Solving the slum problem
If a city's wealth is to be judged by its skyline, then Metro Manila, Cebu and other major cities must be rapidly getting rich. And yet, poverty has barely budged in recent years and the housing deprivations of millions of Filipinos fester and grow even worse.
The discontinued Hanjin project in northern Mindanao: Large foreign direct investments and local governments
In 2007-2009, one of South Korea’s shipbuilding companies – Hanjin – made a bold plan to build a $2 billion shipbuilding operation in northern Mindanao. Local politics and the insensitive acts of local government officials killed the project.
Real score on funds for Bangsamoro
The funds to be transferred to the Bangsamoro have been described as an “additional cost” to be borne not by the Bangsamoro but by the rest of the country, whose taxes will support these allocations.
Mindanao’s growth triangle – Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos
Three major urban areas serve as magnets for Mindanao’s economic heartland: Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and General Santos. These magnetos collectively provide transport logistics and the industrial and commercial support to the growth of Mindanao’s economy.
The country needs local chief executives who can live within their means
Philippine society is better served if we have local chief executives (LCEs) who can live within their means and, at the same time, if we have national leaders who do not cajole and “bribe” LCEs in exchange for their political support in future elections.
The Bangsamoro’s labor market policies: how to promote more employment and eradicate poverty
Provinces in the Bangsamoro region are among the poorest areas in the country. There, poverty is severe and unemployment(including underemployment) is a big problem.
Balamban, Cebu – How a foreign direct investment transformed a rural town from poor to very prosperous
Balamban, Cebu is the municipality where the Tsuneishi shipbuilding enterprise from Japan decided to set up operations in 1994. The rising yen and high labor costs forced the shipbuilder to look for lower cost sites. I have visited Balamban three times across the years and have seen its progression.
Six months after Yolanda — Tacloban, Guiyan, and Eastern Visayas
The growth of the Philippine economy on a year-to-year basis fell in the first quarter. The downturn in growth is not unexpected. The economic devastation brought by Super-Typhoon Yolanda was a major factor.
Iloilo — moving gently towards a bright future
As a major city in the Visayas, Iloilo has shown signs of great awakening. Eclipsed for most of the decades after the country’s independence, by Cebu and even by Bacolod, Iloilo has achieved quiet progress in the last two decades.
Cebu is booming
Of the regions of the Philippines, Cebu island, its city – including Mactan – serves as the country’s alternate major metropolis. At a time when prospects for Philippine growth continues to improve, Cebu is in the lead pack among the regions.
Fiscal transfers and gerrymandering under decentralization in the Philippines
While gerrymandering in developing countries is often pushed by local authorities to secure political advantages, fiscal grants systems under decentralization may also have the same result. We investigate this issue to identify the correlates of the growth in the number of cities in the Philippines in 2001-2010.
Informal settlers and water rates
I haven’t done an actual count, but it seems that the past week has had more than its share of news stories worthy of comment or analysis, and I don’t want to pass up the chance to get in my licks. So I ask the Reader for her forbearance as I tackle more than one...
