In the previous week, I wrote about my attending a four-day conference in Singapore as part of my duties as an executive of a non-life insurance company. During the economic briefings for ASEAN countries, the Philippines found itself in a comforting scenario where all forecasts were positive and steady. This is attractive to investors and, in this case, reinsurers who are keen on putting money into more predictable economies, as opposed to those with sharp inclines, even if highly profitable, since it may signal a sharp decline in the future.

China was mentioned numerous times, as the conflict and turmoil during the Trump Administration are now being felt. Gone are the days when all eyes were on China as its economy has slowed, albeit still positive. This has relevance to our country since we are enmeshed in a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

Our President Bongbong Marcos Jr.'s pivot towards the West has caught the eye of our allies, and US President Joe Biden even signified that America is willing to go to war alongside our country, as this is their duty in the existing mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines.

In our discussions with foreign partners, they questioned us on the political situation in our country. Although presently we are in a good place politically speaking, this may change by the upcoming elections. Upon sharing that our president may only serve a single term of six years, our partners thought this was too short a period for a good president. Only a constitutional amendment can change this; we all know this is nearly impossible despite having a highly popular president.

And from what we are learning now, more than an increasingly popular president is needed to continue their policies and projects that can make substantial and meaningful changes to our country, with its old dog habits.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte enjoyed trust and approval ratings that were the envy of other world leaders, not going below the line of nine. Still, he is being subjected to verbal attacks that should not hurt him, considering he is no longer a public official. We know that President Duterte is not onion-skinned and can take anything, but there could be ramifications with the continuing exchange we are publicly seeing.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez was in the right, after all, in defending the integrity of the House of Representatives. As the leader of more than 300 House members, as the primus inter pares, it is his duty to uphold the honor and respectable image of the Lower House. He has the good side of the President and the removal of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Deputy Speaker was done without much fanfare. Kudos to FPGMA for taking it professionally.