“Something terribly wrong with a program that grows ever larger even when prosperity for everyone else is increasing. We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.” -- Ronald Reagan, 40^th US President

EVEN ON OUR PHONES, the news pops up as headlines that can be tracked to the source for the details. The ubiquitous goings-on around...

POPULAR ECONOMIC wisdom has it that defense spending and economic growth do not go together. That an investment in the former will likely lead...

Because of his populist approach to governance, it is possible for Rodrigo Roa Duterte to leave some beneficial legacies out of his presidency. Perhaps poverty incidence will decline somewhat, universal health insurance may almost be attained, thanks partially to legislative initiatives by the opposition, which, by the grace of God, he signed into law, and of course, a decline in crime rates resulting from his brutal “war on drugs.”

In recent political history, I can recall two businessmen who tried their luck in winning the presidency, and both had failed: Eduardo “Danding” Murphy Cojuangco, Jr. in 1992, and Manuel “Manny” Bamba Villar, Jr. in 2010. Both ended up third in their respective presidential races. Cojuangco came behind Fidel Ramos and Miriam Defensor Santiago in 1992, while Villar came behind Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and Joseph “Erap” Estrada in 2010.

The medium that has a great impact on the public is television. Radio has a broader reach. Social media has become the most effective...

FOR MOST OF US, the growing evidence that the efficacy of COVID vaccines is declining over time should be a cause of worry. For the drug companies that have spent billions of dollars developing them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

WE KNOW that US President Donald Trump loves strongmen. He was famously soft on Vladimir Putin’s Russia; he welcomed Hungary’s xenophobic Viktor Orban to Washington by saying he had done “the right thing” by restricting immigration; and he said he got along better with world leaders “the tougher and meaner they are,” singling out Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the toughest and meanest. 

This week sees Human Rights Day, celebrated globally every 10^th December to mark the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 61 years ago. The contribution of former Filipino general-turned-diplomat, Carlos P. Romulo, in drafting and negotiating that historic document remains well known at a time when human rights face severe challenges in the Philippines and around the world.

BEFORE the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Southeast Asia had been a global success story in fostering growth and reducing poverty.

“My bilateral visit to Japan is essential and is part of a larger foreign policy agenda to forge closer political ties, stronger defense and...

“EV industry lobbying for incentives to support new-vehicle adoption,” reports BusinessWorld in its June 13 issue. The story details how the Electric Vehicle Association...