Bernardo Malvar Villegas is a
Filipino economist and writer best known for being one of the framers of the 1987
Philippine Constitution
The Constitution of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'', Spanish: ''Constitución de la República de Filipinas'') is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippine ...
,
for authoring a number of widely used Philippine economics textbooks,
and for his role in the founding of two influential Philippine business organizations, the
Center for Research and Communication
The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P; Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Asya at Pasipiko'') is a private university in the Philippines. It traces its beginnings to the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), which was established on August 1 ...
and the
Makati Business Club.
He is also known for advising
Philippine presidents since the
Fifth Philippine Republic
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash t ...
came into power in 1986,
and as a professor and vice president at the University of Asia and the Pacific,
as well as visiting professor at the IESE Business School in Barcelona.
[
]
Education
Villegas is a Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...
, having obtained his bachelor's degree in commerce and the humanities (both summa cum laude) from De La Salle University
De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...
. He later earned his doctorate degree in economics at the Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
,[http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=1105543&ticker=BC:US&previousCapId=874170&previousTitle=Tata%20Steel%20Limited] becoming a teaching fellow at Harvard's College of Arts and Sciences at the age of 21.
While at Harvard, Villegas and Filipino fellow-student Jesus Estanislao
Jesus P. Estanislao is a Filipino economist best known for having been the 6th Socio-economic Planning Secretary and concurrent Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 1989-1990, and Secretary of Finance ...
attended activities organized by Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...
, and became members before returning to the Philippines in 1964.
Center for Research and Communication and Makati Business Club
On August 15, 1967, Villegas and Estanislao formally established the Center For Research and Communication, a non-profit private research center that served as a think tank for private sector businesses and a provider of economics training programs.
In 1981, Villegas became a member of the founding Executive Board of the Makati Business Club, a forum to address economic and social policy issues which affect the development of the Philippines, together with Enrique Zobel
Enrique Jacobo Emilio Zóbel y Olgado (January 7, 1927 – May 17, 2004), better known as Enrique J. Zóbel and EZ, was a prominent Filipino businessman, pilot, and polo player belonging to the prominent Zóbel de Ayala family who are of Spanis ...
and former ambassador Jose V. Romero Jr.
Jose Emeterio Villanueva Romero Jr. (4 May 1934 – 10 September 2018), also known as Joe Romero or Jose V. Romero Jr., was a Filipino statesman and diplomat.
Early life and education
Romero was born on May 4, 1934, to José E. Romero and Elisa ...
Villegas remains a member of the board of trustees.
Constitutional Commission of 1986
As a prominent Philippine economist towards the end of the Marcos dictatorship and a key member of both the Center for Research and Communication and the Makati Business Club, Villegas played an important role in Philippine history during the mid-1980s. The Philippine economy had been in decline since 1981 and went into a full nosedive in early 1983 after the US increased interest rates, sparking a series of events that led to the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
in 1986. Villegas’ expertise as an economist led to him being appointed as a member of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986
The Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986 was the constitutional convention tasked with drafting the present iteration of the Constitution of the Philippines in 1986.
Sessions
*Regular Session: June 2 – October 15, 1986
Legislatio ...
, framed the Philippines’ new democratic constitution, which would be ratified by plebiscite in 1987.
At the closing session of the commission, its President Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (November 22, 1913 – January 2, 2006) was a Filipino jurist and the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973, a ...
recognized Villegas’ signature contributions to the constitution: “''...principles of solidarity and subsidiarity and the social function of property in the Article on the National Economy, and the right to life of the unborn from conception.''”
According to his own account, Villegas was part of the minority which objected to the protectionist stance taken by the constitution against foreign investors. However, the majority prevailed and provisions were added to limit the potential role of foreign investors in key sectors of the Philippine economy.
Villegas also played a part in the efforts to recover the unexplained wealth of the Marcos family
The Marcos family, a political family in the Philippines, owns various assets that Philippine courts have determined to have been acquired through ilicit means during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos from 1965–1986.Tiongson-Mayrina, Karen and ...
. In the book “Philippine Political Economy: The Marcos Years,” Philippine Ambassador to Italy Jose Romero Jr. recalls that Dr. Villegas was the source US Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Bosworth had referred to when he testified to the United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs that about US$10 billion worth of capital had left the Philippines since the Philippine economy went into a nosedive in 1983. The PCGG later cited a similar amount as an estimate of the unexplained wealth of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
As one of the framers of the 1987 constitution, Villegas is considered an amicus curiae (friend of the court) by the Philippine Supreme court.
University of Asia and the Pacific and current roles
Villegas and Estanislao had attended a private meeting with Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...
founder Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá
Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness ...
in 1970, which inspired them to transform CRC into a university. This resulted in the CRC offering its first graduate program, the Masters in Industrial Economics. This was followed by the establishment of the CRC's College of Arts and Sciences in 1989, and the government recognition of the new University of Asia and the Pacific
The University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P; Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Asya at Pasipiko'') is a private university in the Philippines. It traces its beginnings to the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), which was established on August 1 ...
(UA&P) on June 26, 1995. Villegas became a professor at UA&P. But he also remained part of the CRC, which had retained its identity as a think tank, where he now serves as research director.
Villegas has written seven books, articles in ''Global Nation'', several economics textbooks used in Philippine educational institutions, and books on management.[ He sits on the boards of a large number of Filipino and international corporations in several sectors and industries. He is also a consultant on management development and strategic planning.]
Awards
Villegas received awards including the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) 1972, Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
, Johnson Foundation, Asia Foundation and the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica.
Written works
* State of the Philippine Economy
* Strategic Guidelines to Investments in the Philippines
* Challenge in Asia
* The Philippine Economy after the May Elections
* The Outlook of Asia Economic Region
* ''Book of Values'', University of Asia and the Pacific, 1998,
* ''The Philippine Advantage'', University of Asia and the Pacific, 2001,
*''A Filipino's vision for recovery: polevaulting to the third millennium'', University of Asia and the Pacific Foundation, 1997,
*''The Philippines at the threshold of the third millennium'', University of Asia and the Pacific in cooperation with Philip Morris Philippines Inc., 2000,
*''The Filipino phenomenon'', University of Asia and the Pacific Foundation, 1998,
*''Economics and society: policy perspectives for the 1990s'', Sinag-Tala Publishers, 1989,
References
External links
Asia Speaker's Agency on Bernardo Villegas
Author's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villegas, Bernardo
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Living people
Opus Dei members
20th-century Filipino economists
De La Salle University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Members of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986
21st-century Filipino economists