Author Archives: admin

Poverty and Disasters

By admin | March 6, 2012

“God may send hurricanes, but their consequences are not God-given” – Winston James According to a government think-tank, 34.6 percent of households experienced job and asset losses during typhoons in 2011. Almost 70 percent suffered a reduction in income while 45 percent complained of rising expenses immediately after the onslaught of a typhoon. Floods mean […]

Posted in greens | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Cambodia’s Fainting Workers

By admin | February 29, 2012

Cambodia’s garment industry represents 90 percent of the country’s exports and employs more than 300,000 workers by some estimates. It survived the 2008 global financial crisis, although job losses were registered across all special economic zones. But despite its vital contribution to the local economy, the garment sector has been facing criticism that it has […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Relevance of Behavioral Sciences

By admin | February 25, 2012

Edited copy of my keynote speech during the 2012 National Conference on Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, UP Manila. The most intelligent students in the UP System are enrolled in UP Manila. I have three reasons for asserting this: First, UP’s Oblation scholars are studying here. Second, the top UPCAT passers are also based in […]

Posted in speeches | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Q&A: ICPD in the Philippines

By admin | February 20, 2012

Interview by Shira Levine A UNFPA-led dialogue of young parliamentarians convened in Krabi, Thailand in late 2011 to discuss the review process for the International Conference on Population and Development’s Programme of Action. Together they shared perspectives on what works and what doesn’t in terms of improving the lives of their constituents. With the twenty-year […]

Posted in health | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Left as Alternative

By admin | February 17, 2012

First part: Philippine Politics 1969-2009 If power grab is the yardstick of political victory, then it must be concluded that the Philippine Left had failed in the past century. But it wasn’t a complete failure since it was able to achieve varying degrees of hegemony in the country especially in the peripheries of the archipelago. […]

Posted in reds | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Southeast Asia: The January Spring

By admin | January 29, 2012

It seems that the winds of change have arrived early this year in Southeast Asia, which saw the unprecedented release of more than 600 political prisoners in Burma, the acquittal of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim over sodomy charges, the start of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona of the Philippines, and the […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Southeast Asia’s Elder Statesmen

By admin | January 18, 2012

Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Juan Ponce Enrile of the Philippines – all have something in commons: they belong to Southeast Asia’s prominent club of senior citizen statesmen. Politicians may be getting younger, but it doesn’t mean the old guard […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Youth, Good Governance, Human Development

By admin | January 15, 2012

Speech during the National Congress on Good Governance, UP NCPAG, January 15, 2012. The keywords of my presentation are youth, good governance, and sustainable human development. The thesis is easy to formulate: The youth have a significant role to perform in promoting good governance in the country to achieve sustainable human development. But how do […]

Posted in speeches | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Political Morality

By admin | January 12, 2012

What’s the proper reaction if confronted with the odious task of manipulating public resources for personal gain? The honorable thing is to immediately reject it and bravely face the consequences. But others condone corruption while some even try to justify it. Then there are bureaucrats like Romulo Neri who simply prefer to ‘moderate the greed’ […]

Posted in nation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Southeast Asia 2011: A Year of Protest

By admin | January 11, 2012

The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street are localized protests that still made a tremendous impact in the world this year. They were organized in response to place-specific issues, but their appeal and influence were immediately global. Through their marching calls of democratic reforms and economic equality, the protests inspired multitudes of activists in many […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment