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I understand where the government’s economic managers are coming from when they underscored the need to “defend the peso.” The Philippine currency has already shed about 15 percent of its value against the US dollar since the start of the year.

It always gives me a laugh whenever people use Jose Mari Chan as a harbinger of the Christmas season. Toward the latter part of August, social media is abuzz with funny memes and posts about the transition to the “ber” months which inevitably starts the countdown to the longest Christmas season in the world. It is amazing how Filipinos get creative and funny on social media. Only in the Philippines indeed!

They are not the sogo shosha of Japan or the chaebol of South Korea. But Philippine conglomerates are leading the way to transform the Philippines into a modern economy, starting with their strong interest in developing the nation’s infrastructure network.