector, Secretary Dominguez III said the administration welcomes unsolicited proposals, since the private sector would have a better grasp in identifying potential problems and offering better solutions to these problems. Unsurprisingly, the more welcome attitude towards unsolicited proposals has led to a surge in submissions from the private sector.