Another Filipino achiever has been added to the growing list of Filipino experts who got their expertise not only from working in the Philippines but also from studying abroad.
Veronica Bayangos was so greatly affected by the economic problems that beset the Philippines that she made it her goal to study laboriously and bring back to her country whatever knowledge she gained.
To achieve this, she set aside six years of her life to become an expert in the field of economics.
Bayangos was one of the 80 Filipino scholars who came to The Netherlands to take up advanced studies in either masteral degrees or doctorates in philosophy.
Dubbed an “ISS baby,” Bayangos finished her Masters in Economic Development at the Institute of Social Studies in 1999 and just last November, earned her Doctorate in Philosophy after four grueling years of hard work at the same school.
She worked at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Asian Development Bank before embarking on a journey to The Hague, to hunt for answers that continue to plague the Philippine economy, in particular, the exchange rate uncertainty.
Her thesis on “Exchange Rate Uncertainty and Inflation Target,” now published as a book, scored her enough points to earn the title of Doctor in Philosophy.
“Ang ginawa ko, nag-build ako ng isang macro-economic model for the Philippines that will take care of exchange rate uncertainty and its impact on inflation targeting,” Bayangos told ABS-CBN’s Balitang Europe.
For Bayangos, it was worth burning the midnight oil because she succeeded in defending her thesis in front of a more-experienced and knowledgeable panel of international experts, who looked like they were not easy to get.
Several times during the defense of her dissertation, she looked as if she couldn’t find an answer and just responded that the question asked was not in the scope of her research.
Despite having a Filipino — Dr. Josef Yap of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies — as one of the panelists, Bayangos was rattled in front of the other examiners, Dr. Hans Visser of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Dr. Mansoob Murshed of ISS.
Balangos answers difficult questions from panel.
During her defense, Bayangos answered a question that was asked by the panel on what was the impact of the overseas Filipino workers’ remittances to her thesis.
“Oo nakakapaekto ang workers’ remittances sa behavior ng peso-dollar rate natin but not on the exchange rate uncertainty. Sa model ko wala siyang impact. Hindi siya kinonsider at all dahil ang exchange rate uncertainty na sinasabi ko eh ‘yung uncertainty na nanggagaling sa international investors,” Bayangos said.
The examiners were so impressed by the research paper of Bayangos because of the complicated relationship of the exchange rate vis-à-vis monetary policy especially in the Philippines.
“She finds that the exchange rate is rather unstable. You can’t predict it rather easily. It may suddenly change and that gives a problem to policy makers. How can they handle those uncertainty, the volatility of the exchange rate so that they can achieve the objectives that they have,” Visser said.
The Dutch professor said that Bayangos is bent on finding the right formula to help improve the economy.
“The Philippine economy can grow, the Philippine economy has low inflation. That’s what she’s working on,” Visser added.
Veronica Balangos during the defense of her dissertation.
Visser also predicts that the smart Pinay will be able to help shape policy research at the BSP.
“They have to decide what policy they have to make. First of all they want to keep inflation low and secondly they want to keep the exchange rate at the proper level because if the exchange rate is too strong then the Philippine companies cannot compete in the export market,” Visser said.
In the middle of the seemingly unstoppable brain drain in the country, Bayangos becomes one of those successful Filipinos who continue to believe that if they pool their intellectual resources together, hope remains for a better Philippines.
Tags: Business, Education, Proud to be Pinay, Veronica Bayangos
