We have the honor to introduce to you, Dear Readers, our newest columnist.  Please meet Conrado “Ben” Sanchez, Jr., who at age 79, becomes our second most-seasoned writer. (Editor's Note: Fred Burce Bunao is already in the 80s.)

Mr. Sanchez writes also for the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) Global Website. This is how the PDI introduces him:  "Conrado Sanchez, Jr., 79, was the first Professional Economist to come out of De La Salle College. He earned graduate degrees in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and Yale University. While supervising the Export Department of the Board of Investments, Governor Sanchez helped boost non-traditional exports which doubled every two and a half years during his term. Today, exports of manufactures make up 87 per cent of total Philippine exports.   He spent the remaining sixteen years of his career in the UN system advancing the cause of small-scale enterprises in 33 developing countries."

Governor Sanchez regularly sends e-mails to a group of friends, especially those who live abroad. Many of the stuff that he sends to his friends are about the Philippines – articles, news items, historical notes, even unique Filipino jokes. He occasionally writes articles about the Philippine economy (for he is an economist by profession).  He writes also to newspaper editors about happenings they report on.
 
Our new columnist intends to provide our readers the materials about the Philippines and Filipinos that he e-mails his friends.  He is very choosy about the articles that he forwards because he keeps in mind that the subject should be of major importance. He knows that Filipinos abroad are rarely aware of the information that he sends to his mailing list.
 
Perhaps once a month, Governor Sanchez should be able to write a column of which he is the rightful author.

Governor Sanchez can be reached at bensanchez112@yahoo.com. He wants his e-mail address posted at the end of every column, as he wants to receive readers' feedbacks. Hearing from readers interest him a lot. # # #