JOSE V. ROMERO JR., PHD.
A CONFLUENCE of negative factors is threatening to snag the audacious Build! Build! Build! program of the Duterte administration. As fate would have it, the bungled rice policy, the principal component of the consumer price index, and an exogenous factor in the form of higher energy prices have conspired to dampen expectations of economic stability in the midst of a heavy infrastructure and social overhead project build-up, which were designed to push the levels of productivity, incomes and employment higher.