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Two thousand one hundred ninety-two days. That’s the full term of office of a Philippine president. Not 100 days. But why does the media pay so much attention to the first 100 days of an administration? Surely, you cannot possibly proclaim the success or failure of any president based solely on only 4.5 percent of the total days of a presidency. I can understand if we make an assessment of an administration after its first year but 100 days? I read somewhere that someone claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. “failed to fulfill his promises” in his first 100 days. It seems arbitrary and insignificant, not to mention ridiculous. So how did this practice start in the first place? And what is even the point of a 100-day assessment?

This is the time of the year when people spend more money to celebrate the Christmas season. The last three months of the year will be a hectic pace for most people planning reunions toward the end of the year and organizing their travel options, and those finalizing their list of gifts and presents for the yuletide.

Growth in the Philippines and this part of the world and the feared recession in the West are a clear case of juxtaposition. The pessimists will echo the dire warnings of market analysts that the world economy is about to enter a period of recession, while the optimists will look at the glass as half full.