Currently viewing the category: "Anti-Corruption Agenda"

P-Noy strokes nation’s ‘pleasure zones’

On January 5, 2012 By

Here we go again. As the Philippines enters 2012, the stage is set for another round of reality TV/courtroom drama to unfold as the trials of former president and now congresswoman (FPANC?) Gloria Arroyo and her minions get underway.

Despite the political, economic and natural [...]

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Like a Thief in the Night

On December 3, 2011 By

That is not how the government acted in seeking to put Mrs Gloria Arroyo behind bars. Rather than keep the former president guessing as to the date when formal charges against her would be laid, President Aquino announced back in September what the timetable for it would be. [...]

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The halo effect

On November 29, 2011 By

The halo effect is a cognitive bias first studied by Edward Thorndike in 1920 whereby the perception of one trait (i.e. a characteristic of a person or object) is influenced by the perception of another trait (or several traits) of that person or object. An example would be judging a good-looking person [...]

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A Quarter of the Way

On November 24, 2011 By

That is how much of P-Noy’s term of office would have expired by the end of next month. It usually marks the end of the window of opportunity for introducing major reforms. In the case of the US presidency, the current occupant of the White House President Obama [...]

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Whither the Philippines in 2020?

On November 21, 2011 By

As America “pivots” towards Asia where the future economic centre of gravity of the world will be, how big or small a role will the Philippines play in this the Pacific Century?

Jim O’Neill the man from Goldman Sachs responsible for the acronym BRICs (which stands for Brazil, [...]

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Indonesia Rising, Philippines Waning

On October 10, 2011 By

What could be the reason for their divergent paths?

The September update of the Asian Development Bank’s Asian Development Outlook 2011 painted a contrast between the two most liberal ASEAN democracies Indonesia and the Philippines. Based on these countries’ first half performance, the Bank [...]

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Where’s the beef? On the missing “spoils” from P-Noy’s second US trip

On September 26, 2011 By

Does good governance mean good economics?

In an earlier piece last week meant more to mark the 39th anniversary of martial law in the Philippines, I tried to downplay expectations regarding the “spoils” that P-Noy’s US trip would bring describing the situation [...]

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A Dual Track

On September 5, 2011 By

Two very disappointing sets of figures were released last week.

One: the anemic 3.4% GDP growth experienced by the Philippines in the second quarter of the year. That places growth in the first half at 4%. Economic managers have had to revise downwards their full-year projection to [...]

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How long is a piece of string?

On June 29, 2011 By

What yardstick are we using to measure P-Noy’s performance?

The arbitrary, rule of thumb of the first year in office is about to come and go for this administration. The obligatory journalistic pieces assessing the president’s performance have consulted the usual suspects.

Political analysts, polling firms and [...]

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Sticking to the script

On June 13, 2011 By

Marking the 113th anniversary of the Philippine declaration of independence, President Aquino used the solemn occasion to highlight the fulfillment of his campaign pledge to rid the country of corruption.

Speaking at the ancestral mansion of Emilio Aguinaldo, the revolutionary leader in Kawit, [...]

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