Dr. Gerardo Sicat

Actually a lot of people was asking who is Gerardo P. Sicat..

I only know a lil bit about him.

Dr. Gerardo Sicat, the first National Economic and Development Authority Director General, discussed the economic provisions of the Philippine Constitution that have served as barriers to greater efficiency and competitiveness, thereby inhibiting greater economic progress. The three main provisions concern a prohibition for foreigners to own land; the exclusion of foreigners from exploiting the country’s natural resources; and the limitation placed on foreign capital in public utilities. According to him, opening up the use of natural resources to foreigners is justifiable for as long as the government controls their disposition and revenues derived are used for the people’s benefit. This ruling could extend to foreigners’ exploitation rights for reforestation purposes and aquatic resource enhancement.

Gerardo P Sicat is also a Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of the Philippines, and was Cabinet Minister in charge of the economy and planning in the Philippines from 1970 to 1981. He is also an economist in the Country Economics Department, the World Bank.

also..

He criticized the high level of the country’s labor standards and suggested that these standards be deregulated or liberalized. The summary of Dr. Sicat’s paper is written below:Philippine labor market policies, in the presence of a high degree of excess labor supply, are highly regulated and they tend to be along standards of highly developed markets.The policies adopted by the government are more pro-employed labor than to promote the over-all employment of the labor force.These policies made the country to miss the path of labor intensive development in industrial enterprises, a pattern typical of the early growth of East Asian economies.These policies strengthened a powerful labor bureaucracy in the government. Side effects of the regulations and the culture surrounding the disposition of labor management issues encouraged rent-seeking and other motivational distortions in the behavior of labor when employed.The welfare policies as developed have contributed to the distortion in labor skill formation, the tendency to provide an increase of emoluments without any link to productivity growth, and so on… In undertaking reforms, productivity change needs to be placed in the center stage of reforms.Finally, it is argued that the labor sector would find it in its interest to deal positively with the challenges of globalization.This means recognizing that labor market policies need to adjust to global competition.


Gerardo Sicat definition of Economics..

(Tagalog)
"Ang ekonomiks ay isang makaagham na pag aaral na tumutukoy kung paano gumamit ng pasya ang tao o lipunan. Maraming pangangailangan ang tao at mga pangkat ng lipunan. Upang matugunan ang mga ito, may mga pinag kukunang yaman na maaring gamitin ngunit hindi sapat. Ang mga pangangailangan at pag gamit ay maaring ngayon o bukas. Kaya naman sa pag papasya o pagpili , kasamang isinasa alang alang ang ngayon at bukas. Bukod dito ang pag gamit ng mga pinag kukunang yaman ay may kaukulang halaga at pakinabang na nangangailangan ng wastong pag papasya"