KamalAEAn 2025

Economics is not simply a tool to quantify our world into numbers and figures. It is a vehicle for change, and a voice that brings to light the biggest issues of today. Since its inception, KamalAEAn has strived to make that voice real. In its flagship forum, the Ateneo Economics Association (AEA) has tackled every possible topic from electricity production to Pampanga’s “Taylor Swift-ready” stadium. At one point, KamalAEAn even went from hosting the late Noynoy Aquino as a speaker to critiquing the administration’s fiscal policies a few years later. Throughout the years, one thing has remained clear: economics never stays silent.

This year was no different. With the TALAB theme in mind, Walking with the Excluded, we pushed to delve into a quiet crisis, constantly brushed aside, but nonetheless invading the Philippines. KamalAEAn 2025—Katahimikan sa Silid-aralan, Katahimikan sa Bayan—set the stage to discuss the emerging costs of emigrating Filipino educators. This year, AEA asked: what can we do to walk with our teachers better?

KamalAEAn invited Dr. Geoffrey Ducanes from the Ateneo Department of Economics and Dr. Christopher Cabuay from the DLSU School of Economics, both researchers in international migration and their phenomena, to give their insights and spark greater awareness of rapidly rising emigration of some of our most vital professionals. Both speakers analyzed the differing causes and effects of this ‘brain drain,’ discussing why our teachers are migrating, what economic and educational effects will occur because of it, and what can be done about it.

So, to speak, conclusions reached were sobering. Dr. Ducanes and Dr. Cabuay independently confirmed a terrible suspicion: the Philippines is not doing nearly enough for its essential workers. It is even likely that the country is actively incentivizing them to leave.  Unambiguously better pay and perhaps even respect abroad are driving our teachers away, leading to disastrous consequences here at home. Any educator that does remain is likely overworked and underpaid, worsening the educational quality of the system as a whole. This ripples out into widening inequality as our students learn less, systems run less efficiently, and the vicious cycle begins anew as more choose to leave.

KamalAEAn, however, is not simply a constant bearer of bad news. What started out simply as a forum to discuss certain economic indicators and open conversation has evolved over the years into one of the many voices of the Ateneo Economics Association. As a manifestation and reflection of the organization’s beliefs and stances, KamalAEAn shows us the world as it is, but also pushes us to make a difference in it. Our teachers are leaving us, what now?

The beauty of economics is that for any one question, a seemingly endless number of answers can be posited, from an equally endless number of perspectives. From neo-classical propositions of capital accumulation and investment promotion to the neo-colonial suggestions of outright revolution, any solution to the Philippines’ educator emigration crisis can be validated given strong enough evidence. This is where you (yes, you, the reader) come in. 

Our speakers proposed various policy recommendations, from raising minimum wages for teachers to outright fixing the Philippine economy as a whole. However, these suggestions are easier said than done, and there exists a whole world of infinite possibilities to address these issues. Economics observes the past, but it isn’t confined to it. To know is one thing, but consciousness entails understanding. Understanding entails action. That’s the purpose of KamalAEAn, right? Help us understand the economics so that we know what to do next. So, what will you do?