Eduardo C . Tadem | University of the Philippines Diliman (original) (raw)

Papers by Eduardo C . Tadem

Southeast Asia was no exception to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region's economies s... more Southeast Asia was no exception to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region's economies suffered recession, companies went bankrupt, supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell, unemployment rose, job vacancies dropped to an all-time low, and tourism suffered downturns. The World Bank reported that all but one country (Vietnam) in the region suffered negative growth rates, with analysts seeing the region "being hit harder" economically than other parts of the globe. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) calculated that Covid-19 "pushed 4.7 million more people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty and 9.3 million jobs disappeared." The only businesses that prospered were the pharmaceutical corporations and other companies engaged in the manufacture and marketing of pandemic-related products. At the time the COVID-19 pandemic had abated in mid-2023, Southeast Asia had registered 35,910,444 confirmed cases with 367,339 deaths. But the pandemic has not totally disappeared.

CoverStory, 2024

The rapidly unfolding reconfiguration of societies in the world today brings into question longhe... more The rapidly unfolding reconfiguration of societies in the world today brings into question longheld systems of thought and action with respect to international relations, state-citizen interactions, concepts of national identity, territoriality, and national sovereignty. States are becoming less and less able to assert their notions of national sovereignty in the face of globalizing actors and powerful hegemonic players who assert their expansionary policies in almost every corner of the globe. But globalization's ugly face has also become more and more apparent. Widespread poverty, unemployment, deficient social protection, landlessness, deteriorating productive sectors and ecological atrocities in many developing societies have caused a global trend of overseas contract work (both short-and long-term) or permanent migration to more developed economies.

Philippine Journal of Public Policy, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic and related policies had a debilitating impact on the economies and societi... more The COVID-19 pandemic and related policies had a debilitating
impact on the economies and societies of all countries around the
globe. Economies suffered a recession, companies went bankrupt,
supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell,
unemployment rose, job vacancies were at an all-time low, and global
tourism suffered downturns (Jones et al. 2021).
Southeast Asia was no exception as the region was “hit harder”
economically than other parts of the globe (World Bank 2021). The
Asian Development Bank calculated that COVID-19 “pushed 4.7 million
more people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty and 9.3 million
jobs disappeared” (ADB 2022a). The only businesses that prospered
were the corporations engaged in the manufacture and marketing of
pandemic-related products.
By early 2021, the COVID-19 numbers appeared to be receding
and stabilizing. By mid-2022, governments began easing up on the
severe COVID-19 restrictions including opening their countries to
visitors. The World Health Organization (WHO), however, advised
that countries can loosen restrictions and lift lockdowns only “if they
have high immunity rates, their health care systems are strong and the
epidemiological trends are going in the right direction” (Keaten 2022).
This essay provides new and updated data that magnifies the
sorry state of Southeast Asia’s economic, social, and political fabric,
and the perils that remain in a post-pandemic era, and reiterates
longstanding policy recommendations to address such issues.

Philippine Development Forum, 1987

One can say, without any reservations, that at 27 years of age, Leán Alejandro had lived a full a... more One can say, without any reservations, that at 27 years of age, Leán Alejandro had lived a full and meaningful life. In the world of movements for social change, he had left an indelible mark first as a captivating and charismatic student and youth leader and later as secretary general and driving force of BAYAN, the Philippines' biggest and most militant cause-oriented group. Many older and more experienced activists could not claim even a small fraction of what he had achieved.

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2007

This paper reconstructs the lives of four peasant villagers in the plains of Central Luzon, Phili... more This paper reconstructs the lives of four peasant villagers in the plains of Central Luzon, Philippines within the context of known national historical events and socioeconomic and political changes at the local level. These events were the agrarian unrest of the 1930s, World War II and the Japanese occupation, the Huk insurgency of the late 1940s and early 1950s. and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) rebellion of the 1970s. At the local level, the villagers confronted a giant American military facility, commercializing sugar interests, a government rural development project, the Mount Pinatubo eruptions in 1991-1992, and at present, a special economic zone authority. These peasant life histories comprise a social history of village societies straddling the cusp of modernization and the corresponding pattern of material change on one hand and continuities in peasant structures and norms on the other. The narratives depict the villagers' hopes, aspirations, world view, and engagements with external forces that impinged on their daily lives. How peasants dealt with these forces and events is a compelling narrative that point to the resilience of peasant society and its family farms and the accompanying peasant mode and culture in the face of external attempts to transform and "modernize" them. Utilizing a "history from below" perspective, the paper reveals the world of the peasantry as seen from the ground, simple in its family-based and smallholder mode of production yet rich and complex in its social life and diverse interactions with the outside world.

coverstory.ph, 2023

The Philippines has the highest inequality rates among 27 Asian countries monitored by the World ... more The Philippines has the highest inequality rates among 27 Asian countries monitored by the World Bank. The “Occupy Movement” of 2011-2012 that was a mass protest against US inequality between the 1% and the 99% that spread globally. In the Philippines, however, the PSA FIES data show that the 350,000 persons classified as “rich” comprise a mere 0.3% of the total population.

A Better Metro Manila? Towards Responsible Local Governance , 2023

In the 1980s, it was argued that privatization was to be the cure-all for governments lacking the... more In the 1980s, it was argued that privatization was to be the cure-all for governments lacking the needed resources to modernize social service deliveries like water, and that the private sector would be in a better position than the government to provide for this. Given this backdrop, the Philippine government in 1997 privatized Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), its publicly-owned water service provided for Metro Manila. The provision of water was given to two private water concessionaires, Maynilad and Manila Water which failed to deliver on their promises. The Philippine experience is mirrored in other areas of the world which have led towards a movement for local governments to reclaim water as a public service. Because of this, several alternatives to water privatization have emerged, which include the following: 1) Public/non-profit partnerships (PuNPP) or co-privatization; 2) Single non-profit agencies (SiNPs); and 3) Deprivatization and/or remunicipalization.

Re-Imagining Post-Pandemic Societies: alternative Practices Across Southeast Asia, 2023

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2023

Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives, 2020

A LIFETIME OF ACTION. The late Aileen Baviera with the author in various periods. Photos courtesy... more A LIFETIME OF ACTION. The late Aileen Baviera with the author in various periods. Photos courtesy of Ed Tadem. Back home Aileen returned home in 1983, married Jorge and gave birth to 3 children-Mayi (1985), Mara (1986) and Vittorio (1991). She went back to FSI as a training officer, researcher, and instructor. In 1987, she joined the faculty of UP Diliman's Department of Political Science where she chose to teach Southeast Asian studies, realizing the need to broaden the scope of her academic scholarly work. Given a new party assignment for her and Jorge to relocate to Spain, she suddenly resigned from UP. This relocation, however, was aborted and Aileen returned to FSI in 1993 as head of its Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies. Aileen joined the Philippines-China Development Resource Center (PDRC) and became its executive director (1998-2001). An important project she undertook was a pioneering research on civil society anti-poverty initiatives in Asian rural areas. As PDRC head, she proposed the broadening of the organization's mandate to encompass the entire Asian region; a proposal that was rejected. Aileen would soon leave FSI and PDRC to resume her academic career in 1998 with a full-time position as Associate Professor at UP Asian Center, a graduate institution for Asian and Philippine Studies. Academic career Aileen taught a range of courses that went beyond her China background including Asian security issues, Southeast Asian international relations, ASEAN studies, Asian regionalism, Philippine foreign policy, and research methods. Her researches expanded to cover Asia-Pacific security, territorial disputes, and regional integration. She produced an impressive output of journal articles, book chapters, essays and commentaries, and books on Asian regional security, Philippine-China relations, regional peace and conflict, territorial disputes, geopolitics, US-Asian relations, multilateralism, Philippine politics, media, Chinese investments, and maritime issues. As Dean of the UP Asian Center (2003-2009), she undertook the thoroughgoing overhaul of the 40-year-old Asian Studies curriculum, emphasizing comparative crosscountry and thematic issues rather than the traditional country-specific studies. These changes were important and essential given the growing commonalities in socio-political and economic problems across societies and regions, new developments in geopolitics, and the globalization of trade and investments.

Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives, 2020

I have known, and have been friends with, Maureen C. Pagaduan for over forty years. For most of t... more I have known, and have been friends with, Maureen C. Pagaduan for over forty years. For most of those years, we were practically neighbors-our houses were just three blocks apart in a middle-class neighborhood that was a public housing project in Quezon City. The timeline of our friendship, however, was erratic and inconsistent with gaps in between due to our sometimes diverse pursuits and

… MarkJ. Valencia (eds), Conflict over Natural Resources …, 1990

Philippine Political Science Journal, 2016

is the author of one of the most important concepts in political geography, that of nations being... more is the author of one of the most important concepts in political geography, that of nations being 'imagined communities'. Guggenheim Fellow and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Anderson was born in Kunming, China in 1936. Brother of political theorist Perry Anderson and an Irish citizen whose father was an official with Imperial Maritime Customs, he grew up in California and Ireland before attending Cambridge University. Studying briefly under Eric Hobsbawm, Anderson graduated with a First Class degree in Classics in 1957. He moved to Cornell University in 1958 to pursue PhD research on Indonesia. At Cornell he was influenced by George Kahin, John Echols and Claire Holt (Anderson, 1999). In 1965 Indonesia's military leader Suharto foiled an alleged coup attempt by communist soldiers, purged the army, and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Working with two other graduate students, Anderson analysed Suharto's version of events, questioning their veracity. Their assessment reached the Indonesian military who in 1967 and 1968 invited Anderson to the country to persuade him of the errors in this monograph, then known as the 'Cornell Paper'. Failing to be convinced, Anderson was denounced by the Indonesian regime. Following formal publication of the original allegations (Anderson et al., 1971), Indonesian authorities refused Anderson's visa applications, barring him from Indonesia for what became the duration of Suharto's regime. Anderson returned to Indonesia in 1999 following the dictator's death. Anderson completed his PhD entitled

CoverStory, 2023

Southeast Asia is a favored region for investments and trade by developed countries seeking to re... more Southeast Asia is a favored region for investments and trade by developed countries seeking to rebound from the pandemic and other economic problems. In terms of its political indicators, however, the region is hobbled by varying levels of democratic deficits. Nikkei Asia observes that Southeast Asia remains "largely a fortress of authoritarianism, with military-based regimes (Thailand and Myanmar), dominant single parties (Vietnam, Singapore and Laos), absolute monarchies (Brunei) and old-fashioned autocrats (Cambodia) dominating the political landscape." For the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, despite "a decent record of relatively competitive and free elections,. .. all three have also seen the emergence of authoritarian populist forces and the continued marginalization of progressive parties." There is no dearth of progressive social movements in Southeast Asia, but their effectiveness has been blunted by state repression and their diminished ability to mobilize the numbers needed to galvanize the region's marginalized peoples into adopting more radical alternatives.

UP CIDS Monograph Series 2023-02, 2023

As the whole world reels under the impact of an unprecedented health crisis brought about by the ... more As the whole world reels under the impact of an unprecedented health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been little attention paid to its effect on grassroots communities and marginalized sectors. This is particularly important given the haphazard and erratic manner of official measures that have been implemented to contain the contagion and amidst a situation where health systems face serious challenges to confront a crisis of these proportions. While national reports are extensively documented and macronumbers are often reported, there is a need to look more closely at underprivileged sectors and communities. This report documents what marginalized communities in Southeast Asia are engaging in, and how they have responded to the pandemic. Results are varied, conditioned by the location, existence of community and sectoral organizations, and levels of social solidarity and collective consciousness.

Southeast Asia has long been a preferred tourist destination due to its diverse and culturally ri... more Southeast Asia has long been a preferred tourist destination due to its diverse and culturally rich settings, incredible sights, unique local cuisines, and affordability, as depicted by travel websites.

CoverStory, 2023

By mid-2022, governments worldwide had begun easing up on the severe Covid-19 restrictions and re... more By mid-2022, governments worldwide had begun easing up on the severe Covid-19 restrictions and regulations imposed on their peoples and opening their countries to visitors. These moves were intended to ease the debilitating impact of Covid-related policies on the economies and social fabric of virtually all countries. Most economies suffered recession, companies went bankrupt, supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell, unemployment rose, job vacancies dropped to an all-time low, and global tourism suffered downturns. Southeast Asian countries and economies were no exception to the pandemic impacts. The World Bank reported that all but one country (Vietnam) in the region suffered negative growth rates, with analysts seeing the region "being hit harder" economically than other parts of the globe.

University of the Philippines CIDS, 2022

Asia has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality. The Philippines has seen proposals for a... more Asia has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality. The Philippines has seen proposals for a wealth tax gaining momentum among civil society organizations, labor unions, popular organizations, the academe, and the media. It became a contentious issue in the May 2022 national elections. Resistance from both the government and corporate sector, however, has been intense and unbending. In response, proponents have outlined the rationale for a wealth tax in light of the existing political, social, and economic situation.

University of the Philippines CIDS, 2022

A wealth tax is one form of progressive taxation but covers a lot more than all other types. Thus... more A wealth tax is one form of progressive taxation but covers a lot more than all other types. Thus, while "progressive taxation" would be the general demand, the specific and more meaningful call with the most far-reaching impact would be for a "wealth tax." A wealth tax is based on the market value of owned assets minus debts and other liabilities, i.e., one's net worth. It covers all types of wealth, i.e., anything tangible or intangible that has monetary value (Piketty 2014, 505). These include cash, landholdings, bank deposits, shares of stocks, vehicles, real property, pension plans, cryptocurrency funds, housing, trusts, jewelry, yachts, planes, works of art, antique collections, copyrights, and so on. Amidst the debates surrounding the issue of a wealth tax, opponents have outlined their objections, and the more prominent of these are:

Southeast Asia was no exception to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region's economies s... more Southeast Asia was no exception to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region's economies suffered recession, companies went bankrupt, supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell, unemployment rose, job vacancies dropped to an all-time low, and tourism suffered downturns. The World Bank reported that all but one country (Vietnam) in the region suffered negative growth rates, with analysts seeing the region "being hit harder" economically than other parts of the globe. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) calculated that Covid-19 "pushed 4.7 million more people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty and 9.3 million jobs disappeared." The only businesses that prospered were the pharmaceutical corporations and other companies engaged in the manufacture and marketing of pandemic-related products. At the time the COVID-19 pandemic had abated in mid-2023, Southeast Asia had registered 35,910,444 confirmed cases with 367,339 deaths. But the pandemic has not totally disappeared.

CoverStory, 2024

The rapidly unfolding reconfiguration of societies in the world today brings into question longhe... more The rapidly unfolding reconfiguration of societies in the world today brings into question longheld systems of thought and action with respect to international relations, state-citizen interactions, concepts of national identity, territoriality, and national sovereignty. States are becoming less and less able to assert their notions of national sovereignty in the face of globalizing actors and powerful hegemonic players who assert their expansionary policies in almost every corner of the globe. But globalization's ugly face has also become more and more apparent. Widespread poverty, unemployment, deficient social protection, landlessness, deteriorating productive sectors and ecological atrocities in many developing societies have caused a global trend of overseas contract work (both short-and long-term) or permanent migration to more developed economies.

Philippine Journal of Public Policy, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic and related policies had a debilitating impact on the economies and societi... more The COVID-19 pandemic and related policies had a debilitating
impact on the economies and societies of all countries around the
globe. Economies suffered a recession, companies went bankrupt,
supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell,
unemployment rose, job vacancies were at an all-time low, and global
tourism suffered downturns (Jones et al. 2021).
Southeast Asia was no exception as the region was “hit harder”
economically than other parts of the globe (World Bank 2021). The
Asian Development Bank calculated that COVID-19 “pushed 4.7 million
more people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty and 9.3 million
jobs disappeared” (ADB 2022a). The only businesses that prospered
were the corporations engaged in the manufacture and marketing of
pandemic-related products.
By early 2021, the COVID-19 numbers appeared to be receding
and stabilizing. By mid-2022, governments began easing up on the
severe COVID-19 restrictions including opening their countries to
visitors. The World Health Organization (WHO), however, advised
that countries can loosen restrictions and lift lockdowns only “if they
have high immunity rates, their health care systems are strong and the
epidemiological trends are going in the right direction” (Keaten 2022).
This essay provides new and updated data that magnifies the
sorry state of Southeast Asia’s economic, social, and political fabric,
and the perils that remain in a post-pandemic era, and reiterates
longstanding policy recommendations to address such issues.

Philippine Development Forum, 1987

One can say, without any reservations, that at 27 years of age, Leán Alejandro had lived a full a... more One can say, without any reservations, that at 27 years of age, Leán Alejandro had lived a full and meaningful life. In the world of movements for social change, he had left an indelible mark first as a captivating and charismatic student and youth leader and later as secretary general and driving force of BAYAN, the Philippines' biggest and most militant cause-oriented group. Many older and more experienced activists could not claim even a small fraction of what he had achieved.

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2007

This paper reconstructs the lives of four peasant villagers in the plains of Central Luzon, Phili... more This paper reconstructs the lives of four peasant villagers in the plains of Central Luzon, Philippines within the context of known national historical events and socioeconomic and political changes at the local level. These events were the agrarian unrest of the 1930s, World War II and the Japanese occupation, the Huk insurgency of the late 1940s and early 1950s. and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) rebellion of the 1970s. At the local level, the villagers confronted a giant American military facility, commercializing sugar interests, a government rural development project, the Mount Pinatubo eruptions in 1991-1992, and at present, a special economic zone authority. These peasant life histories comprise a social history of village societies straddling the cusp of modernization and the corresponding pattern of material change on one hand and continuities in peasant structures and norms on the other. The narratives depict the villagers' hopes, aspirations, world view, and engagements with external forces that impinged on their daily lives. How peasants dealt with these forces and events is a compelling narrative that point to the resilience of peasant society and its family farms and the accompanying peasant mode and culture in the face of external attempts to transform and "modernize" them. Utilizing a "history from below" perspective, the paper reveals the world of the peasantry as seen from the ground, simple in its family-based and smallholder mode of production yet rich and complex in its social life and diverse interactions with the outside world.

coverstory.ph, 2023

The Philippines has the highest inequality rates among 27 Asian countries monitored by the World ... more The Philippines has the highest inequality rates among 27 Asian countries monitored by the World Bank. The “Occupy Movement” of 2011-2012 that was a mass protest against US inequality between the 1% and the 99% that spread globally. In the Philippines, however, the PSA FIES data show that the 350,000 persons classified as “rich” comprise a mere 0.3% of the total population.

A Better Metro Manila? Towards Responsible Local Governance , 2023

In the 1980s, it was argued that privatization was to be the cure-all for governments lacking the... more In the 1980s, it was argued that privatization was to be the cure-all for governments lacking the needed resources to modernize social service deliveries like water, and that the private sector would be in a better position than the government to provide for this. Given this backdrop, the Philippine government in 1997 privatized Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), its publicly-owned water service provided for Metro Manila. The provision of water was given to two private water concessionaires, Maynilad and Manila Water which failed to deliver on their promises. The Philippine experience is mirrored in other areas of the world which have led towards a movement for local governments to reclaim water as a public service. Because of this, several alternatives to water privatization have emerged, which include the following: 1) Public/non-profit partnerships (PuNPP) or co-privatization; 2) Single non-profit agencies (SiNPs); and 3) Deprivatization and/or remunicipalization.

Re-Imagining Post-Pandemic Societies: alternative Practices Across Southeast Asia, 2023

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2023

Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives, 2020

A LIFETIME OF ACTION. The late Aileen Baviera with the author in various periods. Photos courtesy... more A LIFETIME OF ACTION. The late Aileen Baviera with the author in various periods. Photos courtesy of Ed Tadem. Back home Aileen returned home in 1983, married Jorge and gave birth to 3 children-Mayi (1985), Mara (1986) and Vittorio (1991). She went back to FSI as a training officer, researcher, and instructor. In 1987, she joined the faculty of UP Diliman's Department of Political Science where she chose to teach Southeast Asian studies, realizing the need to broaden the scope of her academic scholarly work. Given a new party assignment for her and Jorge to relocate to Spain, she suddenly resigned from UP. This relocation, however, was aborted and Aileen returned to FSI in 1993 as head of its Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies. Aileen joined the Philippines-China Development Resource Center (PDRC) and became its executive director (1998-2001). An important project she undertook was a pioneering research on civil society anti-poverty initiatives in Asian rural areas. As PDRC head, she proposed the broadening of the organization's mandate to encompass the entire Asian region; a proposal that was rejected. Aileen would soon leave FSI and PDRC to resume her academic career in 1998 with a full-time position as Associate Professor at UP Asian Center, a graduate institution for Asian and Philippine Studies. Academic career Aileen taught a range of courses that went beyond her China background including Asian security issues, Southeast Asian international relations, ASEAN studies, Asian regionalism, Philippine foreign policy, and research methods. Her researches expanded to cover Asia-Pacific security, territorial disputes, and regional integration. She produced an impressive output of journal articles, book chapters, essays and commentaries, and books on Asian regional security, Philippine-China relations, regional peace and conflict, territorial disputes, geopolitics, US-Asian relations, multilateralism, Philippine politics, media, Chinese investments, and maritime issues. As Dean of the UP Asian Center (2003-2009), she undertook the thoroughgoing overhaul of the 40-year-old Asian Studies curriculum, emphasizing comparative crosscountry and thematic issues rather than the traditional country-specific studies. These changes were important and essential given the growing commonalities in socio-political and economic problems across societies and regions, new developments in geopolitics, and the globalization of trade and investments.

Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives, 2020

I have known, and have been friends with, Maureen C. Pagaduan for over forty years. For most of t... more I have known, and have been friends with, Maureen C. Pagaduan for over forty years. For most of those years, we were practically neighbors-our houses were just three blocks apart in a middle-class neighborhood that was a public housing project in Quezon City. The timeline of our friendship, however, was erratic and inconsistent with gaps in between due to our sometimes diverse pursuits and

… MarkJ. Valencia (eds), Conflict over Natural Resources …, 1990

Philippine Political Science Journal, 2016

is the author of one of the most important concepts in political geography, that of nations being... more is the author of one of the most important concepts in political geography, that of nations being 'imagined communities'. Guggenheim Fellow and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Anderson was born in Kunming, China in 1936. Brother of political theorist Perry Anderson and an Irish citizen whose father was an official with Imperial Maritime Customs, he grew up in California and Ireland before attending Cambridge University. Studying briefly under Eric Hobsbawm, Anderson graduated with a First Class degree in Classics in 1957. He moved to Cornell University in 1958 to pursue PhD research on Indonesia. At Cornell he was influenced by George Kahin, John Echols and Claire Holt (Anderson, 1999). In 1965 Indonesia's military leader Suharto foiled an alleged coup attempt by communist soldiers, purged the army, and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Working with two other graduate students, Anderson analysed Suharto's version of events, questioning their veracity. Their assessment reached the Indonesian military who in 1967 and 1968 invited Anderson to the country to persuade him of the errors in this monograph, then known as the 'Cornell Paper'. Failing to be convinced, Anderson was denounced by the Indonesian regime. Following formal publication of the original allegations (Anderson et al., 1971), Indonesian authorities refused Anderson's visa applications, barring him from Indonesia for what became the duration of Suharto's regime. Anderson returned to Indonesia in 1999 following the dictator's death. Anderson completed his PhD entitled

CoverStory, 2023

Southeast Asia is a favored region for investments and trade by developed countries seeking to re... more Southeast Asia is a favored region for investments and trade by developed countries seeking to rebound from the pandemic and other economic problems. In terms of its political indicators, however, the region is hobbled by varying levels of democratic deficits. Nikkei Asia observes that Southeast Asia remains "largely a fortress of authoritarianism, with military-based regimes (Thailand and Myanmar), dominant single parties (Vietnam, Singapore and Laos), absolute monarchies (Brunei) and old-fashioned autocrats (Cambodia) dominating the political landscape." For the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, despite "a decent record of relatively competitive and free elections,. .. all three have also seen the emergence of authoritarian populist forces and the continued marginalization of progressive parties." There is no dearth of progressive social movements in Southeast Asia, but their effectiveness has been blunted by state repression and their diminished ability to mobilize the numbers needed to galvanize the region's marginalized peoples into adopting more radical alternatives.

UP CIDS Monograph Series 2023-02, 2023

As the whole world reels under the impact of an unprecedented health crisis brought about by the ... more As the whole world reels under the impact of an unprecedented health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been little attention paid to its effect on grassroots communities and marginalized sectors. This is particularly important given the haphazard and erratic manner of official measures that have been implemented to contain the contagion and amidst a situation where health systems face serious challenges to confront a crisis of these proportions. While national reports are extensively documented and macronumbers are often reported, there is a need to look more closely at underprivileged sectors and communities. This report documents what marginalized communities in Southeast Asia are engaging in, and how they have responded to the pandemic. Results are varied, conditioned by the location, existence of community and sectoral organizations, and levels of social solidarity and collective consciousness.

Southeast Asia has long been a preferred tourist destination due to its diverse and culturally ri... more Southeast Asia has long been a preferred tourist destination due to its diverse and culturally rich settings, incredible sights, unique local cuisines, and affordability, as depicted by travel websites.

CoverStory, 2023

By mid-2022, governments worldwide had begun easing up on the severe Covid-19 restrictions and re... more By mid-2022, governments worldwide had begun easing up on the severe Covid-19 restrictions and regulations imposed on their peoples and opening their countries to visitors. These moves were intended to ease the debilitating impact of Covid-related policies on the economies and social fabric of virtually all countries. Most economies suffered recession, companies went bankrupt, supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell, unemployment rose, job vacancies dropped to an all-time low, and global tourism suffered downturns. Southeast Asian countries and economies were no exception to the pandemic impacts. The World Bank reported that all but one country (Vietnam) in the region suffered negative growth rates, with analysts seeing the region "being hit harder" economically than other parts of the globe.

University of the Philippines CIDS, 2022

Asia has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality. The Philippines has seen proposals for a... more Asia has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality. The Philippines has seen proposals for a wealth tax gaining momentum among civil society organizations, labor unions, popular organizations, the academe, and the media. It became a contentious issue in the May 2022 national elections. Resistance from both the government and corporate sector, however, has been intense and unbending. In response, proponents have outlined the rationale for a wealth tax in light of the existing political, social, and economic situation.

University of the Philippines CIDS, 2022

A wealth tax is one form of progressive taxation but covers a lot more than all other types. Thus... more A wealth tax is one form of progressive taxation but covers a lot more than all other types. Thus, while "progressive taxation" would be the general demand, the specific and more meaningful call with the most far-reaching impact would be for a "wealth tax." A wealth tax is based on the market value of owned assets minus debts and other liabilities, i.e., one's net worth. It covers all types of wealth, i.e., anything tangible or intangible that has monetary value (Piketty 2014, 505). These include cash, landholdings, bank deposits, shares of stocks, vehicles, real property, pension plans, cryptocurrency funds, housing, trusts, jewelry, yachts, planes, works of art, antique collections, copyrights, and so on. Amidst the debates surrounding the issue of a wealth tax, opponents have outlined their objections, and the more prominent of these are:

This paper looks at the peasant movement in the Philippines during the martial law period, its re... more This paper looks at the peasant movement in the Philippines during the martial law period, its resurgence and growth and struggles with the policies and programs of the Marcos regime. The discussion also highlights the social context within which the peasant movement grew. This refers to the shift in the social formations and tenurial status of the agrarian labor force, i.e, from a tenancy system to one that is more based on wage labor and capital costs. The growth of landless workers and the diminishing returns to the direct producers characterize this shift. While appreciative of the peasant movement's struggles, it also critiques its outmoded social analysis and policy and program proposals.

University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies, 2023

By mid-2022, governments around the world began easing up on the severe COVID-19 restrictions and... more By mid-2022, governments around the world began easing up on
the severe COVID-19 restrictions and regulations that their peoples were
subjected to. They also started opening their countries to visitors. These
moves were motivated by the debilitating impact of COVID-related policies
on the economies and social fabric of virtually all countries around the
globe. Conversely, by early 2021, the COVID numbers appeared to be
receding and stabilizing. Most economies suffered a recession, companies went bankrupt, supply chains were disrupted, major stock markets indices fell, unemployment rose, job vacancies were at an all-time low, and global tourism suffered downturns. The Asian Development Bank (ADB 2022) calculated that COVID-19 “pushed 4.7 million more people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty and 9.3 million jobs disappeared.” By far, the only businesses that prospered were the pharmaceutical corporations and other companies engaged in the manufacture and marketing of pandemic-related products.Southeast Asian countries and economies were no exception to pandemic impacts. All but one country (Vietnam) suffered negative growth rates. For analysts, the region was “hit harder” economically than other parts of the globe. The United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO), however, advised that countries can loosen restrictions and lift lockdowns only “if they have high immunity rates, their health care systems are strong and the epidemiological trends are going in the right direction”.

UP CIDS Monograph, 2023

Rising inequality has been an inescapable phenomenon of global economic development over the past... more Rising inequality has been an inescapable phenomenon of global economic development over the past 200 years. On the other end, the profits of business enterprises and their owners' wealth have been increasing disproportionately. This has been highlighted in a landmark 2014 study by a group of French economists led by Thomas Pikkety. The global data confirms this analysis of unabated inequality amid high growth rates, leading to an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. In declaring the reduction of inequality as one of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) observes that growing inequality affects 70 percent of the global population. It is threatening "long-term social and economic development, [harming] poverty reduction and [destroying] people's sense of fulfilment and self-worth." All these, "in turn, can breed crime, disease, and environmental degradation" (UN 2020).