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LOUIE MONTALBO

[OPINION] The two tracks of the Bangsamoro Peace Process and the extension transition question

February 15, 2021

The GPH-MILF peace process entails the completion of two tracks: CAB's Normalization Track, which refers to the transformation of armed struggle to peaceful political participation, citizenship, and livelihood - holistically seen as comprising several components under "normalization;" and BOL's Political Track, which outlines the steps leading to the creation of a new autonomous entity. However, confusion seems to arise when stakeholders refer to the non-completion of the milestones under CAB's Normalization Track to justify their support for the extension. This is an erroneous assertion.

Read more: https://www.rappler.com/voices/ispeak/opinion-two-tracks-bangsamoro-peace-process-extension-transiti


MILWIDA M. GUEVARA

FROM BOTH SIDES NOW: The Vietnam rose

February 10, 2021

Many moons ago, the Vietnamese government invited me to guide their Finance officials on how to shift to value-added taxation. We communicated through an interpreter because they hardly spoke English. Thus, it was truly a feat that the Vietnamese students ranked 16th in Mathematics, 18th in Reading and 4th in Science in the PISA international assessment. It is sad to realize that the Filipino students landed at the bottom.

Read more: https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/10/the-vietnam-rose/


CIELITO F. HABITO

NO FREE LUNCH: Nation in great peril

February 09, 2021

While the pandemic's toll on our economy has been particularly severe, the most telling has been the human cost of the economic decline, the implications of which could stay with us well into the future. This had been made even worse by natural calamities at the start and toward the end of the year, which brought great destruction to properties, crops, and human lives. The pandemic and our response to it did not only batter the economy; they also seriously endanger the nation's very future through the harm they are doing to our single most abundant resource: our people.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137579/nation-in-great-peril


JULIA ABAD

WOMEN WHO LEAD: Closing the gender confidence gap

February 06, 2021

Despite being conscious about what's good in us, we are our worst critics because we continuously question ourselves and echo what we have been told all our lives. This is the reason why the gap is hard to close-but it isn't impossible.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137511/closing-the-gender-confidence-gap


EDILBERTO C. DE JESUS

BUSINESS MATTERS: Communication matters

February 06, 2021

The weekly presidential briefing, with Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) officials in attendance, should serve as the most credible source of information and advice. Its mandate includes reviewing pandemic measures proposed by different government agencies to avoid overlapping or conflicting initiatives. It also partly serves to comply with the congressional requirement for a regular accounting by the executive on how it is using the broad powers and the massive financial resources entrusted to it because of the coronavirus crisis.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137513/communication-matters


CIELITO F. HABITO

NO FREE LUNCH: Two wheels and a flat

February 03, 2021

Within the space of a year, our economy moved from being at the front of the pack of our comparable neighbors, to being at the tail end. Somehow, we squandered the hard-won head start we already enjoyed on the economic front, and now find ourselves having to run double-time to keep abreast of our neighbors.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137437/two-wheels-and-a-flat


MILWIDA M. GUEVARA

FROM BOTH SIDES NOW: Joy to the world

February 03, 2021

The days' events can be pretty tiring. The news over local television is all about COVID, falling GDP, and the military. We see the same faces over our screen all the time. There must be such a thing as face fatigue and some of us have reached it.

Read more: https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/03/joy-to-the-world/


MILWIDA M. GUEVARA

FROM BOTH SIDES NOW: Choosing the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM)

January 27, 2021

I first heard of the TOYM when then Mayor Estrada was chosen as one of the winners. He was legendary-a matinee idol tuned mayor who personally accosted thugs late in the evening. And then came choices who were truly outstanding—my Department of Finance (DOF) Bosses, Messrs. Bobby de Ocampo, Ramon Del Rosario, and Senator Win Gatchalian. But there were choices who were not that outstanding, and many others who were not chosen, but are more outstanding.

Read more: https://mb.com.ph/2021/01/27/choosing-the-ten-outstanding-young-men-toym/


CIELITO F. HABITO

NO FREE LUNCH: A very tough recovery

January 26, 2021

What do past recessions tell us about how fast we can rebound from the deepest contraction our economy has seen in modern history? In our last deep recession 36 years ago (1984-1985), the economy actually shrank by less (7.3 percent) than it is projected to have sunk this past year (9-10 percent). It took us over five years then to regain what we lost after 1983, when the Aquino assassination triggered a downturn marked by massive exodus of capital that threw us into a financial crisis. Will it take that long to regain the even deeper loss we incurred last year?

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137266/a-very-tough-recovery


LUISITO G. MONTALBO

Reframing the BARMM transition discourse

January 25, 2021

The Rapid Midterm Review on the Bangsamoro Transition Period released by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus in October 2020 created a flurry of heated discussions on social media, particularly on the report's top recommendation to extend the period of transition for another three years. Some fear that the issue has become divisive especially among Bangsamoro peace advocates. It is therefore important to carve a space where, instead of having a "zero-sum" debate between those who are for or against the extension, both sides reframe the discussion to focus on the purpose of the extension and for whom it is intended. Establishing a clear set of parameters to follow during the extension will ensure that the targets will be met while protecting the interests of the Bangsamoro people.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/137241/reframing-the-barmm-transition-discourse