From Borrowing for Development to Delivering Development: The Philippines Must Stop Paying for Infrastructure That It Cannot Implement
By Karl M. Garcia Executive Summary: Financing Is Not Development The Philippines has a development paradox. It negotiates billions of pesos in foreign-assisted infrastructure financing, secures loans from international development institutions, announces ambitious railway systems, bridges, roads and water projects, and commits taxpayers to long-term repayment obligations. Yet many projects remain behind schedule, some barely … Continue reading
Water, Water Everywhere, but Nowhere to Drink: The Philippines’ Water Crisis in the Age of Super El Niño
How extreme heat, prolonged drought, dwindling reservoirs, groundwater depletion, inefficient water management and decades of infrastructure neglect expose the country’s persistent failure to turn its abundant water resources into reliable water security By Karl M. Garcia Introduction: A country surrounded by water, yet struggling to secure it There is an enduring irony in the Philippine … Continue reading
Beyond Dependence: From Degree to Diskarte to Capability
Building a Philippine Capability Republic: A New Doctrine of Nation-Building Toward 2050 By Karl M. Garcia Executive Summary: From Development to National Capability The Philippines does not lack development plans, educated people, natural resources, infrastructure projects, foreign investment, or international partnerships. What it has struggled to develop is the institutional and productive capacity to convert … Continue reading
Ube: From Filipino Heritage to a Filipino-Owned Global Industry
By Karl M. Garcia There are foods that feed us. There are foods that remind us where we came from. And there are foods that somehow become part of a country’s identity. Ube is increasingly all three. The purple yam, known scientifically as Dioscorea alata, has long been part of Philippine food culture. It appears … Continue reading
Scholarships Do Not Just Buy Degrees. They Build Workforces
By Karl M. Garcia There is a recurring criticism of agricultural scholarships in the Philippines: despite government efforts to put young people through school, the country has not necessarily produced enough young farmers. At first glance, this seems like a failure of scholarships. It is not quite that simple. A scholarship can pay for education. … Continue reading


