IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 15 and last of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party We need the right leader to make the many programs articulated in this Commentary Series happen. Unfortunately, we cannot find that person from the present cohort of political leaders. These present leaders are … More So, what now?
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 13 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party The first dozen parts of this commentary series dwell essentially in the exercise of powers of the presidency to make the necessary reforms and take appropriate actions to propel the Philippine nation to greater political … More Reforming the frontline institutions
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 12 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party Corruption, sadly, has become endemic in the Philippines. It is a big obstacle to economic growth and the reduction of economic inequality. The huge amount of money that leaks out is not spent for the … More Combating Corruption
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 11 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party At present, the Local Government Units (LGUs), with their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA), are hardly mobilized to get directly involved in economic development. The LGUs have been decentralized since 1991, or a period of 30 … More Engaging LGUs in economic development
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 10 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party Investments, and in the case of the Philippines, foreign investments, is a big factor in driving economic growth. Unfortunately, for the past many years, the country has been behind most of our neighboring countries in … More Leapfrogging to Higher Economic Growth (2)
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 9 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party Since about five decades ago, the Philippine economy has gone what appears to be an irreversible downward spiral in comparison with our now 9 ASEAN neighbors. As shown in a World Bank report, in 2020, the … More Leapfrogging to higher economic growth
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 8 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party Improving Philippine agriculture, which includes fishery and forestry products, has been a persistent major issue since much of the 20th century. Unfortunately, we still continue to struggle to come to grips with it. So many … More Transforming Agriculture
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 7 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party The Philippines is one of the probably very few countries in the world that do not speak a primary language on a national scale. This situation, unfortunately, has grave disadvantages, more directly in political and … More Choosing and Adopting a Primary Language Soon
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT(Part 6 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party There is a common acknowledgement that the quality of our education system is quite low. This observation, without doubt, has been validated by the poor results of the performance of our students in periodic international assessments … More Overhauling the Philippine Education System
IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT(Part 5 of a series) By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN Founder, Buklod National Political Party A heartbreaking face of poverty is the present-day preponderance of undernutrition of Filipino young children. The leading single measure of this undernutrition, or malnutrition generally, is stunting—the health condition of children under five years old of … More SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING POVERTY – Reducing Child Stunting
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