Months after the release of the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2022, the very low performance of Philippine students in this international assessment is still often discussed among various concerned groups.

At this modern time of general abundance in the world and, particularly, in our part of the world, we find our country with an incongrous incidence of widespread poverty.

Nowadays, we frequently read and hear lamentations about why our country, the Philippines, has fallen to the bottom in terms of per capita GDP among the Bigger 6 ASEAN countries from our top position some fifty years ago.