Despite hopes for a better year, 2021 did not start out quite well for Filipino consumers. With belts already tight after a year of economic downturn, market-goers late last January were greeted by soaring prices on basic commodities. Pork, a mainstay for many Filipino dishes, quickly went well beyond the financial means of most people.…
Author: Gershon De La Cruz
Eight months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, nations across the world continue to struggle with a global economic downturn, one that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says has been the worst since the Great Depression. The Philippine economy was sent into a tailspin, with the gross domestic product plunging…
Since March, student organizations have largely operated online, following the University’s shift to online platforms. Over the course of the previous term, activities that were once held in classrooms and conference halls had been reconfigured to instead occupy virtual spaces. But bringing these events to life sometimes comes with a cost, often paid for with…
In less than two years, Filipinos will once again march to the polls to cast their ballots in the 2022 Philippine general elections. But for the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), the “first and only non-partisan nationwide network” of lawyers, law students, paralegals, and grassroots volunteers, the task of mobilizing voters to choose the…
Uplifting marginalized communities has long been the mandate of DLSU, an institution rooted in serving the last, the least, and the lost. After the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda in 2015—marking a renewed worldwide commitment to resolve global issues—the University formally launched the Social Development Goals (SDG) Localization Project in 2016 to put those…
The search for life-saving treatment is becoming increasingly intertwined with sociopolitical realities. The launch of Sputnik V, a Russian COVID-19 vaccine candidate whose name is a callback to the Soviet-era satellite, has become a symbol for what some—not least billionaire-philanthropist Bill Gates—have called the “vaccine race”. Yet, as some vaccine candidates begin Phase III of…
Shuttered storefronts, vacant schools, empty airways—these are only some of the sights that typify what the International Monetary Fund dubs as the “Great Lockdown”. In a massive disruption of economic activity, the COVID-19 pandemic that already pushed many businesses into bankruptcy has also left five million Filipinos out of work, now dependent on government assistance…
In recent weeks, the University Student Government (USG) was faced with the arduous task of transitioning their work online, while also continuing their ongoing plans and projects. Before quarantine measures took effect over different parts of the country, the USG had aggressively pursued, among other things, the Safe Spaces Initiative, the Mental Health Task Force,…
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Everybody’s business
“Keep your business out of politics” is a piece of hush-hush advice that is, more often than not, given to many fledgling entrepreneurs. Corruption issues, a poor judicial system, and red tape constantly hound the private sector; appeasing unscrupulous officials, or even colluding with them, is seen as an easier way of “doing business”. The…
“Nakakaiyak ‘to, pero buhay namin kayo. Kung wala kayo, wala na rin talaga kami.” (The situation is distressing, but the students are our lifeblood. Without the students, we’re really left with nothing.) This was the emotional response of Orange & Spices owner Harry Ong as he described to The LaSallian the grave reality of small…