Pinay PhD at Holland school

Pinay's efforts for PhD at Holland school pay off

Doctorate in Philosophy conferred to Veronica Balangos.

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.

Balangos answers difficult questions from panel.

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.

By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/