While following the mid-term elections from a distance, I found myself turning to studies by such scholars as Benedict Anderson, Nathan Quimpo, John Sidel, Eve Lotta Hedman, David Wurfel, Patricio Abinales, Paul Kramer, among others. Reading their work, I came away with a number of observations and questions. I list them here for whatever they’re [...]
Post-election round-up
I am sad that Jun Magsaysay and Risa Hontiveros didn’t make it to the Magic 12 but I will be laughing through my tears when Migz Zubiri and Dick Gordon accuse Gringo Honasan of cheating them of their rightful place in the Senate. I am sad JV Ejercito made it but at the same time [...]
The importance of the sin tax vote
By itself, my vote will not count. My beliefs and preferences do not reflect those of the majority. Probably, other voters think the same way I do—that the individual vote is insignificant. (Hence, the excuse of some to sell their votes.) But I am likewise a believer in collective action. Putting aside people power revolution, [...]
Political endorsements that can do more harm than good
Two weeks before election and my list is done. Who are my senators? Secret. Because revealing my preferences might be taken as an endorsement and you and I know all too well that some endorsements can do more harm than good. Let’s start with clerical endorsements, Team Buhay and the self-proclaimed pro-life Catholic vote movement. [...]
Who are PNoy’s Reliable Candidates?
Manila Bulletin is not the first choice for a Philippine newspaper. It can be boring, and it suffers from its image of being associated with the pro-martial law brand of journalism. But being a humdrum paper also has an advantage: It reports without sensationalism, which the leading dailies are prone to. It thus pays to [...]
Communicating about sin taxes
Campaigners have a lot to learn from the victory of the sin tax campaign of 2012. Yet few articles have been written about the fight to reform sin taxes—the gains and the losses, the backroom deals, and the trade-offs that led to a historic victory for health advocates and civil society organizations. A significant victory [...]
Indentured athletes
Bad day for athletes who transfer from one University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) member school to another. They will have to sit through the two-year residency requirement that the UAAP board of trustees imposed on them. Note that it is the UAAP board and not the receiving school that imposes residency on a [...]
The Purisima pronouncement on foreign borrowing
We welcome the recent policy statements and actions of policymakers, especially from the Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance (DOF). We advocate a pro-Filipino, pro-investment exchange rate policy, and we are happy that the Philippine government through the BSP and the DOF has leaned towards achieving the goal of making the exchange [...]
