Effectiveness and Challenges of Three Economic Corridors of the Greater Mekong Sub-region

Since the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) program began in 1992, activities have expanded and flourished. The three economic corridors are composed of the East-West, North-South, and Southern; these are the most important parts of the flagship program. This article presents an evaluation of these economic corridors and their challenges in accordance with the regional distribution of population and income, population pyramids of member countries, and trade relations of member economies.

Interaction of powers in the Philippine presidential system

The executive - legislative relations in the Philippines have been described in two contrasting stories, namely the "strong president" story, and the "strong congress" story. This paper tries to consolidate the existing arguments and propose a new perspective focusing on the "compromise exchange" between the president and the congress across the different policy areas. It considers that the policy outcome is not brought by unilateral power of the president or the congress, but formed as the product of such an exchange. Interaction of powers and their complementary function are addressed. Furthermore, aside from the constitutional power, the weak party discipline is pointed out as a key factor in making the exchange possible.