An Exclusive Invitation to the
ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY

EAGLEWATCH

Economic and Political Briefing

"Changing Crisis to Confidence" 
Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 8:30am - 12nn
Veritas Hall, 4th Floor Ateneo Professional Schools, Rockwell

            Given global oil and food shocks, the future looks rather bleak.  Inflation has for the first time in a decade reached double-digits as global commodity prices continue to rise.  Economic progress is not widely felt despite official pronouncements of sustained growth.  Hunger afflicts a staggering 16.3 percent of families, or 14 million Filipinos. Mindanao is yet again a tinder box of conflict, following a mishandled, if co-opted, peace process -- threatening to incite age-old religious and ethnic hostilities.  The divisive controversies that hound any talk of Charter Change fester yet again. President Arroyo may go down in history as the most unpopular president, with a record low negative 38 net satisfaction rating.  As people hunger for fundamental change, the prospects for achieving such with the 2010 elections appear dim.

            How can confidence be inspired amidst scenarios of seeming gloom? Confidence-building is threatened when promised economic and political reforms following EDSA II -- and the imperatives of strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law -- are compromised by the corrosive effects of patronage politics and widespread corruption. Yet it is a fair measure of confidence in government and the workings of the larger system that drives investments, creates jobs, and moves the country towards a brighter future.   

            Believing in the resilience of the Filipino in the face of daunting crises, the Ateneo Eaglewatch seeks to contribute to the restoring of such confidence and faith in the country's potential.  One way is to focus on the success stories in the local front despite failures at the national government.  This briefing will thus highlight the narratives of good governance in cities, municipalities and provinces as counterfoil to the institutional weaknesses in the larger political economy. Eaglewatch will continue to raise the difficult questions and pressing issues that need to be addressed by national government if a shift must indeed be made from a malaise of resignation or cynicism towards greater confidence in the collective possibilities and future of the country.
          

Join us.

 
Speakers:

Cielito F. Habito, Ph.D.
Director, Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD)
Professor, Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University
 
J. R. Nereus Acosta, Ph.D.
Former Congressman, First District of Bukidnon,
Faculty, Ateneo School of Government
Faculty, Department of Political Science, Ateneo de Manila University

Special Guest Speaker

Naga City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service

Briefing Fee is at P2,500 per person (inclusive of lunch and briefing materials).
 
To register, please fax the attached reply slip at telefax no. 426-5661 or send an email to ateneo.eaglewatch@gmail.com. For inquiries, please call Joannie Tongol at (02)494-8472 or (0917)804-7740.

ABOUT EAGLEWATCH

   The Economics Department through its research group, the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD), has been conducting quarterly macroeconomic briefings since early 2002.  These briefings were mainly economic in nature -- basically an assessment of the performance of the economy (GNP, GDP, other economic indicators, based on latest results) -- and a forecast /economic outlook for the medium-term based on the Ateneo Macroeconomic Forecasting Model (AMFM) which ACERD had developed. The AMFM is the only operational full macroeconomic model of the Philippine economy outside of the NEDA-PIDS model being used by the government.

   Beginning in September 2003, the Ateneo Economics Department and ACERD partnered with the Ateneo Center for Social Planning and Public Affairs (ACSPPA), the Ateneo Political Science Department, and the Ateneo School of Government and expanded the briefing to include an assessment of the country's political situation. This is in recognition of the fact that a sound economic analysis can only be made more complete if seen in the light of the political events happening in the country.
 

   Since then, the briefing has been called Eagle Watch and has provided sound economic and political analysis to businessmen, economists, media and other prominent representatives of academe, government and non-government sectors.
 

Brought to you by:      

 
Ateneo Economics Department
Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD)
Ateneo Political Science Department