Category: Business

Opposition “economists” like Winnie Monsod sow doom and gloom in lead up to 2022

June 19, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 1 Comment

If the fundamentals weren’t sound, as Winnie Monsod asserts in her Inquirer piece “So much for sound fundamentals”, we’d be worse off to begin with. Mareng Winnie attempts to dismiss even the smallest iota of optimism in the prognoses issued by the country’s economic managers saying these are all just coming from people whose job…

Business, Economy, Money Talks

Filipino nurses aren’t paid well because there are just TOO MANY of them

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 4 Comments

Why blame the problem on the President immediately? Because it’s an election year. Thus it is easy to see the motivation behind PhilSTAR columnist Boo Chanco’s piece today “Show some appreciation” where he writes how, in these times of pandemic, “our health workers feel abused and unappreciated by the Duterte administration.” Chanco then issues his…

Business, Government, Money Talks

GRAVITAS is what makes Philippine presidents. Not popularity. And certainly NOT PA-CUTE.

June 12, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 2 Comments

And we come down to this? Does De La Salle University (DLSU) professor and Manila Times columnist Antonio Contreras even have a realistic point of view of how politicians come into power? Doesn’t look like it when one considers this post of his on Facebook where he practically endorses boxer-turned-senator Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao’s bid for…

Business, Politics

The UP School of Economics was USELESS when Filipinos needed its “expertise” the most

June 12, 2021June 12, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 1 Comment

Here we go again — the infamous “sick man of Asia” label. A throwback to the Marcos era is all “economist” Winnie Monsod could come up with in her Inquirer piece “Why we are again the sick man of Asia”. You would think that the Opposition would be creative enough to come up with a…

Business, Economy

“Old normal” NEVER coming back, industrial-scale digitisation critical

June 10, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 2 Comments

The US reopening is a gamble that probably won’t pay off — not with the Indian variant becoming the dominant one soon enough. For one, it’s been confirmed that the virus is airborne. Second vaccines don’t prevent infection but mitigate a severe case of infection leading to hospitalization or death. Business Insider reports on “The…

Business, Economy

Senators in oligarchs’ pockets a serious roadblock to reforms needed to attract more foreign investment

June 7, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 1 Comment

“Filipino last?” Boo Chanco poses the question in his PhilSTAR piece of the same title today and answers in the end, “Our Filipino First policy only made Filipinos last. That’s the awful truth.” It never ceases to amaze me how Chanco can easily flip-flop on policy now that he beats the drum on openness to…

Business, Development

Attenion learning institutions: Digitization puts big demands on quality of and approach to education

June 6, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 3 Comments

Manila Times columnist and De La Salle University (DLSU) professor Antonio Contreras is talking like the union leader he has just become. In his piece “The fourth industrial revolution and the challenges of a corporatized higher education”, he writes about “the drive associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where employability becomes the driving force and…

Business, Education, Tech Talk

No small deal: The contribution of POGOs to the Philippine economy

June 6, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 2 Comments

Much has been written about Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) but no one has actually ever been in one I think. I got a glimpse into how they operate last Friday. They are literally self-contained communities complete with their own grocery store, salon and barber shop, restaurant, laundry and whatever else the Chinese employees will…

Business, Money Talks