Breakfast with Joey

I first met and covered Joey Salceda in the 1990s when he was a hotshot economist and analyst, impressing and befriending the Central Bank Press Corps with his analysis and spot-on projections.

- MARIANNE GO

I also learned early on about his acerbic wit, frank observations and received some of his sharp barbs if I didn't catch on to what was being discussed.

He eventually became the go-to source of several business reporters, explaining and helping clarify financial transactions and even pointing out leads that we should follow. However, he eventually got tired of being in the financial sector, especially after a controversy over alleged insider trading accusations and decided to become a politician. Unsurprisingly, he found that politics was actually his niche.

His political career, of course, has been varied and well-known, and much like his early days in the financial sector, he has not been afraid to speak his mind or be controversial in his views on economic and financial policies.

It was thus refreshing to reconnect after a couple of years during the breakfast forum of the Monday Circle at the Westin Hotel in Ortigas with the irrepressible analyst and legislator, who still does not fear being forthright, controversial and oftentimes offensive to those who do not know him.

Although the main topic of discussion was artificial intelligence, many other interesting issues were also touched on, such as food security, government bureaucracy and corruption, the slow legislative mill, regulating the securities sector as well as cryptocurrency trading, intellectual property protection, POGOs and the Chinese economy.

As he had previously commented on the need to regulate the AI sector, Cong. Joey is also advocating for the regulation of cryptocurrency, which, unfortunately, the Philippines continues to be unfamiliar with and suspicious of, leading to scams.