Economy

At the turn of the millennium, a team of economists from the Australian National University and the University of the Philippines published The Philippine Economy: Development, Policies, and Challenges, in which they declared, “The Philippines is one of the world’s major development...

History: “300 Years in a Convent, 50 Years in Hollywood,” Then on Its Own

History wars in the Philippines seem never-ending. How should the nation view Spain, which created the concept of “the Philippines” and brought Christianity to its shores—at the same time attacking traditional cultures in the Philippines and exercising widespread oppression? Who are the Filipino heroes...

Geography, Demography, and Climate

How many islands does the Philippines have? When at the 1994 Miss Universe pageant (being held in the Philippines), Philippine contestant Charlene Gonzales was asked, “How many islands does the Philippines have?,” she quipped, “High tide or low tide?” Filipinos loved the insouciance, though...

Geopolitics and the Future: The Philippines in the World

For the Philippines, it seems that geography is often destiny. The islands’ location, rather than the resources they held, was what made them attractive to the Spanish imperial enterprise. While the Spanish tried but failed to get to the Spice Islands, they ended up...

Government and Governance

How is the national legislature structured? The bicameral Philippine Congress works in interesting ways. In fact, constitutional designers have been ambivalent about bicameralism in the Philippine state. The revolutionary Malolos Constitution in 1899 was unicameral, the American colonial government was bicameral, and the original...

Society, Culture, and Religion

In late 1987, American journalist James Fallows caused a stir with his article “A Damaged Culture” in The Atlantic, in which he took a pessimistic view of the Philippines. He argued against euphoria in the wake of the peaceful ouster of Ferdinand...