Katrina S.S.

If there’s anyone that I am now afraid might win the 2016 elections—because who knows what kind of electorate we have at this point—it is Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Yes, there are pros and cons for all the presidential candidates and the possibility that each will win. But what Duterte promises are such simple, commonsensical things. What he promises are things that all presidential candidates should be promising, and they should be promising it with a progam to back it up. A holistic take on peace and order and public safety that need not fall back on action star rhetoric, and need not mean committing every human rights violation imaginable.

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Solita Collas Monsod

The good news is that the Philippine economy grew by 6 percent (real GDP) in the third quarter of this year, which is marginally higher than the 5.8 percent growth rate in the second quarter, and higher than the 5.5 percent growth rate in the third quarter. The bad news is that at this rate, we will definitely not attain the 7-8 percent growth rate that the government set for 2015. To achieve that, we have to grow by 11.2 percent in the last quarter to hit 7 percent, and by 15.2 percent to hit 8 percent.

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