Among the big topics that dominated last week’s global and national reports are (a) US-China ‘trade war’ which technically means equalized high tariff (EHT), and the hard push for Charter change towards federalism by the Duterte-appointed Constitutional Commission (ConCom).

How can President Rodrigo Duterte announce to his country and his people (and to world investors and creditors) that, “Now. The economy is in the doldrums. Actually -- now.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer [PDI] June 24, 2018) He then rants on his version of economic dynamics: “Interest rates are picking up, are getting high so it destroys the present (economic gains)...you raise your (interest rate), our (peso value) goes down, theoretically...” Mr. Duterte said at a speech at the SMX Center Communications Summit 2018 (Ibid.).

AS THE peso-dollar exchange rate crossed the P53.00/$1.00 on June 11^th, a lot of people, including foreign analysts, raised their “worried” flag. Indeed, the next days thereafter the peso slid further to some 5.8% higher than the P50.40/$1.00 average in 2017.

In a far from modest and less than truthful description of itself, the Philippine government, said a Malacañang statement, is “headed by someone who has strong political will, decisive leadership, and compassion for his fellow men,” hence the “fruitful” first two years of the six-year Rodrigo Duterte presidency.

Had the good fortune to come across Garner’s new book entitled Nino and Me: My Unusual Friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia in Totus Bookstore’s University of Asia and the Pacific outlet.

IN recent years, a number of big companies — IBM, Bank of America, Aetna, Yahoo! under former chief executive officer Marissa Mayer — cut back on their telecommuting programs in the name of more interaction and cooperation between employees, supposedly fostered by being stuck together in an office. The business model of companies providing co-working spaces, such as $20-billion “unicorn” WeWork, is also based on the proposition that if people find themselves in a shared space, they’ll network and cooperate more.

How are you doing? How well did you sleep last night?

Often enough we have heard the expression from older folk: “They don’t make them like they used to.” And to an extent, I would have to agree. There is no doubt that advances in technology in various fields, including telecommunication and medicine, have made things better for us. But while phones have become smarter, we can’t always say the same about their owners.

When developing economies attract multinational companies, they reap benefits. These developing economies get to have more commodities and services that otherwise would remain untapped for a long time. And, as a result, they also earn more revenues, taxes, and royalties even if these economies spent very little. Moreover, technology transfer from multinationals to developing economies is enabled as local professionals are hired to operate, maintain, and upgrade facilities.

THE European Commission’s proposal to ban plastic straws, plates, cutlery, and drink stirrers, and slash the consumption of many other single-use products, is more than just a nice, novel idea. It’s a step urgently needed from every country — as plastic trash pours into the oceans at the rate of almost 9 million tons a year.

It is only a matter of time before President Duterte signs into law the bill that will put citizens and aliens under a National Identification System, to be known as Philippine Identification System or PhilSys.

Bureaucracy teaches us two things: to wait and to execute everything in triplicate.