Press Release, April 8, 2026
“There is one foundational principle in academic ethics, and that is to not spread lies. Punongbayan and Paloyo have intentionally and maliciously violated this principle. Academic freedom is the freedom to express the truth, not to spread falsehoods.”
These were the words of Dr Walden Bello, retired UP Diliman professor, as he filed a formal request to Dean Ma. Joy Abrenica of the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) to take disciplinary action against junior professor JC Punongbayan.
Bello’s request was prompted by Punongbayan’s public endorsement of an article written by Alfredo Paloyo, an economist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, which falsely imputed to Bello assertions made by another scholar. Paloyo’s article, published by Rappler on March 31 and titled “The Phantom Menace of Neoliberalism,” maliciously attributed to Bello statements that were actually made by Professor Angus Deaton of Harvard University in his book Economics in America. The article responded to Bello’s March 21 review, “The Existential Crisis of Mainstream Economics,” also published by Rappler, a connection Paloyo himself acknowledged.
In his review, Bello recounted Deaton’s criticism of mainstream economics, among them the resistance of many economists to acknowledging the climate crisis; their continuing adherence to a discredited belief that raising the minimum wage causes unemployment; the role of economists in supporting a dysfunctional health care system; a stubborn persistence in opposing regulation of the market despite the resulting inequalities; and that many economists have been bought off by special interests.
“I was clearly quoting and citing Deaton, but Paloyo chose to maliciously attribute Deaton’s statements to me,” Bello said. “The minimum expectation for someone writing a rejoinder to a book review is to read the book under review. Paloyo clearly did not, and compounded this breach of academic ethics by attributing Deaton’s words to me. Paloyo’s intention was malicious. It was to impugn my reputation as a social scientist and make it look like I was making assertions without empirical basis.”
On March 31, Punongbayan uncritically endorsed Paloyo’s falsehoods through posts on X and Facebook. Shortly after the article’s publication, he shared it on both platforms, adding two comments on X: “The most fundamental problem with Bello’s critique is empirical: It describes a profession that does not exist. Nice one, Alfredo Paloyo.” In a second post, he wrote: “I invite critics of the economics profession to spend even some time understanding what economists do. Otherwise, you will likely use strawman arguments.” He reposted the same article and comments on Facebook.
Bello has also sought action from the University of Wollongong regarding Paloyo. “The academic ethics complaints unit immediately responded and has begun the investigation of Paloyo’s conduct,” he said. In his request, Bello wrote, “I have high respect for the standards of Australian universities and I am very grateful for receiving honors from them in the past, among them my being given an honoris causa doctorate by Murdoch University in 2013. Paloyo’s transgressions of principled academic and journalistic exchange are inexcusable and they impact negatively on the reputation of the University of Wollongong.”
Bello added: “I hope that, like their counterparts in Wollongong, UPSE Dean Abrenica responds soon to my request for disciplinary action against Punongbayan. This is a very serious matter. As an academic, one cannot promote lies.”
Asked about what motivated Paloyo and Punongbayan to violate academic ethics by spreading lies, Bello replied, “I would not want to speculate. I will leave it to the authorities at UPSE and the University of Wollongong to determine that.”