When rules defy reason

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 05/30/2023

The most frustrating thing about dealing with government is when rules are so unreasonable that it feels like the only reason that they’re there is to deliberately make things harder for all of us. Often they defy…

Can big business be inclusive?

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 05/23/2023

Are our big business conglomerates widening the gap between rich and poor Filipinos? While big business empires in rich countries seem to have fostered growing economic concentration and widened inequality, the outcome need not be inevitable. But…

My LTO saga

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 05/02/2023

It has been eight years since I paid P450 to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for new car license plates under its Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program. Like me, millions have yet to see their plates.…

Leveling up

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 04/18/2023

Many of us who have traveled abroad have probably encountered obscure but talented Filipino bands providing the entertainment in a hotel lounge or nightclub in even the most unlikely places in the world. Over past decades, young…

Incessantly inferior infrastructure

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 04/11/2023

When the government’s premier think tank calls out our infrastructure as inadequate and inferior, our leaders need to sit up and listen. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has done just that on our transport infrastructure,…

The economy’s backbone

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 04/04/2023

Over the years, I have described agriculture as the economy’s backbone. While I believe this to be true nearly everywhere, it’s more especially so for the Philippine economy. Many might find it hard to agree, especially considering…

When women lead

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 03/28/2023

Gender equality is good economics,” declared a 2019 International Labor Organization (ILO) report. It went on: “Increasing women’s labour force participation has been shown to boost the gross domestic product at the national level.” Labor force participation…

Persistent pig pandemic

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 03/21/2023

Unlike the human COVID-19 pandemic that appears to be behind us, the pig pandemic is still raging and causing tight supplies of pork, leading to continued high prices. It has been nearly four years since the first…

Bringing out our best

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 03/14/2023

In the early part of his 1992 to 1998 term, provincial visits of President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) would usually have local executives publicly presenting him with a litany of local problems and requests for various things…

Are Filipinos too selfish?

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 03/07/2023

Are we Filipinos generally more self-centered and selfish than other Asians? Is this a cultural flaw of ours that has kept our country from progressing at the same pace that most of our neighbors have done over…

‘Provincializing’ agriculture

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 02/28/2023

You know agriculture is in great trouble when so many op-ed columns are being written on the sector, even from writers who don’t normally deal on the subject. The attention is well deserved, as I consider agriculture…

Creative lessons from Korea

Cielito F. Habito - @inquirerdotnet 02/21/2023

It seems hard to believe now, but Filipinos on the average were twice richer than South Koreans back in 1965. Data from countryeconomy.com show average income (GDP per capita) in the Philippines then at $211, and $108…

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