Mong Palatino

Blogging about the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific since 2004

About

@mongster is a Manila-based activist, former Philippine legislator, and blogger/analyst of Asia-Pacific affairs.

Published by Manila Today Is the ‘Greater Capital Region’ (GCR) the new National Capital Region (NCR) of the Philippines? This geopolitical category refers to Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, and Central Luzon. Though it has yet to be officially acknowledged in the bureaucracy, some development planning institutions are already using the term GCR in their feasibility […]

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Published by Manila Today Distinguishing the public from private spaces in Metro Manila is quite confusing. Consider these examples: Balintawak Market is privately-owned yet we consider it a public market. In fact, Metro Manila’s biggest city has only one government-owned and managed market. Jeepneys and FX taxis (or now more popularly known as UV Express) […]

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policy pronouncements have spurred intense interest and debates abroad, but few are commenting about his economic agenda. Right or wrong, Duterte has chosen to define the first year of his presidency by pursuing his so-called ‘War on Drugs’ and declaring a “separation” from the United States, an old ally and […]

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Published by Manila Today The palengke economy is under attack: The amended Fisheries Code bans commercial fishing within 15 kilometers of municipal waters. Meanwhile, several local government units in Metro Manila are privatizing (read: demolishing) public markets. The fish ban will allegedly stop big operators from depleting our fish stock. Further, it is touted as […]

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Arroyo-Aquino infrastructure projects

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

1. The Public-Private-Partnership program of the Noynoy Aquino government is not an innovation since its framework is no different from the Build-Operate-Transfer model of previous governments. In fact, PNoy recently renamed the country’s BOT Center into PPP Center when he issued EO No.8 series of 2010. The name PPP is also misleading since many of […]

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