He he he. Siguro ang iniisip nila pagkakataon na ito.


----------------

An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday appealed to Filipino delegates who attended the recent World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, and who are still in Europe to make sure they return home and not turn into undocumented or illegal immigrants.

TNT (tago ng tago—or always in hiding) is a local term that refers to Filipinos who stay overseas without proper documentation and keep hiding from authorities to avoid deportation.

Fr. Conegondo Garganta, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Youth, warned that the trust the Spanish government had in the Philippine Catholic Church when they issued visas for the Filipinos would be damaged if they did not come home.

1,500 not yet home

Garganta said that, so far, “70 percent” of the 427 delegates who attended the youth festival under the aegis of the commission had returned to Manila and the commission was still trying to account for the rest.

About 1,500 other Filipinos attended the festival with their own groups, he said.

“They should come back and be thankful that they were able to attend the 26th World Youth Day in Spain,” Garganta said at a Church-organized, weekly media forum at Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila.

“They should bring home what they learned. They could share many things with those waiting for them,” he said.


http://globalnation.inquirer.net/10955/cbcp-to-world-youth-day-%e2%80%98tnts%e2%80%99-go-home

Overstaying is a mortal sin :eek:

:dunno: maybe they want to practice their Spanish skills some more. :lol: :lol:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/49471/us-cable-cory-aquino-an-%E2%80%98icon%E2%80%99-but-%E2%80%98tarnished-weak%E2%80%99

US cable: Cory Aquino an ‘icon’ but ‘tarnished, weak’
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:23 am | Monday, August 29th, 2011

The late President Corazon Aquino was undoubtedly an “icon of democracy” and “one of the Philippines’ modern heroes,” read a 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Manila that was released by WikiLeaks, the online whistle-blower.
However, in the unclassified July 2, 2009, memo to the Department of State, then US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney called Aquino “only a partial icon of morality.”

Kenney, since posted to Bangkok, noted that “Aquino’s credibility as a moral crusader was tarnished when she was seen with disgraced former President (Joseph) Estrada in protest movements against (then) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—even after she had supported then Vice President Arroyo’s successful second People Power revolt in 2001 that ousted Estrada.”

The diplomat reported that Aquino’s “falling out with Arroyo continued after Arroyo moved to distribute Hacienda Luisita—the huge sugar estate belonging to the Cojuangco family of which Aquino was a part—to its workers under the government’s agrarian reform program.”
“Revered as a hero for taking the reins of power at a difficult moment in Philippine politics and at a time of great personal loss, President Aquino leaves behind an incomplete transition to democratic governance that, while marked by great personal freedom for Philippine citizens, never seems to have properly taken root in the institutions that must handle the difficult task of governing a diverse and divided society,” said Kenney.

According to Kenney, Aquino’s “moral leadership, while coming at an important time for the Philippines, never fully compensated for her weak leadership style.”
“Her presidency was marked by numerous coup attempts and allegations of corruption.”
Following her tenure, “her antipathy toward President Arroyo led her to ally with more dubious political figures such as President Estrada, blemishing her reputation as a moral crusader,” the cable continued.

“The Philippines must also live with an imperfect 1987 Constitution that, according to some observers, was passed in extreme haste to meet an artificial deadline imposed by Aquino, taking the country from one extreme—rigid rule under Marcos—to another extreme, in which minority parties and groups without defined constituencies (such as the Philippine Senate) are given extensive power at the expense of a more mature and stable political system,” Kenney said.

In the same cable, Kenney reported on Aquino’s “serious medical condition after a 15-month battle against cancer.”
“Prospects for her recovery are dim… Relatives, friends and political supporters began a nine-day healing Mass on July 1 for the country’s venerated moral icon… Having witnessed their father’s political persecution under the Marcos dictatorship, the Aquino children are inconsolable over losing their remaining pillar of strength… Two of Aquino’s five children are popular personalities in politics and media and are likely to carry forth their mother’s support for democratic rule,” Kenney said.

^^ I wonder how Wikileaks has become one of the ids of our time. They spoke with so much truth and sometimes honest opinion that most of our mainstream media wouldn't dare quip.

That one is just spot on. And who knows, we might see PNoy's name as well :lol:

The scary thing is what happens if the media sensationalizes that.

If ever the world successfully finds a good replacement for oil/petroleum, I do wonder what will happen to MENA countries where oil drives their economies. Unfortunately for these countries, they don't have many citizen skilled workers (kaya nga daming foreign professionals dun, in some countries the huge majority are NOT even citizens)

Wala silang back up plan.

Unfortunately, all other sources of energy do not have the EROI that we want and/or do not provide petrochemicals. Whatever plans we should be putting into place should have been put in place at least a decade ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK730U0Q4NU

Meanwhile,

"Complete English Translation Of German Military Analysis Of Peak Oil Now Available"

http://www.countercurrents.org/munroe310811.htm

would WikiLeaks be considered a bonafide source?.... i've been checking the online news lately and I saw a lot of articles from wikileaks about the Manila with china etc...

would WikiLeaks be considered a bonafide source?.... i've been checking the online news lately and I saw a lot of articles from wikileaks about the Manila with china etc...

I don't even believe in that crap.

^^ I wonder how Wikileaks has become one of the ids of our time. They spoke with so much truth and sometimes honest opinion that most of our mainstream media wouldn't dare quip.

That one is just spot on. And who knows, we might see PNoy's name as well :lol:

They? Wikileaks spoke with so much truth???:bash:
How were they speaking the truth if it's not supposedly from them but from stolen cables?

^^ We cannot really concur (borrowing from Amigo) if they are really the truth, but they share sentiments from some people who couldn't express their thoughts publicly out of fear.

Still, I am fascinated if this is just media controlling in the guise of "top secret info declassified."

Feared Ampatuan clan outgunned Philippine military—WikiLeaks
inquirer.net (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/11617/feared-ampatuan-clan-outgunned-philippine-military%E2%80%94wikileaks)


MANILA, Philippines—The 2,000-strong private army of a powerful clan suspected of carrying out the Philippines’ worst political massacre was better armed than the military and police, leaked US embassy cables showed.
The cables from late 2009, released by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, described the reach of the feared Ampatuan clan in the southern region of Mindanao and said it had authorities on the run.
Key members of the clan and its private army are now being tried for the murder of 57 people in Mindanao in 2009 but many of the accused are still at large, making witnesses reluctant to come forward.
“We estimate that the Ampatuan clan maintains a private army of up to 2,000 men – who are often better armed and equipped than their (police) and (military) counterparts,” an embassy cable said.
“Government officials were astonished by the size of the arms caches and the power of the weaponry” that was later recovered from the Ampatuans, another cable said.
However, the files also said the government had turned a “blind eye” to such private armies because they helped in the fight against Muslim insurgents.
“They are often politically allied with the President,” one cable added, referring to then-president Gloria Arroyo.
The Ampatuans were allies of Arroyo but she disowned them after they were linked to the murder of 57 political rivals, lawyers and journalists in a bid to prevent a rival from challenging them in elections in 2010.
The embassy also noted that Arroyo had to impose martial law in the affected area in order to arrest the suspects, disarm the Ampatuans and restore order.
“There are many areas in the Philippines… where armed groups have proliferated and the national authorities have a very limited capability to impose order,” the secret documents warned.
Although many key members of the Ampatuan clan have been arrested, victims’ relatives have expressed concern that, in the Philippines’ notoriously overburdened justice system, the trial could take years to complete.

^^One of the reasons why sometimes leaving this country may actually be a very good idea. :ohno:

^^ We cannot really concur (borrowing from Amigo) if they are really the truth, but they share sentiments from some people who couldn't express their thoughts publicly out of fear.

Still, I am fascinated if this is just media controlling in the guise of "top secret info declassified."

i used to read declassified docs section of the ny times and the national archives but this one is just better.. :)

Philippines 3rd on disaster risk index :ohno:

by Jojo Malig, abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 09/06/2011 8:22 PM | Updated as of 09/07/2011 11:06 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is third top country in the world most at risk of disasters, a new study said.

Vanuatu and Tonga placed first and second on the World Risk Index (WRI), which measures social vulnerability as well as exposure to natural hazards and climate change.

The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Germany developed the index, which calculates risk values for 173 countries worldwide.

A report presenting the index was published by Alliance Development Works, a coalition of German development and relief agencies.

"The World Risk Report shows the need to focus in the future more on disaster risk reduction than just on humanitarian aid after an extreme event," said its editor Peter Mucke, managing director of Alliance Development Works.

"The comprehensive analyses allow to better detect threats and to identify the needs more precisely, as well as to place political demands similarly in affected countries and donor countries," he added.

The Solomon Islands placed fourth on the index, followed by Guatemala, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Costa Rica, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Brunei Darussalam, and Afghanistan.

The top 5 safest countries were identified as Qatar, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, and Bahrain.

The Philippines got an overall score of 24.32% in the index.

It also received the following marks that contributed to its overall ranking:

* Exposure - 45.09%
* Vulnerability - 53.93%
* Susceptibility - 34.99%
* Lack of coping capacity - 82.78%
* Lack of adaptive capacity - 44.01%

Philippine experience

The study said the Philippines is one of the countries most highly exposed to natural hazards and climate change.

"In the past, storms and heavy rainfall hit degraded ecosystems: destroyed coral reefs and mangrove and other forests and depleted soils. Thus, natural bulwarks against the threat of disasters are rarely present," it said.

"In addition, people already feel the effects of climate change. Rainfall variability is increasing and hurricanes are becoming more intense. As a result, salty seawater floods the fields and seeps into the groundwater, damaging the soil and food crops," it added.

The study said even people living in the country's cities are strongly affected by natural hazards, particularly floods.

"People without land titles who live close to creeks and rivers are particularly vulnerable, but coping and adaptive capacities are limited," it said.

The study said extensive disaster preparedness plans, which could have positive results in extreme natural events, are lacking at the local, regional and national levels.

"Although there are individual plans and programmes for disaster risk reduction at the local, regional and national levels, the management of such extreme events is often problematic and demonstrates the limits of existing capacity in these areas," it added.

The study, meanwhile, cited good disaster-preparedness and protection framework conditions provided in the Local Government Code.

"The law came into force in the Philippines in 1991; it provides for many direct consulting mechanisms and gives citizens, community groups, NGOs, business representatives inter alia the opportunity to submit proposals," it said.

Underused Local Government Code

However, it added that although the law has been in force for 20 years, "its possibilities are still underused."

The study welcomed the Philippines' move to adopt the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act in 2010.

"The adoption was preceded by a fruitful dialogue between the participating organizations, the Government and its ministries, and policy-makers as well as the Congress and the Senate," it said.

The study also cited a comprehensive strategy agreed on between civil society, NGOs and government agencies in the city of Dagupan in northern Luzon.

"When in 2009, Hurricane Parma caused the worst floods in history, the efforts proved worthwhile: all 150,000 inhabitants survived as a result of good prevention plans. In other cities, however, there were many casualties," it said.

"The actors involved in the improvement could also share their experiences at the government level and thus provide further impetus for the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/09/06/11/philippines-3rd-disaster-risk-index

^^ could it be that my eyes were deceiving me? :dunno: Top 5 safest countries in terms of social vulnerability includes Iceland and Bahrain???

Or was I in a dream when I saw all the CNN, BBC, NBC, Channel News Asia and all the newspapers about the Arab Spring rocking the Bahraini Royal Family and the streets in Bahrain where some got killed by cops? What about the near collapse of the Iceland economy? Last I heard on the news, I saw demonstrations in Reykjavik and the Icelanders are running after their former president? Or was it all only Inception - a dream within a dream. :lol:

would WikiLeaks be considered a bonafide source?.... i've been checking the online news lately and I saw a lot of articles from wikileaks about the Manila with china etc...

WikiLeaks is believable, but since it is a "hands-me-down" info site and that the "uploaders" CHOOSE what they want to upload, I wonder how slanted their 'revelations' are?.

I wonder if there are sources to cross check whatever is on WikiLeaks. Perhaps the raw source? But then, I bet it would be full of military codes than plain cold English

^^ could it be that my eyes were deceiving me? :dunno: Top 5 safest countries in terms of social vulnerability includes Iceland and Bahrain???

Or was I in a dream when I saw all the CNN, BBC, NBC, Channel News Asia and all the newspapers about the Arab Spring rocking the Bahraini Royal Family and the streets in Bahrain where some got killed by cops? What about the near collapse of the Iceland economy? Last I heard on the news, I saw demonstrations in Reykjavik and the Icelanders are running after their former president? Or was it all only Inception - a dream within a dream. :lol:

Years ago, they said we were the first in disasters, followed by Bangladesh.

But try sitting between two big bodies of water, typhoon zone, earthquake fault with a couple of active volcanoes.

We won't need Nostradamus for that. Just plain common sense.

They? Wikileaks spoke with so much truth???:bash:
How were they speaking the truth if it's not supposedly from them but from stolen cables?

The problem with WikiLeaks is not what they say, but what the do not say.

Yknow, if you read the Wikileaks version of the "leaked cables", what was there is common knowledge.

On the other hand, if they want to 'reveal the truth', who not just bring out the RAW "military" version? At least the interpretation is up to the reader and is not "filtered".

Unfortunately, all other sources of energy do not have the EROI that we want and/or do not provide petrochemicals. Whatever plans we should be putting into place should have been put in place at least a decade ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK730U0Q4NU

Meanwhile,

"Complete English Translation Of German Military Analysis Of Peak Oil Now Available"

http://www.countercurrents.org/munroe310811.htm

Interesting stuff. Now, given the rise in production (peak, as per the claim), then the law of supply and demand hardly make sense now. Implies that there are many oil drilled, but rather than driving down the cost of oil, it becomes more expensive.

What are they doing?

But then again, what if all oil rans out?

This guy will probably win, given the FIlipinos' penchant for electing officials on the basis of popularity. If the past is any basis (Joseph Estrada, Jinggoy Estrada, Jaworski, Tito Sotto, Lito Lapid, Imelda Papin, Vilma Santos, Eddie Ilarde, etc.), the nation better be prepared for another celebrity occupying a high elective position.


He he he. Meantime, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the US, some European countries are welcoming lots of Filipinos tired of these politics of popularity.

_____________________

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Manny Pacquiao will hang his gloves in 2016 to run for vice president.

He disclosed this in a radio interview while in Mexico to promote his November 12, 2011 fight with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez “Come 2016, I am to run for vice president. No more boxing at that time,” the 32-year-old boxer-politician said.

In the same radio interview, Pacquiao disclosed his plan to run for Sarangani governor in 2013. Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez is already on his third and last term.

But Pacquiao will have eligibility problems if he pursues his vice presidential bid in 2016.

The 1987 Constitution requires candidates for president and vice president to be at least 40 years old on the day of the election. By that time, however, Pacquiao will only be 37 years old.

Reacting to Pacquiao’s political plans, Secretary Ramon Carandang the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said Pacquiao, considered the world’s best boxer, is free to run for higher office in the upcoming national elections.

“It is a testament to our democracy that Manny Pacquiao who grew up poor and worked hard to succeed can aspire to the second highest office,” Carandang said.

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Ronald Llamas also said Pacquiao’s reported plans to run for vice president have not yet been discussed by the administration.

“He has a right to run for public office although this has not been discussed in the Palace,” Llamas said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/333754/pacquiao-eyes-2016-vp-race

Magmayor muna siya at magGovernor...

Eto ang problema din sa Pilipino, gusto lundag agad, di man lang magstart sa scratch and gain experience.

^^ A similar tendency , I think, was responsible for Noynoy Aquino's election. Namatay lang yong mother nya and suddenly the sympathy of the people for the late Cory Aquino translated into popularity for the son/candidate. I can't get a hold of people's political judgment, when it comes to electing public officials.

^^ A similar tendency , I think, was responsible for Noynoy Aquino's election. Namatay lang yong mother nya and suddenly the sympathy of the people for the late Cory Aquino translated into popularity for the son/candidate. I can't get a hold of people's political judgment, when it comes to electing public officials.

It is the same with Cory. From housewife to president just because her husband was assasinated. To be fair with Noynoy, at least nagsenator muna siya. LOL. But still, sudden lundag.

^^ She made a great contribution to a movement that ultimately resulted to genuine democracy in the country. But in some ways she was a product of the western media who wanted a symbol for the anti-Marcos tide. Her naivete was evident when she was just manipulated during her presidency. I lost respect for her when she joined forces with Estrada, a convicted kawatan.

^^ She made a great contribution to a movement that ultimately resulted to genuine democracy in the country. But in some ways she was a product of the western media who wanted a symbol for the anti-Marcos tide. Her naivete was evident when she was just manipulated during her presidency. I lost respect for her when she joined forces with Estrada, a convicted kawatan.

The latter part, I strongly agree. Especially when she apologized to Erap. There is no room for plunderers and there should be no room for philanderers in the Philippine presidency.

si packy 37 pa lang sa panahon na yun, kaya di pa puede:D

^^ Yes, and he knows it himself. This is a trial balloon that politicians resort to in order to gauge the reaction of people; the aim is to 'feel out' prospective supporters among his fellow politicians. This practice has been perfected in America. He is obviously well-coached, and knows he can gather supporters because of his immense wealth. I think his goal is a national elective position beyond 2016.

^^ A similar tendency , I think, was responsible for Noynoy Aquino's election. Namatay lang yong mother nya and suddenly the sympathy of the people for the late Cory Aquino translated into popularity for the son/candidate. I can't get a hold of people's political judgment, when it comes to electing public officials.

eh cguro pag hindi natigok si Cory nung kapanahunan ng Election maybe Erap will be our President again..:D ano nalang kaya ang lagay ng Economy natin now hmmm..:cheers:

^^ It says a lot about the savvy and intelligence of the Filipino electorate that instead of Noynoy Aquino, it would have been Estrada who would have become the president. The latter would have been the frontrunner if Cory Aquino hadn't died, and would have won the election. What a putdown!

To think that there were other more credible candidates.

^^ She made a great contribution to a movement that ultimately resulted to genuine democracy in the country. But in some ways she was a product of the western media who wanted a symbol for the anti-Marcos tide. Her naivete was evident when she was just manipulated during her presidency. I lost respect for her when she joined forces with Estrada, a convicted kawatan.

Uhmm perhaps Cory is more than just naive....

Here check this out: The Myth of Yellow Infallibility (http://dodongakakakiko.blogspot.com/2011/08/myth-of-yellow-infallibility.html)

And this one too:

The people who are asking the Catholic Church to canonize Cory Aquino may want to reconsider that proposal. Cory didn’t hesitate to ask the US to bomb Honasan and his gang—it’s the Americans who didn’t think that was really necessary. (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2011%2Fseptember%2F9%2Fjojorobles.isx&d=2011%2Fseptember%2F9)

Manila ranked worst property investment site in Asia

Philippine Daily Inquirer 11:57 pm | Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 5share33 22
Foreign investors looking to invest in real estate-related businesses have ranked Manila as their last choice among various key cities in the Asia-Pacific.

According to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2011 survey conducted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), global real estate investors gave Manila a score of 4.56 points out of a possible 9, placing the city a few points below “fair” and somewhere within the realms of “abysmal.”

Topping the survey was Singapore with a score of 5.96 points, followed by Shanghai with 5.87, Mumbai with 5.79, and Hong Kong with 5.70.

In an interview with the Inquirer, ULI global trustee and South Asia chairman Simon Treacy said the Philippines, in general, was suffering from a negative image, prompting investors in publicly listed real estate firms to bypass the country when deciding on where to allocate their funds.

“Manila is at the bottom of the pack because the Philippines hasn’t gone to the next level. The country’s image hasn’t really improved. Even with the new administration, there’s still a negative perception of the country,” Treacy said.

“The Philippines rarely ranks when it comes to investment allocations. Since the Philippines doesn’t get a lot of airplay, its real estate prospects become undervalued. Marketing is very important, on a national level, because not a lot of real estate investors look to the Philippines when deciding where to put their capital,” Teacy added.

One of the ways to attract real estate capital here, he said, was to put in place a viable real estate investment trust (REIT) environment.—Abigail L. Ho

http://business.inquirer.net/19259/manila-ranked-worst-property-investment-site-in-asia

Water agency spent $693k on flowers, wines
By Leila B. Salaverria in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Inquirer/ANN) - The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) overspent on miscellaneous expenses and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses by nearly 30 million pesos (US$693,000) in 2010, with part of the money being used to pay for flower arrangements, expensive gift items, alcohol and wines, among others.

The LWUA's approved budget for these expenses was just a little under 1 million pesos ($23,000), according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

The LWUA also went way over its approved budget in spending for personnel benefits and allowances-some of which had been disallowed-overspending by 318 million pesos ($7.34 million) on these, the COA said in its latest report on the agency.

But the LWUA contested the disallowances of the benefits and allowances, saying it could not see in what way it had acted without legal basis.

Miscellaneous expenses

In its report, the COA said the approved LWUA budget for extraordinary miscellaneous expenses was only 554,000 pesos, and 432,000 pesos for miscellaneous expenses.

However, the LWUA spent way over these amounts. It spent 26.1 million pesos for extraordinary miscellaneous expenses, and 4.8 million pesos for miscellaneous items, or an excess of 29.9 million pesos.

The COA found that funds were spent to reimburse receipts for expensive gift items, flower arrangements and other similar expenses, which it said "may be considered questionable unless properly justified."

Also among the miscellaneous expenses were payments for wine and other alcoholic beverages, "which are considered excessive and extravagant expenditures."

Unsupported by receipts

The LWUA also reimbursed from the miscellaneous funds receipts from KTV bars and paid for meals during weekends and holidays, phone bills, hotel accommodations, office and computer supplies, wind breakers, check booklets, Balikbayan magazines and honorarium for the valuation of LWUA-owned artworks.

Meanwhile, another 26 million pesos in emergency miscellaneous expenses were unsupported by receipts or documents to show that they were properly disbursed, according to the COA.

The audit agency said the LWUA had submitted mere certifications attesting to the fact that money was spent for such items, contrary to a COA rule against certifications as these tend to be self-serving.

It said the LWUA should stay within the approved budget and follow the rules on reimbursing claims by requiring the submission of proper documents.

In response, the LWUA insisted that certifications are acceptable since they fall under "documents evidencing disbursements," and that the COA circular had failed to specifically state that certifications were no longer acceptable to support claims.

As for the miscellaneous expenses, the COA said the LWUA management took note of the audit agency's recommendations.

The COA also said the LWUA spent 318.9 million pesos more on personal services than what the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had appoved.

The excess amounts were spent on 13th-month pay and other bonuses, meal allowances, cost of living allowances, amelioration allowances, medical benefits, clothing allowances, representation and transportation allowances, honoraria and salaries and wages.

The COA noted that the DBM had only approved 268.481 million pesos for LWUA's personal services, even though the latter had proposed a budget of 748.027 million pesos. But the LWUA spent 587.4 million pesos on personal services in 2010.

It noted that the DBM disallowed for lack of basis the benefits and allowances granted to LWUA officers and employees.

Approved by board

In its answer, the LWUA said the National Water Crisis Act recognized the principle of nondiminution of pay and benefits of its personnel.

It also contended that the disallowance ran counter to the National Water Crisis Act and the intention of the law to protect LWUA employees.

It said the allowances were also authorized under a board resolution, which was based on legal grounds and was not whimsical.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/water-agency-spent-693k-flowers-wines-054002187.html

^^ Anong gamit nila sa wine? Pampadilig?

hindi.

pamparegla:lol:

Motorists to pay higher tollway rates starting Oct. 1 :ohno::ohno:

GMA News.tv
09/17/2011 | 12:55 AM

New tollway rates for the country’s major highways are finally ready for implementation on Oct. 1 with the average increase settling at 9-11 percent after the rates were rounded down to avoid shelling out loose change, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said Friday.

"Hindi puwedeng humigit pa sa labing-dalawang porsiyento ang adjustment. Katunayan, ang average adjustment is between 9 to 11 percent or something like that," TRB spokesman Julius Corpus said in an interview on GMA News’ "24 Oras."

"Ang pangalawa po, inalis po ng ating pamunuan 'yung butal na sentimo sa toll fees," he added.

New toll matrices

In a directive TRB executive director Manuel G. Imperial signed, the matrices of new toll rates already factored in the 12-percent VAT, which the Supreme Court upheld with finality.

For example, the fixed rate for Class 1 vehicles from Balintawak to Bocaue exit on the North Expressway will go up from P41 to P45.92 including the VAT, but the TRB rounded it down to P45.

The toll rate from Magallanes to Bicutan Merville via the Skyway At-Grade Section will be P49.28 — from the current P44 — rounded down to P49.

At the Skyway At-Grade Section from Magallanes to Alabang, the new rates will rise to P118, from P106, for Class 1 vehicles; P237, from P212, for Class 2 (buses); and P356, from P318, for Class 3 (trucks).

On the Manila North Expressway, the highest toll for cars and jeepneys is P218 at the Sta. Ines exit. On the Metro Manila Skyway, the toll at the Alabang exit is P164 for cars, jeepneys, pick-ups and vans.

On the South Luzon Expressway, P96 is the toll for cars, jeepneys, pick-ups and vans at the Calamba exit. On the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, P67 is the toll at the Balagtas exit for light vehicles that enter the tollway at Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

On the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the toll to be paid at the Tarlac exit is P272 for light vehicles that enter at the Tipo entry point.

Bus firms to seek TRO

The TRB said the VAT from the toll proceeds will mean possibly up to P2.5 billion in additional yearly revenues.

"Kung ano naman po ang malilikom na additional revenue ng ating pamahalaan dito ay makakasigurado naman po tayong magagamit sa mas magandang pamamaraan o sa mas malalaki pang pangangailangan ng ating taumbayan," Corpus explained.

But the Southern Luzon Bus Operators (SOLUBOA) rejected the TRB’s rationale and argued that public utility vehicles should be exempted from the new and higher rates.

The bus operators said they might be forced to cut down the number of trips to cope with the higher toll rates and rising cost of fuel.

The group said they would stage protests next week and ask the courts for a temporary restraining order on the toll increase.

"Kahit i-implement nila ngayon 'yan eh andiyan pa rin kami. Lalaban pa rin kami," Josephine Ladrillono, SOLUBOA's executive secretary, told "24 Oras." — With Rose Ann Dioquino/ELR/VS, GMA News

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/232639/nation/motorists-to-pay-higher-tollway-rates-starting-oct-1

No place for crocodiles in Philippines: official


Efforts to save the Philippine crocodile, a "critically endangered" reptile, could go in vain as bureaucrats oppose their release into the wild, a top Philippine environment official said Wednesday.

A 24-year-old captive breeding programme in the country has produced about 7,000 Philippine crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles, but they have nowhere to go, the environment secretary Ramon Paje told reporters.

Releasing them into rivers and marshes would ideally lead to the delisting of the Philippine crocodile -- Crocodylus mindorensis -- from the country's "critically endangered" species list, he said.

"The problem is, we cannot delist it yet because the rules say you can only delist from the endangered species list if it's already surviving in its natural habitat," Paje said.

"There is no mayor anywhere in the Philippines who would allow the release of crocodiles in his municipality."

The environment ministry has been threatened with lawsuits over such planned releases, he said, with local officials expressing concern that the reptiles could attack locals in surrounding areas.

Government-employed crocodile hunters captured a 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile from the southern Agusan marsh in early September after it reportedly killed two people.

Local officials from the northern towns of San Mariano and Palanan complained that they were not consulted when 19 captive-bred Philippine crocodiles were released recently in a nearby forest reserve, Paje said.

Paje did not say how the national government planned to resolve the deadlock.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Switzerland listed Crocodylus mindorensis -- a large freshwater crocodile found only in the Philippines -- on its "critically endangered" list in 1996.

Experts working with the environment ministry say there are less than 100 of them left in the wild.

The ministry says the Philippine crocodile and the saltwater crocodile are "critically endangered" mainly due to loss of habitat as a result of human population growth and expansion.

msn.com.ph (http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5271080)

^^ Those crocodiles who are in power should be the one whose critically endangered, not these poor beasts!

^^that specie of crocodlie will pray and will ask for help to st.lukes if they have been caught.

:D:lol:

No place for crocodiles in Philippines: official


Efforts to save the Philippine crocodile, a "critically endangered" reptile, could go in vain as bureaucrats oppose their release into the wild, a top Philippine environment official said Wednesday.

A 24-year-old captive breeding programme in the country has produced about 7,000 Philippine crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles, but they have nowhere to go, the environment secretary Ramon Paje told reporters.

Releasing them into rivers and marshes would ideally lead to the delisting of the Philippine crocodile -- Crocodylus mindorensis -- from the country's "critically endangered" species list, he said.

"The problem is, we cannot delist it yet because the rules say you can only delist from the endangered species list if it's already surviving in its natural habitat," Paje said.

"There is no mayor anywhere in the Philippines who would allow the release of crocodiles in his municipality."

The environment ministry has been threatened with lawsuits over such planned releases, he said, with local officials expressing concern that the reptiles could attack locals in surrounding areas.

Government-employed crocodile hunters captured a 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile from the southern Agusan marsh in early September after it reportedly killed two people.

Local officials from the northern towns of San Mariano and Palanan complained that they were not consulted when 19 captive-bred Philippine crocodiles were released recently in a nearby forest reserve, Paje said.

Paje did not say how the national government planned to resolve the deadlock.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Switzerland listed Crocodylus mindorensis -- a large freshwater crocodile found only in the Philippines -- on its "critically endangered" list in 1996.

Experts working with the environment ministry say there are less than 100 of them left in the wild.

The ministry says the Philippine crocodile and the saltwater crocodile are "critically endangered" mainly due to loss of habitat as a result of human population growth and expansion.

msn.com.ph (http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5271080)

Are they kidding us? They are thriving in the captivity called government. Some of them are bigger than Lolong and should have been in the records. How could they be endangered? :lol:

whenever i read about "crocodile news" in the Philippines.. COMMENTS always lead to politics...

guys get over it... be fair to the real crocodiles. :lol:

^true!!! same goes with pigs. we should call those things in goverment... humans!!!!

Another one to crucify: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/331851...tity-privilege

Language, learning, identity, privilege
Ithink
By JAMES SORIANO

Welcome to my world. :bash:

If you think that's hard, how about here in the Visayan-speaking regions?
Not only that we have to learn English, but also Tagalog too! Isn't that great?
I speak bisaya in my school (even though speaking anything that is not English is heavily discourage), I would fluently speak bisaya to everyone I talk to. It's a "fuck you" to all the "socialites" in my class who only speaks Tagalog and thinks they are high above everyone who isn't "social" like them.

He forgot to mention that non-Tagalog languages are for the "bumpkins" from the "province" who "do not have a clue about city life".

Personally, I'm more concerned with the hierarchy within the native languages as compared to Tagalog vs any foreign languages.

People often complain how we are fond of English/non-native languages yet when you raise the issue on how non-Tagalog languages and literature are not taught, they shout, "regionalism".

I now remember one line from a movie (Kasal Kasali Kasalo), "Dapat Tagalog para Pinoy"oooh, don't get me started on this. :D there was in fact a World War a coupla years ago across quite a few SSC Threads which had some locked down. Even for Filipinos, there are hardly good references as to Tagalog books. Worse is, they are not teaching Tagalog grammar how it's supposed to be taught that is why hardly any Filipinos can teach the grammar rules (esp the focus) to non-Filipinos. Tagalog grammar is more than mag, nag, im, um....

Id put the blame on the government. Why? Because for most part:
1. they are deceiving the public that Filipino is different from Tagalog, rather than accepting that by linguistic definition, one is just a subset of the other
2. they failed to make the language more adaptable to evolving and new terms. What the government has done is create and promote words that are no longer in use that even native Tagalog speakers would not remember or appreciate
3. they promoted that languages other than Tagalog are a manifestation of "regionalism" rather than the Philippines' cultural diversity


If there is one thing good about GMA, she at least multilingual when it comes to regional languages. When in Zambaonga, she spoke Chavacano, when in the North, she spoke Ilocano. When she was in Chile, she spoke Spanish

Not many president or even any politician is willing to learn other languages.

Basically, we're stuck with English and Tagalog. Worse is, there are people who want to eliminate English. Instead of getting Filipinos immersed in languages (local and international), we limit ourselves to much to two or one.To be fair, 19th century Tagalog was quite beautiful and its clear manifestations were the elegant poems and kundimans of yore.

NVM the new forgettable Kris Aquino Taglish.Welcome to my world. :bash:

If you think that's hard, how about here in the Visayan-speaking regions?
Not only that we have to learn English, but also Tagalog too! Isn't that great?
I speak bisaya in my school (even though speaking anything that is not English is heavily discourage), I would fluently speak bisaya to everyone I talk to. It's a "fuck you" to all the "socialites" in my class who only speaks Tagalog and thinks they are high above everyone who isn't "social" like them.But Cebuano and the other triplets Waray & Ylonggo are not "sozy" languages. :D :D :D
.
.
.
We are not Sozy, but we are Royalty. These are the languages of forgotten Ancient Royalty. We must never forget that we are descendants of the Empire of Resplendant Victory ~ Sri Vijaya. :yes: bisa'g unsaon, pusyon bisaya kita. :D

We are not Sozy, but we are Royalty. These are the languages of forgotten Ancient Royalty. We must never forget that we are descendants of the Empire of Resplendant Victory ~ Sri Vijaya. :yes: bisa'g unsaon, pusyon bisaya kita. :D

It's not really about being "sozy", it about the "socialites" thinking they are high above others just because they are not speaking the native language. And the ones who came to my city who looks down at my people just because we speak bisaya and are proud of it, they are the ones that should adapt to us. Afterall, we are all Filipinos.

Speaking of Filipino, should bisaya (and other triplets) be integrated to the "Filipino" language? I think it's unfair that Filipino is 90% Tagalog, when Visaya is also the most spoken language in the country. But I guess it's too late for that. :\

whenever i read about "crocodile news" in the Philippines.. COMMENTS always lead to politics...

guys get over it... be fair to the real crocodiles. :lol:

Yang mga "crocodiles" na yan ang may kasalanan kaya pataas ng pataas ang mga tax natin mga muwiset na yan nakakakulo ng dugo!!! :bash:

No place for crocodiles in Philippines: official


Efforts to save the Philippine crocodile, a "critically endangered" reptile, could go in vain as bureaucrats oppose their release into the wild, a top Philippine environment official said Wednesday.

A 24-year-old captive breeding programme in the country has produced about 7,000 Philippine crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles, but they have nowhere to go, the environment secretary Ramon Paje told reporters.

Releasing them into rivers and marshes would ideally lead to the delisting of the Philippine crocodile -- Crocodylus mindorensis -- from the country's "critically endangered" species list, he said.

"The problem is, we cannot delist it yet because the rules say you can only delist from the endangered species list if it's already surviving in its natural habitat," Paje said.

"There is no mayor anywhere in the Philippines who would allow the release of crocodiles in his municipality."

The environment ministry has been threatened with lawsuits over such planned releases, he said, with local officials expressing concern that the reptiles could attack locals in surrounding areas.

Government-employed crocodile hunters captured a 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile from the southern Agusan marsh in early September after it reportedly killed two people.

Local officials from the northern towns of San Mariano and Palanan complained that they were not consulted when 19 captive-bred Philippine crocodiles were released recently in a nearby forest reserve, Paje said.

Paje did not say how the national government planned to resolve the deadlock.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Switzerland listed Crocodylus mindorensis -- a large freshwater crocodile found only in the Philippines -- on its "critically endangered" list in 1996.

Experts working with the environment ministry say there are less than 100 of them left in the wild.

The ministry says the Philippine crocodile and the saltwater crocodile are "critically endangered" mainly due to loss of habitat as a result of human population growth and expansion.

msn.com.ph (http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5271080)

The Philippines can ship them by FedEx to the IUCN in Switzerland.

It's not really about being "sozy", it about the "socialites" thinking they are high above others just because they are not speaking the native language. And the ones who came to my city who looks down at my people just because we speak bisaya and are proud of it, they are the ones that should adapt to us. Afterall, we are all Filipinos.

Speaking of Filipino, should bisaya (and other triplets) be integrated to the "Filipino" language? I think it's unfair that Filipino is 90% Tagalog, when Visaya is also the most spoken language in the country. But I guess it's too late for that. :\

its never too late to seek for equal treatment and use of the different filipino languages especially for bisaya being one of the dominant languages in the country. in this day and age, its high time that we revise the national language of our country that allows more freedom for the use of other languages. we might as well revert back to english as the national language.

as we all noticed, media has changed the way they broadcast at the regional level. they now have tv programs that used their own language as the medium especially in the news information category. the print media is still predominantly english although the sunstar daily news has bisaya edition balita for those who prefer to read news in their local language.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/manila-ranked-worst-property-investment-asia-054003386.html

Manila ranked worst property investment site in Asia

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Foreign investors looking to invest in real estate-related businesses have ranked Manila as their last choice among various key cities in the Asia-Pacific.
According to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2011 survey conducted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), global real estate investors gave Manila a score of 4.56 points out of a possible 9, placing the city a few points below "fair" and somewhere within the realms of "abysmal."
Topping the survey was Singapore with a score of 5.96 points, followed by Shanghai with 5.87, Mumbai with 5.79, and Hong Kong with 5.70.
In an interview with the Inquirer, ULI global trustee and South Asia chairman Simon Treacy said the Philippines, in general, was suffering from a negative image, prompting investors in publicly listed real estate firms to bypass the country when deciding on where to allocate their funds.
"Manila is at the bottom of the pack because the Philippines hasn't gone to the next level. The country's image hasn't really improved. Even with the new administration, there's still a negative perception of the country," Treacy said.
"The Philippines rarely ranks when it comes to investment allocations. Since the Philippines doesn't get a lot of airplay, its real estate prospects become undervalued.
Marketing is very important, on a national level, because not a lot of real estate investors look to the Philippines when deciding where to put their capital," Teacy added.
One of the ways to attract real estate capital here, he said, was to put in place a viable real estate investment trust (REIT) environment.

as we all noticed, media has changed the way they broadcast at the regional level. they now have tv programs that used their own language as the medium especially in the news information category. the print media is still predominantly english although the sunstar daily news has bisaya edition balita for those who prefer to read news in their local language.This is where change starts. :okay: at the regional or grassroots level. As long as people wanna hear their news in their mother tongues, the media will give it to them.

This is where change starts. :okay: at the regional or grassroots level. As long as people wanna hear their news in their mother tongues, the media will give it to them.

i for one receive my online philippine news in cebuano/bisaya edition from sunstar daily news, the freeman or cebu daily news. for tv that promotes local programming, i watch the cebu catholic television network (cctn tv channel 47), real cebu telivision (rctv) and sugbo tv from the province of cebu. i rarely watch gma 7 anymore as i have gotten used to hearing my mother tongue used in the media.

dp

;83919433']http://sg.news.yahoo.com/manila-ranked-worst-property-investment-asia-054003386.html

Manila ranked worst property investment site in Asia


Seriously?

^^ LOL

that's a stupid report.. MANILA is the hottest real estate market in South EAST Asia right now.

;83919433']http://sg.news.yahoo.com/manila-ranked-worst-property-investment-asia-054003386.html

Manila ranked worst property investment site in Asia

Nakakasuka mga comments ng mga Singaporeans dito, ang yayabang akala mo kung sino. Pikon kasi mga Pinoy eh, parang ako. :bash::lol:

Nakakasuka mga comments ng mga Singaporeans dito, ang yayabang akala mo kung sino. Pikon kasi mga Pinoy eh, parang ako. :bash::lol:

Kaya bihira ako mag negosyo sa mga Singaporeans. Di natin sila kakampi. Mas kakampi nila ang mga Malaysians at Indonesians.

Kahit paano, mas komfortable parin ako mag negosyo sa HK kaysa SG.

Anyway, as with the language discussion, the people who would want to eliminate English in our use of languages have the wrong or useless cause.

They are using their patriotism in the wrong way.

FOREIGNERS SEE PHILIPPINES AS SEX DESTINATION (http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/columnist/7937-foreigners-see-philippines-as-sex-destination)

Published: Friday, September 23, 2011 00:00 Written by: BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER

http://www.manilatimes.net/images/news/Headlines/031010_harry-thomas02.jpg
US ambassador Harry Thomas Jr.

DESPITE gaining ground in the fight against human trafficking, the Philippines has become a prime destination for foreigners who primarily want sex, United States Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr. said on Thursday.

Thomas estimated that about 40 percent of foreign males “come here [to the Philippines] for sexual tourism and that is unacceptable.”

The US envoy made the remarks in a speech at a judicial conference on human trafficking.

Speaking before several magistrates, Thomas said that all foreigners apprehended for sexual crimes must be punished under the full extent of the law.

He added that even US citizens engaging in sex-related crimes such as cybersex should be “prosecuted.”

“That is not something I’m proud of. That’s not something you should be proud of,” Thomas said, adding that the US government was willing to assist in the prosecution of such crimes, even if it involved its own citizens.

“Any of them who are engaged in things that violate the law—whether American or another foreigner—should be prosecuted. That is against human values,” he added.

The envoy also noted the existence of business establishments in Roxas Boulevard in Manila that were apparently engaging in human trafficking.

“We all know when we walk to Roxas Boulevard, we will see establishments. We know who owns them, who benefits, who allows them to continue. We should not let this happen,” Thomas said.

At the same time, he lauded the Philippines for its gains in combating human trafficking, saying that the country was a role model for others to follow.

The Philippines recently rose to Tier 1 from the Tier 2 watch list last year under the US State Department’s 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report.

But even with a record number of 25 convictions, Thomas said that “we cannot celebrate.”

“The prosecution of human traffickers is one part of the solution. Effective combating demands prevention, protection and prosecution,” he added.

According to the ambassador, “partnership” is also important for the Philippines to continue its fight against human trafficking.

Washington is willing to lend a hand in the campaign against human trafficking until the Philippines is removed from the State Department watch list, he said.

FOREIGNERS SEE PHILIPPINES AS SEX DESTINATION (http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/columnist/7937-foreigners-see-philippines-as-sex-destination)

Published: Friday, September 23, 2011 00:00 Written by: BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER

http://www.manilatimes.net/images/news/Headlines/031010_harry-thomas02.jpg
US ambassador Harry Thomas Jr.

DESPITE gaining ground in the fight against human trafficking, the Philippines has become a prime destination for foreigners who primarily want sex, United States Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr. said on Thursday.

Thomas estimated that about 40 percent of foreign males “come here [to the Philippines] for sexual tourism and that is unacceptable.”

The US envoy made the remarks in a speech at a judicial conference on human trafficking.

Speaking before several magistrates, Thomas said that all foreigners apprehended for sexual crimes must be punished under the full extent of the law.

He added that even US citizens engaging in sex-related crimes such as cybersex should be “prosecuted.”

“That is not something I’m proud of. That’s not something you should be proud of,” Thomas said, adding that the US government was willing to assist in the prosecution of such crimes, even if it involved its own citizens.

“Any of them who are engaged in things that violate the law—whether American or another foreigner—should be prosecuted. That is against human values,” he added.

The envoy also noted the existence of business establishments in Roxas Boulevard in Manila that were apparently engaging in human trafficking.

“We all know when we walk to Roxas Boulevard, we will see establishments. We know who owns them, who benefits, who allows them to continue. We should not let this happen,” Thomas said.

At the same time, he lauded the Philippines for its gains in combating human trafficking, saying that the country was a role model for others to follow.

The Philippines recently rose to Tier 1 from the Tier 2 watch list last year under the US State Department’s 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report.

But even with a record number of 25 convictions, Thomas said that “we cannot celebrate.”

“The prosecution of human traffickers is one part of the solution. Effective combating demands prevention, protection and prosecution,” he added.

According to the ambassador, “partnership” is also important for the Philippines to continue its fight against human trafficking.

Washington is willing to lend a hand in the campaign against human trafficking until the Philippines is removed from the State Department watch list, he said.

Wrong title selection!

40% is definitely not a good representation of "Foreigners". Assuming a 50/50 split male to female population, that 40% becomes a mere 20%! If they intend to keep the word "Foreigners", we're waiting for those females to come and get laid to make that assessment more truthful as written in the title.

How to get rid of these informal settlers? How come other parts of the city are now clean? Burn these houses just like what happened in Makati's Guadalupe area?

Protesters block EDSA briefly, cause major jam
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 09/23/2011 10:35 AM | Updated as of 09/23/2011 10:36 AM

MANILA, Philippines – Traffic along EDSA in Quezon City got briefly snarled Friday morning after informal settlers from Sitio San Roque blocked the entire northbound lane to celebrate the anniversary of the failed demolition of their houses last year.

Residents of Sitio San Roque in Barangay North Triangle and members of militant groups blocked the 5 lanes of the northbound portion of the avenue for 5 minutes to commemorate the “Battle of EDSA”.

Last September 23, 2010, violence erupted after demolition forces attempted to demolish houses in the area for the planned Quezon City Central Business District (QCCBD) spearheaded by the Ayala Corporation.

The demolition was stopped after a local trial court judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of the settlers.

In a statement, September 23 Movement leader Estrelieta Bagasbas said “the act is to show that they are willing to barricade EDSA once again if the government persists in demolishing their homes.”

The residents then headed towards the main office of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to throw mud at the gate of the agency.

“San Roque mud is all they can get. They can never take away our land as long as we can speak and hold a protest,” said Bagasbas. - with a report from Johnson Manabat, dzMM

http://rp2.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/09/23/11/protesters-block-edsa-briefly-cause-major-jam

Residents protesting demolition snarl QC traffic
09/23/2011 | 10:09 AM
Traffic at the North Triangle area in Quezon City was snarled Friday morning after some 100 residents held a protest against the demolition of shanties in the area.

An advisory from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said the 100 were "informal settlers" who gathered at the EDSA TriNoMa area.

In its Twitter account, the MMDA said the protesters then began to march towards Quezon City Hall.

A separate report on dzBB radio said the protest action disrupted traffic near the northbound portion of EDSA.

The report said the residents were "bolstered" by militant groups Kadamay and the Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage).

Even residents from the area who were relocated to Rizal province joined the protest, the report said. — RSJ, GMA News

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233208/nation/residents-protesting-demolition-snarl-qc-traffic

Just because he is minor! He cannot be jailed! :bash::bash::bash:

Teen rapist-robber off the hook
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 09/22/2011 10:15 PM | Updated as of 09/23/2011 7:08 AM

LAGUNA, Philippines - A 15-year-old boy who admitted robbing, raping, and nearly killing a housewife in Laguna province won't be charged in court because he is a minor, police said Thursday.

The suspect, who was arrested in Tarlac province, has confessed to the crime.

"Ginalaw ko [iyung nanay]. Nakatali [siya]," he said.

"Inamin daw niya na walang bra 'yung babae tapos 'yung suot daw na shorts napakaikli, halos talagang nademonyo siya," said Senior Superintendent John Bulalacao of the Cavite Provincial Police Office.

Police said the boy also stole money, jewelry, a gun, and car before he tied up the woman and her children.

He also slashed the woman's wrists after raping her.

Police arrested him through information given by the boy's friends in Cavite.

"Willing to surrender, actually sabi niya sa akin, nakukunsiyensiya na siya, hindi raw siya mapakali," Bulalacao said.

The suspect did not explain why he committed the acts but said he regrets doing them.

"Sana, ano, patawarin na po nila ako," he said.

The boy would have faced at least 4 criminal charges in court, but he won't be prosecuted because he is below 18.

"Kami sa PNP, gusto naming ma-implement iyung batas ng tama at saka maparusahan din iyung dapat parusahan. Kaya lang, within that Republic Act 9344, hindi siya ma-implement kasi nga iyung sa pagiging minor nila," said police Inspector Melanie Lobusta.

The boy's victim has been released from the hospital while the suspect has been brought to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. - report from Dominic Almelor, ABS-CBN News

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/22/11/teen-rapist-robber-hook

^^Don't give second chance to people like this. Firing squad agad...Ang germs sa lipunan, huwag i-baby!

^^Don't give second chance to people like this. Firing squad agad...Ang germs sa lipunan, huwag i-baby!

The problem is our law: minors cannot be jailed.

^^ Oh yes they're making a lobby right now to do that...

I think if there's something I'd admire Duterte for, it was his open clamor for lowering of the age limit for those who err:

Senators want prison for youths involved in crimes
by Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 09/12/2011 8:19 PM | Updated as of 09/13/2011 7:18 AM

MANILA, Philippines - In light of minors getting involved in crimes, such as the "bukas taxi" modus of youths along EDSA-Guadalupe in Makati City, several senators are now pushing to lower from age 15 to age 9 the limit on exemption of a child from criminal liability.

Under Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, a child 15 years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability.

Senator Chiz Escudero believes that the age limit should not be increased but rather decreased to allow prosecution of minors who have been involved in criminal activities.

"Ang kabataan ngayon mas marami nang alam, maski na mga bata pa, kaysa sa mga kabataan ngayon," Escudero said.

He believes that the age limit should be downgraded to 9 years old since most of minors involved in crimes, like the recent gang rape of a girl by 2 14-year-old old suspects.

"Siguro nga dapat babaan pero hindi dapat taasan parang ang sinasabi pa nila ang mga kabataan ngayon ay mas kaunti ang alam, mas hindi alam ang kaibahan ng tama sa mali, kumpara noon, na hindi naman siguro," said Escudero.

Senator Vicente Sotto III said he will support the move of Escudero.

Sotto has sponsored a bill seeking amendment to the Juvenile Justice Law, imposing an age limit to 12 years old. "Kung hihirit ng 9 years old, sige ibababa ko sa 9," said Sotto.

Senator Pia Cayetano is also open to an amendment of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

Cayetano chairs the Senate Committee on Youth, Women, and Family Relations.

http://66.29.208.5/nation/09/12/11/senators-want-prison-youths-involved-crimes


Lim backs lowering of juveniles’ age

Published : Thursday, September 15, 2011 00:00
Article Views : 130
Written by : Itchie Cabayan

NOWBALLING moves aimed at amending the country’s juvenile law by lowering the age of minors who may be made totally liable for the crimes they commit got the support of Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim yesterday.

Lim also stressed the need for again appraising the law and make it in keeping with the times.

He noted that unlike before when criminal syndicates were being run and operated by adults, minors are now being used owing to the ‘soft glove’ treatment being used on them.

“I am all for reducing from 15 to 12 or even 9 years old the age when offenders may be arrested, especially for serious crimes,” Lim said, noting that nowadays, kids are being used by syndicates even in crimes such as drug pushing and robbery.

Presently, the law exempts individuals below 15 years old from being arrested and charged with criminal offenses.

“Maraming teenagers o mas bata pa ang nai-involve sa serious crimes at ginagamit ng mga sindikato kasi mahina nga naman ang magiging kaso kapag inasunto. There must be a second appraisal of how the laws should apply. Nakatutulong ba o nakasasama sa lipunan?” the mayor said.

In Manila alone, Lim said there are also incidents where minors get involved in serious crimes but that his standing orders are for these individuals to be put under arrest and charged accordingly just the same, although they are not mixed with hardened criminals during detention.

Lim lamented that under present conditions, the youngsters, particularly those who are homeless, are being exploited by crime syndicates.

However, he noted that making the young criminals go scot-free might eventually make them graduate into becoming street gang members and end up as hard-core criminals.

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/metro/13363-lim-backs-lowering-of-juveniles-age

^^ glad to know that.

^^ Yes, we all know that it is somewhat "cruel" to put hardened criminals with minors, but let's face it- these days, di na uso yung "SA MUTA NG MGA BATA" ng Nestle Philippines. If we have to rehabilitate these offenders, we have to put them the hardest way possible.

PHL neighbors get more foreign investments

UN report09/23/2011 | 04:34 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233250/business/phl-neighbors-get-more-foreign-investments-un-report

(Updated 6:09 pm.) While President Benigno Aquino III declared that foreign capitalists are “lining up" to invest in the Philippines, the United Nations’ World Investment Report (WIR) 2011 shows that the lines are much longer leading to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Plus, investors waiting in line outside the Philippines carry heavier loads of capital.

Last year, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines, consisting of equity capital, reinvested earnings and intra-company loans, totaled $1.713 billion — roughly a fifth of the FDI Vietnam got, according to the WIR of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).s

Malaysia did slightly better than Vietnam, attracting $9.103 billion in FDI, and trumped Thailand, which received $5.813 billion. Indonesia beat them all by drawing in $13.3 billion.

Emerging markets

In terms of foreign investments in shares of stocks, the Philippines is again a lightweight contender among Southeast Asia’s emerging markets.

Last year, foreign funds placed in Philippine stocks totaled $24.893 billion, or 38 percent compared to Vietnam’s $65.628 billion.

Malaysian stocks got much more — $101.339 billion — while Indonesia’s even exceeded that at $121.527 billion, a level which Thailand surpassed by attracting $127.257 billion.

With outward investments of $4.8 trillion in stocks, the United States is the world’s top investor, compared with Japan’s investments of $831 billion.

Export powerhouses

In terms of exports, the Philippines is a welterweight in Southeast Asia. According to 2010 UNCTAD data, the Philippines exported $51.6 billion, while Vietnam shipped $70.7 billion to foreign markets. Indonesia exported $157.78 billion.

Malaysia, with $198.79 billion, edged out Thailand’s $195.31 billion.

At $351.87 billion, city-state Singapore is the export champion of Southeast Asia.

Lack of competitiveness

The Aquino administration’s economic planners and agencies admit that the Philippines ranks low in various “measures of competitiveness."

In the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, the administration said the rankings of the country “reveal weakness in major development aspects compared to the rest of the world."

“In the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index Ranking, the Philippines ranked 87th out of 133 countries, and last among the ASEAN-6 subset of countries for the period 2009-2010. In specific categories, the Philippines ranked 113th in institutions; 113th in labor market efficiency; 99th in innovation and 98th in infrastructure," the PDP noted.

The PDP also said that in the IMD Global Competitiveness report, “the Philippines ranked 43rd out of 57 countries and last among five ASEAN members; next to last in infrastructure; and 51st in economic performance." In the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, the country “placed 139th out of 180 countries and 6th among the ASEAN-6.

The PDP added that last year, “the country ranked 144th among 183 countries and also last among the ASEAN-6 in the International Finance Corporation/World Bank’s (IFC/WB) Doing Business 2010 Report."

Red tape

In the 2011 Doing Business Report, the country was 148th in terms of ease of doing business with and “was listed among the countries with high number of procedures for starting a business, although wide differences exist across different Philippine cities."

The Aquino administration’s economic master plan also admitted that, “there is broad agreement that the process of applying for a business renewal registration is a long, difficult, and tedious process. Starting a business in a Philippine city involves an average of 15 procedures, takes 38 days, and costs 29.7 percent of income per capita."

Aquino admin's targets

To address the red tape debacle, Aquino's economic planners said national and local government-level "improvements in the Business Registration/Permits and Licensing System (BPLS) shall be pursued."

"The BPLS will help standardize the procedures for acquiring permits and licenses to operate new business. It will not only reduce the time to secure permits but also eliminate corruption by limiting face-to-face contacts between the applicant and regulator," the Aquino PDP said.

weh, sinong nangangailangan nyan:D ang importante sikat pa rin si Noy:lol:

Lack of teamwork among Pinoys a factor in sluggish economy

PIDS09/23/2011 | 12:28 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233225/business/lack-of-teamwork-among-pinoys-a-factor-in-sluggish-economy-pids

The lack of social cohesion or teamwork among Filipinos may be the reason why the Philippine economy has failed to reach its potentials, the chief of a government think tank said.

In a statement on Friday, Josef Yap, Philippine Institute for Development Studies president, said the apparent social division in the country exacerbates its lackluster socio-economic conditions. The suggestion was made in a recent forum jointly organized by the PIDS and the Asian Development Bank.

With ADB’s downward revision of the Philippine economic outlook, Yap said that cultivating “teamwork" among the people may lead the country out of its development maze.

ADB forecasts a revised Philippine economic growth for 2011 to be 4.7 percent, from its original 5.0 percent forecast, and 5.1 percent for 2012, from 5.3 percent.

Despite higher consumption and stronger private investment, the country’s economy, according to ADB, will not grow as expected since exports significantly fell with the continued economic uncertainty in major industrial countries.

Norio Usui, ADB senior economist, attributed the downward revision partly to weak government spending. Nareej Jain, ADB’s Philippine country director, on the other hand, remained optimistic about the country’s economic outlook, saying that a 4.7-percent growth should not be underrated because it is still a positive indication. He noted, however, that the country needs to improve its performance, especially in social services delivery and reduction of poverty, to achieve its development goals.

Meanwhile, explaining the reasons for the country’s lackluster economic performance, Yap identified a number of factors that impede the country’s economic development. He said that lack of entrepreneurship and inadequate physical infrastructures encumber the economy. He further added that weak institutions that give rise to chronic problems in governance also affect the country’s economic performance.

Moreover, Yap said that the government’s difficulty in addressing market failures has led to a narrow industrial base. Likewise, the seeming failure to provide more equitable access to basic social services has exacerbated the poverty situation.

Beyond these factors, Yap also offered an alternative analysis to the country’s development puzzle. He said that the country lacks “social cohesion" which he believes is integral in solving and addressing the country’s development challenges.

Social cohesion or collective action is “building shared values and communities of interpretation, reducing disparities in wealth and income, and generally enabling people to have a sense that they are engaged in a common enterprise, facing shared challenges, and that they are members of the same community". Thus, a cohesive society works toward the well- being of all its members by minimizing inequities, marginalization and exclusion.

Yap further articulated that social cohesion is essential for institutions to function effectively. He further stressed that a cohesive society forges trust which is the non-legal foundation of the market economy. Thus, unity and trust improve the quality of institutions and help sustain economic growth and development.

The PIDS-ADB forum coincides with the 2011 Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) celebration. DPRM aims to provide a means of promoting and drawing nationwide awareness on the importance of policy research in national development. - CMA/OMG, GMA News

^^ Well, with our ethnocentric society, who'd be surprised.

dp

^^ Yes, we all know that it is somewhat "cruel" to put hardened criminals with minors, but let's face it- these days, di na uso yung "SA MUTA NG MGA BATA" ng Nestle Philippines. If we have to rehabilitate these offenders, we have to put them the hardest way possible.

As far as I'm concern if the kids have the gut to commit the crime then they should have the gut to suffer the consequence. Here in the US, as far as I read crimes committed by those 15 years old and under 18 they will stay at juvenile jails until 18 as long its not murder or manslaugther and then release at age 18.

^^ Yes, we all know that it is somewhat "cruel" to put hardened criminals with minors, but let's face it- these days, di na uso yung "SA MUTA NG MGA BATA" ng Nestle Philippines. If we have to rehabilitate these offenders, we have to put them the hardest way possible.

Maybe we should lower the "minor age/age of majority" than punishing "minors"? By that, no "child abuse" issue :lol:

make a minor 14. But anyone above 14 shall not be deemed a minor :lol:

^^ Well, with our ethnocentric society, who'd be surprised.

Birds of the same feather flock together nga eh. Mantra sa Pinas. Hehe

^^ You can understand the sentiments of the other incensed Bisayas who, some will clamor for independence, but at the same time, this has crippled our very nation as well.

PHL neighbors get more foreign investments

UN report09/23/2011 | 04:34 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233250/business/phl-neighbors-get-more-foreign-investments-un-report

(Updated 6:09 pm.) While President Benigno Aquino III declared that foreign capitalists are “lining up" to invest in the Philippines, the United Nations’ World Investment Report (WIR) 2011 shows that the lines are much longer leading to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Plus, investors waiting in line outside the Philippines carry heavier loads of capital.

Last year, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines, consisting of equity capital, reinvested earnings and intra-company loans, totaled $1.713 billion — roughly a fifth of the FDI Vietnam got, according to the WIR of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).s



There was this feature story on cnn about fdi's in south east asia. The report said that Cambodia is the new darling of foreign investors. Despite its unreliable power supply, poor infrastructure, and corrupt govt, investors are coming in droves. Theyre setting up manufacturing facilities everywhere. The only comeon of cambodia is their very low wages, lower than vietnam, certainly lower than china. So low that chinese companies have setup shop in the country. Meanwhile sa southeast asian region, philippines is the 2nd or the 3rd country that receives the lowest foreign direct investment. Siguro may ketong ang pilipinas inspite of its advantages over other countries, we are being shunned by investors.

Maybe pnoy should seriously think of firing his economic team, definitely the current one is not up to the job. Our gdp is continuing its decline ever since pnoy came to power. Our credit rating remains low despite the pleadings of our finance secretary with the intl rating agencies. Maybe pnoy should appoint new people, the current ones are rehashed from previous administrations and already proven their worth (or worthlessness).

There was this feature story on cnn about fdi's in south east asia. The report said that Cambodia is the new darling of foreign investors. Despite its unreliable power supply, poor infrastructure, and corrupt govt, investors are coming in droves. Theyre setting up manufacturing facilities everywhere. The only comeon of cambodia is their very low wages, lower than vietnam, certainly lower than china. So low that chinese companies have setup shop in the country. Meanwhile sa southeast asian region, philippines is the 2nd or the 3rd country that receives the lowest foreign direct investment. Siguro may ketong ang pilipinas inspite of its advantages over other countries, we are being shunned by investors.

Also, Cambodia does not have any labour unions and if they do, they are not as powerful and influential.

^^ It's good that Cambodia is growing. It's about time.

Maybe pnoy should seriously think of firing his economic team, definitely the current one is not up to the job. Our gdp is continuing its decline ever since pnoy came to power. Our credit rating remains low despite the pleadings of our finance secretary with the intl rating agencies. Maybe pnoy should appoint new people, the current ones are rehashed from previous administrations and already proven their worth (or worthlessness).

Just to qualify your statement. Our GDP is not declining but growing at slower rate. It might be construed that our GDP is decreasing as a result of recession.

Let's wait for the end of 3rd and 4th quarters. They promised to have higher growth. Budget deficit is just 10% of the target, BIR collections increased by double digit vs. last year and is an inch away from the target. Not all negative news naman.

^^ Well, with a corrupt government, they had to size up and clean their government.

And since it's untapped, it's best that we go there as well.

^^ It's good that Cambodia is growing. It's about time.



Just to qualify your statement. Our GDP is not declining but growing at slower rate. It might be construed that our GDP is decreasing as a result of recession.

Let's wait for the end of 3rd and 4th quarters. They promised to have higher growth. Budget deficit is just 10% of the target, BIR collections increased by double digit vs. last year and is an inch away from the target. Not all negative news naman.

IMO, 3rd Q is never better than the other quarters historically.It is the quarter where storms visit our land. The saving quarter should now be the last quarter.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PHILIPPINES ???:ohno::ohno::ohno:

Rising number of tourists from China coming to Asian shores

September 28, 2011, 4:25am

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/335822/rising-number-tourists-china-coming-asian-shores

BANGKOK (dpa) – Luzi Matzig's Asian Trails travel company has traditionally targeted Europeans keen to explore the exotic, far-away lands of South-East Asia.

Bangkok-based Matzig, a 40-year veteran of the South-East Asian travel business, recently discovered a new market - the Chinese.

''There is a new trend of English-speaking, upmarket Chinese, who stay in five-star hotels,'' Matzig said. ''Maybe it's only 2 percent of the market, but at Asian Trails we're intending to handle this kind of Chinese tourist.''

''I'm looking for a manager for my new Chinese department,'' he said.

Which is not to say Asian Trails has given up on indebted Europe.

The company has just joined the growing ranks of Asian governments, hoteliers and tour agents who have started to pay more attention to the fastest-growing market in the region.

China, the factory of the world, is nowadays also pumping out tourists, looking for new places to spend their hard-earned cash.

During the first half of this year, some 32 million Chinese travelled abroad, a 19-per-cent hike over the same period in 2010.

The top destinations for Chinese tourists were all in Asia - Hong Kong (12.7 million), Macao (7.5 million), Japan (920,000), Thailand (834,000), Taiwan (829,000) and Singapore (757,000), according to mid-year arrival statistics compiled by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

And Chinese are taking up a bigger chunk of markets, some of them farther afield. In 2010, Chinese were the top visitors to the Maldives, according to the Xinhua news agency.

During the 12 months ending June 30, Chinese were fourth place in terms of source countries for tourist arrivals to Australia, and the largest in value, with 3.3 billion US dollars spent.

Last year, some 123,000 Chinese visited New Zealand. Chinese tourist spending is expected to top that of visitors from Britain and the US for the first time by the middle of next year, New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development predicted.

In Singapore, Chinese arrivals reached 941,488 between January and July, up 38.4 per cent, placing them only behind Indonesian visitors.

Shell HQ labels Philippine market as a 'complex' investment terrain:bash::bash::bash:

By MYRNA M. VELASCO September 28, 2011, 11:34pm

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/335972/shell-hq-labels-philippine-market-a-complex-investment-terrain

MANILA, Philippines — With the extent of headaches it has been putting up with on tax issues at its downstream operations here, the principals of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation have basically labeled the Philippine market as a “complex” investment terrain.

At its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell plc has its risk assessment group on its investments in more than 100 countries. The Philippines, while it is one of the small markets that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has been operating in, has its share of risks and dilemmas prompting head office company executives to give it a certain label.

Despite the predicaments though, Pilipinas Shell vice president for communications Roberto S. Kanapi noted that they continue “to explore investments opportunities” in the Philippines.

He stressed that they have been putting “renewed faith” in the Aquino administration for policy concerns in the energy sector getting addressed prudently, or at least be improved.

Kanapi hinted of prospective “exciting investment plans” being reviewed by their principals. Nevertheless, he refused to give details if these would have to do with the much-anticipated multi-billion upgrading of the oil firm’s refinery in Batangas. Previous feasibility studies indicate investments of up to $3.0 billion.

In the Signals and Signposts which will be the oil giant’s investment guide to year 2050, Shell regional communications strategy manager Warren Fernandez noted that they have identified areas of investments as either having extraordinary risks or zone of opportunities.

In the upstream segment, the major investment plan of Shell would be $1.0 billion for the Malampaya field for a second self-installing platform and new well drilling ventures.

It is in the downstream sector where Shell has been encountering legal setbacks because of the cases filed by the Bureau of Customs against it, but Kanapi noted they are somehow ready for these and considered such “as being part of doing business in the Philippines.”

He reiterated that as far as their principals are concerned, the Philippines has remained an “attractive market” and is seen to be teeming with fresh prospects, investment-wise.

Apart from the legal suits, the company is also recurrently vexed with pricing issues – especially if there are relentless spikes in prices at the gas pumps.

^^ i don't see the bad news here... i must be blind..

It reads: "Not So Good News" thread.

Your eyes maybe fine. You must have visited the wrong thread.

ON TARGET
Why foreigners don’t invest in Philippines
By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:18 pm | Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/67001/why-foreigners-don’t-invest-in-philippines

“Pedring” was the only typhoon that flooded the seemingly impregnable US Embassy compound on Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

US Embassy staff had to be evacuated by the police and taken to higher ground because of the flood.

Pedring also forced the evacuation of guests of Hotel Sofitel at the Cultural Center Complex, the first evacuation effort in its decades-old existence.

In terms of scaring US Embassy staff and guests of a five-star hotel out of their wits, Pedring packed more wallop than “Ondoy,” which inundated whole villages and drowned some 500 people two years ago.

* * *

Pedring struck almost to the day Ondoy pummeled Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon two years ago.

The typhoon’s fury came two years and one day after Ondoy.

The universe is probably giving us a message that we’ve abused Mother Nature so much for so long.

We are now continuously harvesting the bitter fruits of such abuse.

* * *

“Marikina watershed reforestation pushed”—headline.

Why only now?

If the reforestation had taken place long before Ondoy and Pedring, Marikina and other areas would not have experienced flash floods that put middle-class villages under water.

We are reactive people—taking action only after a bad experience—and not proactive, which is taking action to prevent a mishap.

Our police are reactive people: They go after criminals after a crime has been committed, when their more important job is preventing a crime before it occurs.

* * *

President Noy has been going abroad inviting foreign businessmen to invest in the country.

Only very few investors will answer P-Noy’s invitation.

Ours is not an investor-friendly government and country.

Potential investors will have to reckon with corrupt officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Customs, which will assess the machinery and equipment to be brought in.

That’s not all.

Potential investors will have to bribe officials of towns and cities where the foreign-owned companies will be set up.

Even barangay officials will have to be bribed for a business permit to be released.
You think that’s the end of it? No sir!

We have one of the highest power rates in the world; so much of the investors’ expenses will be for the payment of electric bills.

What also drives away foreign investments are our militant employees. They stage strikes and walkouts once they see their company is earning.

^^In my hometown Porac, a Korean investor decided to halt his multi-million dollar investment because the previous mayor was asking for P20M. This is insider info, a relative of mine is a municipal official.

When you realize how much our politicians are f*cking this country up, murderous tendencies can't help but come out.

^^ Few years ago, yung isang balikbayan na taga dito sa amin would like to open a business... hinihingian ng opisina ng mayor ng P100,000 just to present his proposal sa city hall. :ohno:

My friend will try again this year or after x'mas, iba na ang mayor kasi... :D

Isn't Aquino's campaign anti-corruption?

^^In my hometown Porac, a Korean investor decided to halt his multi-million dollar investment because the previous mayor was asking for P20M. This is insider info, a relative of mine is a municipal official.

When you realize how much our politicians are f*cking this country up, murderous tendencies can't help but come out.

^^ Few years ago, yung isang balikbayan na taga dito sa amin would like to open a business... hinihingian ng opisina ng mayor ng P100,000 just to present his proposal sa city hall. :ohno:

My friend will try again this year or after x'mas, iba na ang mayor kasi... :D

Harap harapang extortion ang nangyayari dito. :ohno:

Harap harapang extortion ang nangyayari dito. :ohno:

Hopefully this time not anymore... previous mayor and a few years ago nangyari yun. Maybe just take them out to a fine dining magkasundutan na.. :lol:

Lack of teamwork among Pinoys a factor in sluggish economy:bash::bash::bash:

PIDS 09/23/2011 | 12:28 PM - CMA/OMG, GMA News

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233225/business/lack-of-teamwork-among-pinoys-a-factor-in-sluggish-economy-pids

The lack of social cohesion or teamwork among Filipinos may be the reason why the Philippine economy has failed to reach its potentials, the chief of a government think tank said.

In a statement on Friday, Josef Yap, Philippine Institute for Development Studies president, said the apparent social division in the country exacerbates its lackluster socio-economic conditions. The suggestion was made in a recent forum jointly organized by the PIDS and the Asian Development Bank.

With ADB’s downward revision of the Philippine economic outlook, Yap said that cultivating “teamwork" among the people may lead the country out of its development maze.

ADB forecasts a revised Philippine economic growth for 2011 to be 4.7 percent, from its original 5.0 percent forecast, and 5.1 percent for 2012, from 5.3 percent.

Despite higher consumption and stronger private investment, the country’s economy, according to ADB, will not grow as expected since exports significantly fell with the continued economic uncertainty in major industrial countries.

Norio Usui, ADB senior economist, attributed the downward revision partly to weak government spending. Nareej Jain, ADB’s Philippine country director, on the other hand, remained optimistic about the country’s economic outlook, saying that a 4.7-percent growth should not be underrated because it is still a positive indication. He noted, however, that the country needs to improve its performance, especially in social services delivery and reduction of poverty, to achieve its development goals.

Meanwhile, explaining the reasons for the country’s lackluster economic performance, Yap identified a number of factors that impede the country’s economic development. He said that lack of entrepreneurship and inadequate physical infrastructures encumber the economy. He further added that weak institutions that give rise to chronic problems in governance also affect the country’s economic performance.

Moreover, Yap said that the government’s difficulty in addressing market failures has led to a narrow industrial base. Likewise, the seeming failure to provide more equitable access to basic social services has exacerbated the poverty situation.

Beyond these factors, Yap also offered an alternative analysis to the country’s development puzzle. He said that the country lacks “social cohesion" which he believes is integral in solving and addressing the country’s development challenges.

Social cohesion or collective action is “building shared values and communities of interpretation, reducing disparities in wealth and income, and generally enabling people to have a sense that they are engaged in a common enterprise, facing shared challenges, and that they are members of the same community". Thus, a cohesive society works toward the well- being of all its members by minimizing inequities, marginalization and exclusion.

Yap further articulated that social cohesion is essential for institutions to function effectively. He further stressed that a cohesive society forges trust which is the non-legal foundation of the market economy. Thus, unity and trust improve the quality of institutions and help sustain economic growth and development.

The PIDS-ADB forum coincides with the 2011 Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) celebration. DPRM aims to provide a means of promoting and drawing nationwide awareness on the importance of policy research in national development.

^^In my hometown Porac, a Korean investor decided to halt his multi-million dollar investment because the previous mayor was asking for P20M. This is insider info, a relative of mine is a municipal official.

When you realize how much our politicians are f*cking this country up, murderous tendencies can't help but come out.

^^ Few years ago, yung isang balikbayan na taga dito sa amin would like to open a business... hinihingian ng opisina ng mayor ng P100,000 just to present his proposal sa city hall. :ohno:

My friend will try again this year or after x'mas, iba na ang mayor kasi... :D

Crown Regency owner Mr. King of Cebu initially planned to put up an underwater restaurant at Mactan Island, but decided to move the project to Panglao Island, Bohol. The admin of Lapu-lapu City, Mactan Island is known for having the habit of under the table negotiations.

Supply of qualified talents can’t keep pace with demand of BPOs:ohno::ohno::ohno:

by TINO PAMINTUAN - OMG, GMA News Online 09/20/2011 | 05:13 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/232898/business/supply-of-qualified-talents-cant-keep-pace-with-demand-of-bpos

The local business process outsourcing (BPO) industry continues to grow rapidly, but the supply of English-proficient, computer literate and service-oriented workforce cannot keep pace with its demand for talents.

But BPO companies are working on ways to shore up the talent pool for the industry by asking the government to set aside P500 million within the next five years.

The industry is projected to grow 25% every year from 2012 to 2016 with total revenues estimated to reach $25 billion by 2016. Last year, its revenues totaled $9 billion.

“With this annual growth, the industry would need to hire 127,000 to 269,000 people every year to meet the employment target of 1.3 million by 2016," said Penny Bongato, executive director for talent development of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).

“We are growing faster than the global BPO market, which expands by only 10% to 15% yearly. The growth of the local industry can be accelerated through a very strong government-private sector partnership," she told GMA News Online.

However, she said right now, BPAP and the government are only discussing partnership for the rest of 2011 until 2012. “Depending of the success of the different programs, this might change."

The BPAP is the industry’s umbrella organization composed of more than 250 BPO and information technology companies.

Government support

Bongato said the P500 million is the government’s counterpart fund which will be used to speed up the hiring and training of talents. “We are requesting some funds from the government to support TESDA’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) and other programs."

She said the private sector will add P160 million to support the program, on top of its contribution of P680 million a year to the training of their work force since the start of the industry in the mid-1990s.

Last month, TESDA agreed with BPO companies on a P20-million funding for the TWSP which will train this year 2,200 scholars in contact center services, software development, animation and medical transcription.

The success of TWSP is based on the number of new hires of BPOs which should at least be 70% of the total graduates.

Bongato said last year, BPO companies hired 2,000 persons trained by TESDA, which comprised 78% of the total graduates.

For every successful hiring of a TESDA graduate, a BPO reimburses at least 10 percent of the cost of the scholarship which will go to the Talent Development Fund, a revolving fund that will be used for the training of new scholars.

Bongato said the industry also developed the global competitiveness assessment tool which standardizes the requirements for new entrants. It is an online test that is taken for two and half hours and assesses learning ability, English proficiency, computer literacy, perceptual speed and accuracy, and service orientation.

The industry has also proposed the inclusion of a service management specialization track as a minor in some college courses. It has five subjects of 3 units each on business communication, service culture, systems thinking and fundamentals of BPO 1 and 2. This is waiting approval from the Commission on Higher Education.

It also has the service technology management program which aims to develop supervisors and managers for the industry.

Not enough are qualified

BPO companies admit that there is not enough qualified talents and recognize the need to train more talents for the industry.
Marife Zamora, Convergys senior vice president and managing director for Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company hires only 8 to 10 agents out of 100 applicants.

But she said Convergys still attracts high quality applicants despite strong competition and stricter hiring standards. “This is because of our strong reputation in the industry. We’re the country’s largest private employer today," she told GMA News Online.

Convergys has 26,000 agents in 15 contact centers handling 30 clients compared to only 800 handling only two clients when it started operations in 2003. It has eight centers in Metro Manila, four in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City, one in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and one in Baguio City.

Zamora said Convergys still seeks candidates with strong English-language and computer skills, as well as a customer service orientation. “However, clients are now demanding even more comprehensive metrics on customer experience."

She said as a result, the company now looks for conversational capabilities, active listening, comprehension and empathy skills and learning agility.

Convergys and the Department of Education (DepEd) have been providing English language communication skills training for public high school teachers across the country for six years. They have trained over 1,000 teachers.

“The DepEd selects the teachers while Convergys provides the training. The teachers are then expected to go back to their schools and train their fellow teachers," Zamora said.

On the other hand, 24/7 Customer Philippines, Inc., a medium-sized BPO, hires 25 out of 100 applicants which is higher than the industry’s 12 to 15 hires out of 100.

Me-ann Batallones, the company’s director for career and brand management group told GMA News Online,“We've always had higher hit rates because our recruitment process allows for screening and weeding out of the undesirables at the onset."

“We recruit our people based on the profiles needed by our clients, which are US, UK and Australian telecom companies," she added.

She said the company has 3,500 agents in four centers in the Philippines where it opened in 2006. It started its operations 11 years ago in India, where it has sites in Bangalore and Hyderabad. It also has a site in Guatemala.

“Not enough are willing to be customer service representatives, not enough are truly aware of what this industry can bring from a career perspective," she said.

Career path

Batallones said many who have made careers in the BPO industry are now enjoying meaningful achievement and financial stability. “You don’t stop from being a call center agent. You could be a team leader or a supervisor in a year’s time, or even a manager."

“There are career tracks within a BPO company. You could be in marketing, human resources and training depending on your education, skills and interests," she said.

Although the industry still lures many because of a high starting pay of P13,000 to P15,000 a month for an agent, still some have considered it a career.

“I myself have been in the industry for more than 15 years. My company allows me to have a work-life balance so I can have time for work, as well as for family and friends," said Batallones.

Both Convergys and 24/7 Customer Philippines provide voice-based services such as customer service and technical support to clients from English-speaking countries like the US, UK and Australia. But they see increasing demand for back office services such as email, chat and document processing.

PH economic freedom ranking slides to 89th:ohno::ohno::ohno:

by Jose Katigbak, The Philippine Star Posted at 09/29/2011 7:37 AM | Updated as of 09/29/2011 11:03 AM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/28/11/ph-economic-freedom-ranking-slides-89th

WASHINGTON – Reflecting a drop in levels of economic freedom around the world, the Philippines slid in the global rankings to 89th place from 76th previously among 141 countries surveyed, the Economic Freedom of the World: 2011 annual report said.

The country’s score fell to 6.46 from 6.77.

“In response to the American and European debt crises, governments around the world are embracing perverse regulations and this has huge, negative implications for economic freedom and financial recovery,” said Fred McMahon of the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank.

The report showed that the average economic freedom score over the past two years fell to 6.64 in 2009 from 6.74 in 2007.

The ratings for 2009, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available, showed Hong Kong at the top of the rankings for economic freedom worldwide with a score of 9.01 out of 10.

Singapore was in 2nd place with a score of 8.68 followed in order by New Zealand (8.20); Switzerland (8.03); Australia (7.98); Canada, (7.81); Chile (7.77); United Kingdom (7.71); Mauritius (7.67); and the world’s largest economy, the United States (7.60).

The US, previously ranked in 6th place, fell to 10th place primarily as a result of higher government spending and borrowing

Zimbabwe was in last place among the 141 countries surveyed with a score of 4.08. Myanmar, Venezuela, Angola, and Democratic Republic of Congo rounded out the bottom five nations.

Singapore was the best ASEAN performer in the world rankings in 2nd place followed by Thailand (65th ), Malaysia (78th), Indonesia (84th) and the Philippines (89th).

The annual Economic Freedom of the World report is produced by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank, in cooperation with independent institutes in 85 nations and territories.

Economic freedom is measured in five different areas: size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally and regulation of credit, labor and business.

^^In my hometown Porac, a Korean investor decided to halt his multi-million dollar investment because the previous mayor was asking for P20M. This is insider info, a relative of mine is a municipal official.

When you realize how much our politicians are f*cking this country up, murderous tendencies can't help but come out.

I was responding to a post of the wife of our vice-governor and sinabi nya na she was trying to get a franchise of Seair about 2 years ago pero nung magsasign na ng contract, nag backout an Seair kasi yung kabilang partido inimpluwensyan daw ang Seair. At that time walang eroplanong nag seservice sa province namin kaya sobra ang hassle. But anyway, ok lang yun. Baka palusot na rin ng Seair yung baka ma report sila sa AMLC.

^^ Dapat sa Corruption thread yan. :)

Philippines slips in IT competitiveness:ohno::ohno::ohno:

-- KAM Posted on September 30, 2011 12:01:48 AM

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Economy&title=Philippines-slips-in-IT-competitiveness&id=39185

THE PHILIPPINES slipped a notch in a list of 66 economies ranked according to support they give information technology (IT) firms in a biennial survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Business Software Alliance.

The IT Industry Competitiveness Index gauges economies’ extent of such support according to six indicators, namely:

• overall business environment (with a weight of 10%), which considers foreign investment policy, private property protection, business regulation by the state and freedom to compete;

• IT infrastructure (20%), which covers spending on software, hardware and IT services; computer ownership; Internet security; as well as mobile and broadband penetration;

• human capital (20%), covering enrolment in higher education, enrolment in science courses, employment in IT and quality of technology skills;

• research and development (R&D) environment (25%), covering state and private sector R&D spending, number of new domestic patents each year and receipts from royalty and license fees;

• legal environment (10%), which considers comprehensiveness of intellectual property (IP) laws, adherence to treaties, enforcement of IP rights as well as status of laws on electronic signature, data privacy and cybercrime; and

• support for IT industry development (15%), which covers access to investment capital, progress in e-government, public spending on IT and absence of state bias for specific technologies or sectors.

Strengths and weaknesses

Based on these metrics the survey, titled: “Investment for the future: Benchmarking IT industry competitiveness 2011,” saw the Philippines slipping a notch to 52nd place compared to the 2009 ranking, as its overall score dipped 0.6 points to 27.9 out of a maximum of 100 -- “the highest and best possible score.”

Gauged against specific indicators, the Philippines showed mixed performance, with scores of 67.8 for business environment, just 7.3 for IT infrastructure, 34.9 for human capital, zero for R&D environment, 50.5 for legal environment and 51 for support for IT industry development.

Topping the list were the United States, which stayed in 1st place with a score of 80.5, up 1.6 points; Finland, still at 2nd place (72, down 1.6 points); Singapore, up six places to 3rd (69.8, up 1.6); Sweden, down a notch to 4th (69.4, down 2.1); United Kingdom, up a notch to 5th (68.1, down 2.1); Denmark, up two places to 6th (67.9, down 0.7); Canada, down three spots to 7th (67.6, down 3.7); Ireland (up three places with a score of 67.5, up 0.6 points) and Australia (down one spot, also with a score of 67.5, down 1.2 points) sharing 8th place; as well as the Netherlands (down five places with score of 65.8, minus 4.9 points) and Israel (up three places with the same score, up 1.5 points) sharing 10th spot.

The bottom 10 places were occupied, in descending order, by Indonesia in 57th place with a score of 24.8, Venezuela (24.5), Ecuador (23.1), Kazakhstan (22.8), Pakistan (22.3), Nigeria (21.4), Bangladesh (20.6), Azerbaijan (20.3), Algeria (19.5) and Iran (18.8).

Grouped with 16 other Asia-Pacific peers, the Philippines ranked 12th behind (in descending order) Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, India, China and Thailand; and above just Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“Countries [sic] that have seen continued investment in key competitiveness enablers such as R&D environment, talent and skills are notable gainers in the 2011 index,” the report read.

“The importance of competitive IT industry environments extends, of course, beyond the sector and its players to impact on [sic] national economic competitiveness overall.”

Sought for comment, Gillian Joyce G. Virata, executive director for information and research of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, said investments in education would help the country’s IT sector compete better.

“We need to invest more in better-quality education,” Ms. Virata said via text on Wednesday.

She also cited the need for “production of more original software products that establish our IT capability globally.”

“Government and domestic industries also need to outsource more work to our Philippine-based and Filipino-owned IT companies.”

^^In my hometown Porac, a Korean investor decided to halt his multi-million dollar investment because the previous mayor was asking for P20M. This is insider info, a relative of mine is a municipal official.

When you realize how much our politicians are f*cking this country up, murderous tendencies can't help but come out.

^^ Few years ago, yung isang balikbayan na taga dito sa amin would like to open a business... hinihingian ng opisina ng mayor ng P100,000 just to present his proposal sa city hall. :ohno:

My friend will try again this year or after x'mas, iba na ang mayor kasi... :D

Sad thing about the country along with what the article above stated about "not being foreign investment friendly" This is why I have been advocating to correct these issue before pressing for more infrastructure projects because it would render these new infrastructures useless almost if the government cannot create job for its own people because of that obstacle the country has been facing for decades..

Isn't Aquino's campaign anti-corruption?

Well, Pnoy is just starting. We all talked about corruption cannot be addressed and be eliminated overnight, those incidents @bitoy and @Otakaw mentioned happened even before Aquino rose to power.

Crown Regency owner Mr. King of Cebu initially planned to put up an underwater restaurant at Mactan Island, but decided to move the project to Panglao Island, Bohol. The admin of Lapu-lapu City, Mactan Island is known for having the habit of under the table negotiations.

Sad, it would have been good for Cebu. It's not too bad for Panglao though, I did hear about this project in the past. Too bad!!:ohno::ohno:

Sad thing about the country along with what the article above stated about "not being foreign investment friendly" This is why I have been advocating to correct these issue before pressing for more infrastructure projects because it would render these new infrastructures useless almost if the government cannot create job for its own people because of that obstacle the country has been facing for decades..





The bigger problem is that the Philippines is not business friendly unless you decide to be a "crony". Kaya nga yung mga top millionaires sa Pilipinas eh mga crony and former crony :nuts:

Small business in the Philippine hardly thrives. Dahilan: mentality na rin at government policies

^^ :( tutoo

^^ Sadly, rather than removing the redtapes and and necouraging an entrepreneurial spirit, the government is encouraging just working abroad.

I have nothing against globalization but the gov't policiy is horrible. Our professionals are encouraged to help build other country (nothing wrong with that) however, the government does not encourage Filipinos building our country nor are we accepting help from non-Filipinos to help build our country (very wrong, lose-lose!)

The irony, no?

Small business in the Philippine hardly thrives. Dahilan: mentality na rin at government policies

so very very true :ohno:

yung policies na every now and then nagpapalit :ohno: lalo na sa local government, sss, bir at sa mga sangkaterbang kailangan mong kunin bago makapagsimula ng negosyo...

Naku, magtatayo ng business kamo? Wala namang nagbago. Sa baranggay level pa lang ubos na pera mo. :lol:

^^ Yeah, magpapapiyesta ka pa.

Buko juice economics: Using our coconut :ohno:

by: Winston A. Marbella

Philippine Daily Inquirer 11:32 pm | Saturday, October 1st, 2011

http://business.inquirer.net/22389/buko-juice-economics-using-our-coconut

NATURAL PACKAGING Coconut vendors in Lucena City expect brisk business after President Aquino noted after his arrival from the US on Friday that fit-conscious Americans are going cuckoo over coco water.

http://business.inquirer.net/files/2011/10/coconut-vendor-300x225.jpg

Mesmerized by the coconut juice craze sweeping the American market (mostly coming from other coconut-producing countries), President Aquino is encouraging Philippine companies to cash in on the fad.

The coconut industry, particularly representatives of the poorest farmers, are not exactly jumping for joy. It is not hard to understand why, if we just spend a little time going a little deeper than the surface of the economics of the coconut inbdustry.

But first a sound bite from the buko (young coconut) vendor that plies the streets with his cart (always a good place to start). An enterprising television news channel had the journalist’s nose for news to seek out the vendor’s opinion on the President’s Aha! Moment, which is really the opinion that counts here. The vendor, speaking in Filipino, said he worried that exporting buko juice would drive up the cost of his buko from P10 to P15 apiece.

The beauty of street economics is that it is easy to understand—and is normally right on the button. The poor man knows how much every peso is worth, for he can literally feel it in his gut.

It grows on trees

Now, for the more elaborate economics. Joey Faustino, executive director of the Coconut Industry Reform (COIR) Movement, says it is doubtful if the investments will benefit the “impoverished millions of coconut farmers and their families that comprise a third of the Filipino population.”

While on a working visit to the United States last week, President Aquino announced that two US companies—Pepsi Cola and Vita Coco—were planning some $15 million in new investments in the coconut industry to meet a growing international demand for coconut water.

The impact of the coconut industry on Filipino lives is staggering. Fully a third of the population derives income from the industry. More than a fourth of the country’s total agricultural lands (or some 3.37 million hectares) are planted to coconuts, according to industry figures.

In Quezon province alone, some 304,000 farmer-families till 388,664 hectares of coconut lands. There are over 3.4 million farmer-families who depend on coconut. Its effect on consumer purchasing power is so pervasive that San Miguel Corporation tracks farm gate prices to forecast beer sales.

When the harvest is good and prices are high, farmers consume more beer, considered a premium drink in the rural areas (not buko juice). When prices are low, farmers shift down to gin, rum, or local spirits like lambanog, which is fermented from—you guessed it!—the sap of the coconut tree.


Economics of scarcity

The reason the industry is not overjoyed over the President’s good news is that there is actually a lack of coconuts to meet demand. I know of at least one cooking oil company scrounging for raw material for its refineries, which are operating at less than efficient capacities.

The raw material is needed not only for making cooking oil, for which we can hardly supply international demand. Coconut also provides the raw material for dessicated coconut (coconut milk) and, more profitably, coco sugar, which is healthier than cane sugar, especially for diabetics.

Coco sugar will yield P14,000 per hectare per month, while dessicated coconut yields P8,000 and coconut oil (from copra) about the same, according to industry sources.

Economies of scale

Converting the land to palm oil may yield P12,000, but a minimum size of 25 hectares is needed to generate the economies of scale to operate a palm oil refinery efficiently, compared to an average five hectares for a coconut farm to be viable.

All told, the country does not have enough coconut trees to supply current demand for its products. And because it takes anywhere from three to five years for trees to be really productive, the solution is to plant more trees now, not to sell more buko juice, industry sources say.

The story is told that while a sweltering Napoleon was marching his armies to conquer more territory for the French empire, he noted that his troops could cover more ground if the Romans had thought of planting more trees along the roads that led to Rome. In the shade, Napoleon mused, the troops could march longer. A lieutenant protested: “But, my general, it will take years to grow those trees!”

Replied Napoleon: “In that case then, we better begin planting now.”

Buko juice economics requires that first of all we must know how to use our coconut.

Rescuers struggle to save ‘Quiel’ victims :ohno:

Inquirer.net Online
By Jay Directo
Agence France-Presse
2:32 pm | Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

CALUMPIT, BULACAN, Philippines – Rescuers struggled Sunday to evacuate tens of thousands of people trapped in their homes in the Philippines as more floods were forecast in the aftermath of typhoon ‘Quiel’ (international codename: Nalgae)

Fanning out across inundated towns just a few hours’ north of the capital Manila using small boats and trucks, officials issued desperate pleas for those still refusing to leave their homes to be relocated to safety.

‘Quiel’ blew out of the Philippines after a six-hour rampage across the country’s main Luzon island Saturday, bringing fresh troubles for more than a million people affected by Typhoon Nesat which had struck five days earlier.

‘Quiel’ soaked the Cordillera mountain range, and water cascading from the slopes was expected to further swell tributaries and rivers in the central Luzon plains before draining into Manila Bay later Sunday.

“We are asking everyone still refusing to leave their homes to let authorities evacuate them,” Office of Civil Defense administrator Benito Ramos told AFP as he inspected the farming town of Calumpit, two hours’ drive north of Manila, which has been flooded for days.

“Water from the Cordilleras could reach the plains today (Sunday) and there is a possibility that there won’t be any more rooftops left to see if that catches up with water from Nesat that’s just now subsiding,” he said.

As the sun broke through the clouds early Sunday, thousands waded through waist-deep waters in search of food and drinking water but found out that even the town hall was inundated.

Residents grappled with ropes rigged on lamp posts so as not to be swept away by the strong current, while others carried improvised flotation devices such as empty water bottles.

Those with access to small canoes ferried supplies to stranded relatives, or moved out pets and livestock.

Volunteers on rubber boats went from one flooded home to another to hand over relief items, including dry clothes and instant noodles.

A white coffin was also seen rigged on a canoe, but the grieving relatives had nowhere to take the dead with the cemetery also waterlogged.

“I have been trapped here for the last four days,” said Ropalyn Sebastian, a 26-year-old toll booth clerk who was visiting a friend in Calumpit when Nesat struck last week.

“My family is in the next town, and the last I heard from them was they were stranded in the second floor of our home.”

Sebastian said she braved the water Sunday hoping it would subside, only to hear warnings of more floods expected later in the day.

“Help is slow to arrive, and even the municipal hall is flooded,” she said. :ohno:

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Manila recorded only one death from ‘Quiel’, but said Nesat left at least 52 people dead after it unleashed strong winds and devastating floods.

More than 2.4 million people were affected by Nesat, nearly half a million of them still staying in evacuation centres, while the rest opted to wait out the floods in their homes.

The Philippines endures an average of about 20 typhoons of the year, some of them causing widespread destruction and deaths.

Nesat and Nalgae were two of the most powerful typhoons this year, bringing torrential rains to vast areas in Luzon, including in Manila, where storm surges broke through the sea wall last week.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/69095/rescuers-struggle-to-save-%E2%80%98quiel%E2%80%99-victims

Naku, magtatayo ng business kamo? Wala namang nagbago. Sa baranggay level pa lang ubos na pera mo. :lol:

Nailed this one madame.:cheers:

^^ Yeah, magpapapiyesta ka pa.

Yung mga iba nga eh, lalo na sa festivities (yung mga flea market na mumurahin), 50-100K lang per day ang "tax". :lol:

Citigroup says PHL economy to grow slower :ohno:

by VS, GMA News 10/03/2011 | 04:44 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/234139/business/citigroup-says-phl-economy-to-grow-slower

The Philippine economy will grow at a slower pace this year and next because of a host of factors foremost of which is fiscal underspending, according to a Citigroup report.

Weak demand from abroad, supply chain disruptions and the uncertainties brought by the US and European debt crisis will also influence the Philippine economy, the US-based investment bank said Monday.

Thus, it has lowered the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 3.7 percent from 3.9 percent this year and to 3.9 percent from 4.6 percent next year, Citigroup economist Jun Trinidad said in the bank’s latest Asia Macro and Strategy Outlook.

"We further revise our GDP forecasts to 3.7 percent in fiscal year 2011 and 3.9 percent in fiscal year 2012, on the back of the Global headwinds, coupled with the low second quarter GDP base on the back of supply disruption risk and weak electronics demand," Trinidad said.

Fiscal contraction in most developed economies could translate into slower spending in the second semester — a situation that bodes ill for the global trading environment, the economist pointed out.

What could save the day is domestic demand in emerging market economies in Asia that would enable intra-Asian demand to cushion downside export risk and prevent a repeat of the global trade crunch in the fourth quarter of 2008, Trinidad explained.

The third quarter was the worst period for exports and imports as supply disruptions and weak demand already leveled export growth in the second quarter, Trinidad added

Citigroup sees government consumption expanding by 5.6 percent year-on-year in the second half and after contracting by 6 percent in the first half, the economist said.

A fiscal spending surprise

"Upside to GDP growth in second half of the year would come mainly from fiscal spending as the infrastructure budget is decompressed, alongside increased welfare spending led by conditional cash transfers," he added.

A caveat though in Citigroup's sober baseline GDP scenario would be a fiscal spending surprise should the Aquino government decide to spend all the P189- billion unused portion of the non-interest program expenditures — as of August — for the remaining four months, according to the Citigroup report.

"Higher-than-expected fiscal expenditures for the rest of the year would also shield consumer sentiment from the global fiscal storm, its job erosion threat and financial tightening effects," Trinidad explained.

National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) data showed the country's GDP growth eased to 3.4 percent in the second quarter from 8.9 percent a year earlier.

Citigroup also lowered its inflation forecast to 4.3 percent from 4.5 percent this year and to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent next year. Consumer prices eased to a four-month low of 4.3 percent in August from 4.6 percent in July.

"Despite monetary and fiscal flexibility, consumption is dependent on sentiment holding up as inflation expectations recede," Trinidad said.

Citigroup also expects the peso dropping to 44:$1 from previous expectations of rising to 42:$1 as investors focus on the risk of unwinding that would likely intensify should the Euro debt crisis lead to defaults, and possible restructuring.

"This leads us to shift our previous strong peso year-end outlook to a strong US dollar view; we now see the year-end peso level as closer to P44," Trinidad said.

DPWH officials now deep in thought in many places :rofl:

GMA News.tv
10/01/2011 | 08:05 PM

In another age, a manipulated PR photograph may have just been laughed at by jaded newsroom editors. But in the time of social media, the world gets to cackle along with them.

The now infamous image of public works officials deep in thought among the ruins of the seawall along Roxas Blvd after Typhoon Pedring has morphed into a global running joke after it was exposed as having been manipulated.

The same three officials have now appeared in the same meditative huddle with Jose Rizal and other national heroes, in the middle of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper," in the iconic album cover of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road," and within music video stills of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance" and Shakira’s “Waka Waka," among many other examples of the social media mob's creativity.

Many online comments associated the fake picture with the DPWH's unsavory reputation. "Seawall repair will also be by photoshop," observed architect Paulo Alcazaren on his Facebook page.

And the flacks of the DPWH thought they were doing the three officials a favor.

The fake picture of public works officials first posted on the DPWH Facebook page was taken down quickly but had already started traveling through cyberspace as a global running joke.

The photo was taken off the DPWH's Facebook page shortly after it was posted. But that was more than enough time for a blogger to take notice. A screen grab was all it took for the image to take on a life of its own and impart a ruthless lesson to other PR machines considering Photoshop as a tactical tool.

The irony was that the officials — Undersecretary Romeo Momo, Director Rey Tagudando and District Engineer Mikunug Macud — were actually at the scene inspecting the storm's damage of the seawall, a fact noted by correspondent James Hookway on the Wall Street Journal’s website.

“The strangest aspect of the incident might be that top public works officials actually were there and there was no need to release the faked photo," Hookway wrote.

Perhaps the real photos lacked sufficient drama.

DPWH apologizes to officials

In any case, DPWH Public Information Division (PID) head Beth Pilorin clarified in a post on the Facebook page Thursday that the manipulated photo “was not cleared yet before the staff posted it."

The PID then issued an apology on Friday morning, which further angered some netizens because it only said sorry to the officials in the photo.

“We would like to apologize to Undersecretary Romeo Momo, Director Rey Tagudando and District Engineer Mikunug Macud for whatever inconvenience that may have caused them regarding the photo earlier posted," read the statement.

The comments that followed the post collectively asked DPWH to apologize instead to the public.

Two hours after its first statement, the department posted an “official statement" on the matter, saying that Momo, Tagudando, and Macud “had nothing to do with the earlier photo posted in the DPWH Facebook Account."

While it said that the photo “was not the official photo release of the Department," the statement clarified that “the three officials were actually on site as part of the Department’s Post Disaster Assessment activities."

The apology was still addressed to the officials, but DPWH added the phrase “and the general public."

The three officials gained some international notoriety after the Washington Post’s BlogPost page told its readers in a headline that "Philippine officials photoshop themselves into typhoon cleanup photo."

Some netizens chastised the officials by Photoshopping them into dozens of other photos where they didn’t belong like on this one Photo via Washington Post.


Online backlash

Pierre Albert San Diego, a civil engineer, exposed the glitch point-by-point on his blog Wednesday, calling the incident “a nice sample of the DPWH’s lack of integrity."

“If they can fabricate simple things like this, just imagine what these guys can do to progress billings and acceptance of projects," he wrote.

The photo ignited the fury of Pinoy netizens, who mocked the Public Works department on their Facebook page. Some even called for the resignation of the photographed officials:


“Sa mga nagsasabi na photoshopped ang pictures ng DPWH.. hindi po yun totoo!!!.. MS Paint po ang gamit nila. XD" – Justin Davis

“May I ask the veracity of all the posts here and even the owner of this account…Nahihiya kasi akong magtanong kung napaPHOTOSHOP din ba mga LIQUIDATIONS during auditing? napoPHOTOSHOP din po ba ang mga PICTURES ng mga ACCOMPLISHED PROJECTS? Tanong lang po…" – Anthony Armada Landero.

“Can you photoshop a triple-layer highway on EDSA? para naman mabawasan traffic!" – Ryan Aldaba


Some people also made Facebook pages that poked fun at what is now called the “great DPWH photoshop meme."

One of these pages even translated the government unit’s acronym to “Department of Photoshopped Works and Hacks".

The DPWHERE? page, meanwhile, serves as a venue for people to post their own Photoshopped images, placing the three officials in different scenes like floods and concerts. — Rose-an Jessica Dioquino/TJD/HS, GMA News

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/234021/technology/dpwh-officials-now-deep-in-thought-in-many-places

^^ There's so much hype in that photo. I don't think the officials did the photoshopping themselves. Does that facebook account really belong to them? Probably, they are victims of those unmindful photoshoppers and many people sensationalized. I hope the media had done its research before making reports.

Truth is...several months ago (possibly last year) I was looking at that funny photo thread at int'l skybar. I've seen the very same photo allegedly done to put into bad light Chinese officials. It's got 3 public works officials photoshopped into some road projects, then so on. Many people believed that was deliberate. I thought so too.

So this one done for Phil DPWH is not new.

yeah... I agree with you.

It's something to laugh at for a while.. but not something to be taken seriously...

US think-tank downgrades Phl growth forecast :ohno:

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) Updated October 05, 2011 12:00 AM

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=733912

MANILA, Philippines - New York-based think-tank Global Source Partners downgraded its economic growth forecasts for the Philippines this year and next year on the back of the perceived recession in the US as well as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

In a report, Global Source lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.3 percent instead of 4.8 percent this year and to 4.8 percent instead of 5.5 percent next year as the global outlook has become infinitely gloomier over the past couple of months with the eurozone in a sovereign debt crisis and the US in what could be another recessionary environment.

“This puts a heavy cloud over the Philippine economy, whose fortunes are still in some ways tied to these countries, and opens up another period of uncertain growth,” the think-tank stressed.

Global Source pointed out that economic activity would be mainly consumption-driven as the country’s merchandise exports are likely to decline this year.

It added that government spending particularly on infrastructure would remain weak limiting the growth on investments.

However, the think-tank pointed out that the Philippines would remain resilient amid robust domestic demand, strong remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), heavy inflows for business process outsourcing (BPO), record high gross international reserves (GIR), and healthy banking sector.

“In the worst case where European debt troubles coupled by US weakness lead to another global financial crisis of the same scale as 2008, the Philippines could remain as resilient to recession and financial volatility as it had been back then,” it said.

The company cited the string of credit rating upgrades received by the Philippines from Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s Investor Service, and Fitch Ratings as well as the increase in world competitiveness ranking by 10 slots in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness report.

Global Source said the public private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration would help boost domestic economic activity.

“Domestically, we could see a bump in economic activity if government actually succeeds in accelerating infrastructure spending as it hopes to, though the contribution of PPP to this will not likely be much,” the report said.

Latest data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that the country’s GDP growth eased to 3.4 percent in the second quarter of the year from 8.9 percent a year ago due to the surge in world oil prices, the prolonged weakness of the global economy, the political unrests in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, and the disasters in Japan.

The GDP growth in the second quarter was also slower than the revised 4.6 percent booked in the first quarter of the year. This brought to four percent the GDP growth in the first half of the year from 8.7 percent in the first semester last year.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has set a GDP growth target of between seven percent and eight percent this year from 7.6 percent last year but now expects the GDP to expand by five percent to six percent this year.

The Philippines was on the verge of a recession in 2009 after its GDP growth slackened to 1.1 percent from 3.8 percent in 2008 due to the full impact of the global financial crisis.

Global Source also revised its inflation forecasts to five percent instead of 5.2 percent this year and to 4.4 percent instead of four percent next year based on 2006 prices.

It cited the drop in food prices, slow fuel price increases as well as the continued appreciation of the peso against the US dollar.

The think tank said the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would keep interest rates steady until next year.

“With price risks waning, monetary authorities, who had been on tightening mode up to August, will likely hold off tweaking policy rates until the end of the year and perhaps even well into 2012 when inflation can be expected to fall easily within target,” Global Source said.

It added that the BSP would also keep the reserve requirement ratio untouched moving forward despite still strong credit expansion of 20.1 percent in July.

Philippines ranks zero in R&D :ohno::ohno::ohno:

Bottomline by MICHAEL ALAN HAMLIN October 5, 2011, 12:14am

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/336659/philippines-ranks-zero-rd

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines ranks at the very bottom – where it is tied with Bangladesh – of a recent survey of IT competitiveness in research and development (R&D). :ohno::ohno::ohno:

This means less R&D takes place in the Philippines (0.0) than in Indonesia (0.1), Sri Lanka (0.1), and Vietnam (0.2). The survey, IT Industry Competitiveness Index 2011, was developed and is administered by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

In this year’s survey, the Philippines dropped a notch overall from 51 to 52 out of 66 countries. Singapore was number three in the world, up six places, after the United States and Finland. Taiwan was 13 and Japan 16. South Korea, which was down three places, and Hong Kong tied for 19, with Hong Kong rising two slots. Within Asea n, only Indonesia and Vietnam overall fared worse than the Philippines.

The results are surprising, but not. No one believes that no R&D takes place in the Philippines, although it is true that compared to its neighbors, the Philippine government invests precious little in fundamental research. But as I wrote last week about a company called Morphlabs, some impressive R&D does take place.

And although startup R&D is hard to come by, large local and multinational technology companies including Conti Temic, IMI, Lexmark, Nokia, and TrendMicro are doing it but have nothing to gain from sharing that information.

One of the reasons they have nothing to gain is that there are no brownie points for pointing to research being conducted in the Philippines. The popular myth associated with the Philippines is that it is a center for low-value voice services for the business process outsourcing industry (BPO). Its major IT-BPO competitors – India and China – seek to perpetuate this myth so that high-value, complex services come their way.

So far, they are being effective doing so with the result that there is no or little prestige to be associated with outsourcing value-driven, high-margin original R&D and other work to the Philippines. While these competitors have obvious strengths particularly in high-value IT services, they are successful in “positioning” the Philippines as a mature low-cost, low-value services center because the Philippines does little to communicate its positive attributes and capabilities.

That reluctance to communicate also explains the poor showing – at least in part – that the Philippines routinely turns in on competitiveness surveys. The BSA IT competitiveness survey results show that the Philippines is perceived as an IT backwater.

The reality is different, although the Philippines can certainly improve its IT competitiveness. In fact, the BSA survey, composed of six categories, does show some appreciation of the Philippines. For instance, it scores reasonably high in the business environment category (67.8), roughly par with Malaysia (69.6), but that is significantly lower than Thailand (78.8) even with all its problems.

As a result, even when the Philippines does okay in a competitiveness category, its scores offer no distinctiveness and no real competitive advantage compared to its neighbors. And aside from being at the bottom of the R&D category, there are other dangerous misconceptions about the Philippines, which do it a disservice. For example, despite the Philippines “vaunted” telecom infrastructure, it scores just 7.3 in that category.

One reason is low broadband Internet penetration, which is also expensive for consumers in the Philippines compared to consumers in Southeast Asia in general. That’s a huge irony, given the tight embrace with which Filipinos have engaged the Internet. Estimates vary, but about one third of Filipinos use the Internet. Because the culture is very social, almost every Internet user has a Facebook account.

Seventy-three percent are between 18 and 44 years old according to Social Bakers, which tracks the use of social media. So most Internet users are of productive age and have expendable income. This makes them valuable to brands like Smart, Hair Experts, Starbucks, Nescafé, and Red Horse, which have the largest number of Facebook fans among Philippine brand pages on the social network.

Auction sites and online retail malls are popular, too.

Does this suggest that perception of the Philippines’ IT competitiveness is simply flawed, or that Filipino users have taken to the Internet in significant numbers despite the hurdles? It’s probably both. Unfortunately, the not-so-hot perception of the Philippines’ IT competitiveness doesn’t end there. Surprisingly, the Philippines turned in a less-than-mediocre score for human capital (34.9), lower than that of Croatia (36.4).

The legal environment is mediocre at 50.5. That’s almost 10 points less than Malaysia, which scored 59.5, where the legal system is used by the party in power to undermine and jail opposition politicians. Support for IT industry development was also lukewarm at 51.0, roughly at par with Thailand (54.2) and significantly behind Malaysia (58.2) which competes aggressively with the Philippines for IT-BPO investment.

The BSA survey reveals some weaknesses. Some are real. Some we just allow to seem real.

NY-based think-tank downgrades PHL growth forecasts :ohno:

by PE, GMA News 10/05/2011 | 12:05 AM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/234289/business/ny-based-think-tank-downgrades-phl-growth-forecasts

A New York-based think-tank has downgraded its 2011 and 2012 economic growth forecasts for the Philippines amid the perceived recession in the United States and the European sovereign debt crisis.

In its latest quarterly report titled “Philippines: Not Immune," think-tank Global Source lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.3 percent from 4.8 percent this year, and to 4.8 percent from 5.5 percent in 2012, with the global outlook having become infinitely gloomier over the past couple of months.

“This puts a heavy cloud over the Philippine economy, whose fortunes are still in some ways tied to these countries, and opens up another period of uncertain growth," the think-tank said.

The Philippines’ economic activity will remain mainly consumption-driven with the country’s merchandise exports likely to decline this year, Global Source said.

Government spending on infrasructure will also remain weak, it added.

Global Source, however, noted that the Philippines will remain resilient amid robust domestic demand, strong remittances from migrant workers, heavy inflows from business process outsourcing, record-high gross international reserves, and a healthy banking sector.

“In the worst case where European debt troubles coupled by US weakness lead to another global financial crisis of the same scale as 2008, the Philippines could remain as resilient to recession and financial volatility as it had been back then," the company said.

I think it is real. Even IT companies in the Philippines hardly do R&D. Usually, we're just into doing the "labor". R&D are usually just left to individuals. No collective effort for R&D. It's a sad thing

^^ yes, and to think it's R&D that propels a nation to prosperity... it's a sad state for our country...

^^ yes, and to think it's R&D that propels a nation to prosperity... it's a sad state for our country...

No wonder some Filipino inventors sell their patents to foreign companies. :ohno: Rather than us having the exclusive rights to the invention, ibang bansa na nakinabang

^^ yes, and to think it's R&D that propels a nation to prosperity... it's a sad state for our country...

find a country in the world that has good r and d reputation with a 10 year basic education school curriculum?

Put a man in a situation where doing the same things over and over again means he will die and you will see innovations and inventions come out as if these men were well-schooled and well-heeled! These R&D will only be the in-thing if institutions and society feel a sense of urgency. Sadly, the Filipino attitude of "pwede na" and "bahala na" doesn't sit well with seeing the situation now as urgent. How could our countrymen see the urgency when their leaders can't even arouse the peoples' imagination and to believe there is urgency in our midst?

Some inventions are not made under lab conditions (R&D). Some were of the "eureka" moments. Vulcanizing was noticed when a losing DIY man in the name of Goodyear threw all his India rubber into a boiling vat of water out of his frustrations, then threw his things into the dump nearby because he did not find a cure to why rubber melts in time. Later, he observed the waste rubber withstanding the elements, not melting. Also, penicillin was an innovation derived from anecdotal stories about how bread with molds heal flu on the baker's son, in the olden days of kings with bakers. Once the right molds (fungi) were identified, R&D allowed penicillin to be mass-produced and healed battle wounds of US soldiers more quickly.

India, Bangladesh, Philippines lead the world in child labor data :ohno:

October 5, 2011, 3:13am

WASHINGTON (AFP) – India, Bangladesh and the Philippines lead the world in the number of products made by child workers, a US government report on the global scale of underaged labor revealed Monday.

Some 130 types of goods – from building bricks and soccer balls to pornography and rare ores used in cellphones – involve child labor in 71 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the Department of Labor said.

"We believe that we all have God-given potential... and every child should be given the right to fulfill their dreams," said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis at the release of the 10th annual "Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor."

Focusing this year on hazardous work performed by children, and relying in good part on International Labor Organization data, the report examines efforts by more than 140 countries to address the worst forms of child labor.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that more than 215 million children are involved in child labor.

One-third of countries have yet to define hazardous kinds of work prohibited to children, it said. Some nations have no minimum age for such work, and still more lack the means to monitor and enforce bans on dangerous child labor.

A rundown of goods produced by child labor, issued alongside the report, underlined the degree to which youngsters in developing nations are forced to work, rather than go to school, for little if any wages.

India topped the list, with its children being used to make no fewer than 20 products, including bidis, bricks, fireworks, footwear, glass bangles, incense, locks, matches, rice, silk fabric and thread, and soccer balls.

India also led a separate list of products made by forced or indentured child labor – seven types of goods in all, including carpets, embroidered textiles and garments.

In Bangladesh, children produced 14 kinds of goods, many of them of an industrial nature, such as bricks, footwear, steel furniture, leather, matches, and textiles including jute.

In the Philippines, children took part in the production of bananas, coconuts, corn, fashion accessories, gold, hogs, pornography, pyrotechnics, rice, rubber, sugarcane, and tobacco.

The Department of Labor announced Monday a $15 million was granted to the World Vision charity "to address the worst forms of child labor in sugar cane production" in the Philippines.

Sandra Polaski, deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the Department of Labor, said that India's place atop the child-labor table reflected its billion-plus population, and not neglect of the issue.

"India is one of the two largest countries in the world, and so the larger the country, if there is significant poverty, you would expect to see more" child labor, she said.

"The Indian government is the first to say they have to find more ambitious ways" of tackling the problem, she said, adding that New Delhi took a big step in 2010 when elementary education was made compulsory across the country.

Worldwide, Polaski said, the United States expects to see an uptick in the use of child labor as a consequence of the economic slump of 2008 from which the world has yet to re-emerge.

"We expect that some more children have fallen back into child labor," she said. "As households have been pushed in some countries below the poverty line, they've made up the difference (in income) with child labor."

Child labor remains in much of Latin America, but Polaski welcomed signs of progress – particularly in Brazil where child labor persists in agriculture, but poverty-fighting policies are showing results.

In Africa, children are working at mines in Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly at those producing cassiterite and coltan – both used in the assembly of mobile phones – and wolframite, used for tungsten steel.

Philippines Scales Down Plan to Offer Infrastructure Projects to Investors :ohno:

by Karl Lester M. Yap, Bloomberg - Oct 5, 2011 1:10 AM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/philippines-may-offer-two-projects-this-quarter-canilao-says.html

The Philippines said it may offer at least two projects to investors under the so-called public- private partnership starting this quarter, scaling down from an earlier plan for 10 proposals this year.

There are four projects worth 34.3 billion pesos ($777 million) in advanced stages of preparation, Cosette Canilao, deputy executive director at the Public-Private Partnership Center, said in an interview in Manila yesterday. They include two toll roads, a plan to build about 10,000 classrooms and a proposal to manufacture vaccines such as influenza, diphtheria and tetanus, she said.

“Planning these projects takes a great deal of time to ensure their success,” Canilao said. “We want to create a program that can become a legacy that would solve our nation’s infrastructure needs.”

More than a year after announcing its infrastructure plans, Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s administration has yet to seek bids from investors for projects under the public-private plan. The delay may undermine Aquino’s goal to bolster growth to create jobs and cut poverty as the Southeast Asian nation competes with the rest of the region for foreign capital to develop roads, ports and utilities.

From 1970 to 2009, the Philippines lured less foreign direct investments than its Southeast Asian neighbors, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It attracted $32.3 billion, compared with $285.8 billion for Singapore and $104.1 billion for Thailand.

Rail, Airport Projects

The government may invite bids to extend railway lines and operate airports after the first quarter of 2012, Transportation and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas said in an interview this week. These projects were earlier planned for 2011.
Holcim Philippines Inc. (HLCM), the nation’s biggest cement-maker, dropped 5.2 percent today, while Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc. fell 1.4 percent.

“It’s becoming more disappointing already,” said Euben Paracuelles, a Singapore-based economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. “Without new investments coming in, the pent-up investments we saw earlier this year will start to weaken. Coupled with the fiscal situation, investors will increasingly see this as a worry as growth may suffer.”

Growth in the $200 billion economy slowed for a fourth straight quarter to 3.4 percent in the three months through June, compared with a 4.6 percent gain in the January-to-March period. The government plans to narrow the budget deficit to 2.6 percent of gross domestic product, or about 286 billion pesos, in 2012, from a target of 3 percent, or about 300 billion pesos, this year.

Rating Upgrades

Aquino has won credit-rating upgrades for the Philippines after increasing revenue and controlling spending. Fitch Ratings raised the country’s debt to one step below investment grade in June, the same month that Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the Philippines to the highest rating since the start of 2005.

While the government has delayed offering projects to investors, it is planning to bring forward some spending set for 2012 to this year to help boost the economy. Government spending in the first eight months of 2011 fell 8.1 percent from a year earlier.

The administration intends to increase expenditures by accelerating existing projects and spending on additional projects “allowed by the available fiscal space,” Budget Secretary Butch Abad said in August.

The peso gained today, snapping four days of losses, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. The local currency fell more than 3 percent in September, its worst monthly loss since May 2010.

“We remain positive on the Philippine peso amidst the recent government’s strategy to bring forward some of the 2012 infrastructure spending to boost second-half growth and the resilient domestic spending engine in supporting the economic growth,” Malayan Banking Bhd. (MAY) analysts led by Saktiandi Supaat, head of foreign-exchange research in Singapore, said in a report today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karl Lester M. Yap in Manila at kyap5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

I think it is real. Even IT companies in the Philippines hardly do R&D. Usually, we're just into doing the "labor". R&D are usually just left to individuals. No collective effort for R&D. It's a sad thing

Agree.

PH is not conducive to do R&D activities whether it's IT or non-IT.

World Bank trims Philippine growth forecasts :ohno:

abs-cbnNEWS.com Posted at 10/06/2011 5:56 PM | Updated as of 10/06/2011 8:00 PM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/10/06/11/world-bank-trims-philippine-growth-forecasts

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is being affected by the economic turmoil in the United States and Europe, but strong fundamentals are limiting the impact on the economy, the World Bank said on Thursday in its quarterly report on the Southeast Asian nation.

The World Bank has cut its growth forecasts for the country to 4.5% for 2011 and 5% for 2012, from 5% and 5.4% previously.

"To better insulate the Philippine economy from external shocks, it is important to maintain strong macroeconomic fundamentals and improve its competitiveness through diversifying exports, strengthening domestic competition, and improving productivity of the services sector," World Bank economist Soonwha Yi said in a statement.

The country has a strong external position, supported by remittances from millions of Filipinos working overseas and net services receipts, the report said, noting rising capital inflows in both direct and portfolio investment.

Private consumption was expected to grow steadily due to lower unemployment, higher government spending and remittances, Yi said, and the government had room to scale up spending on delayed infrastructure projects and its social agenda.

In the second quarter, the Philippine economic growth slowed to 3.4%, much lower than economists' expectations.

Sluggish growth was blamed on the surge in world oil prices; the prolonged weakness of the global economy and the social unrests in the Middle East and North Africa, which affected both exports and remittances; and the disasters in Japan, which also affected trade.

The central bank, for its part, cited low government spending early this year.

The government was targeting a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7% to 8% this year, but economists said it might just be around 5%.

Finance officials said the government would frontload spending in the second half of the year to make up for the slack in the first, given a lower-than-programmed budget deficit.

For the first seven eight of the year, the deficit amounted to P34.5 billion, way below the P234.4 billion programmed for the first three quarters to September, and the P300 billion for 2011.

WB cuts Phl growth forecast to 4.5% :ohno:

by Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star) Updated October 07, 2011 12:00 AM

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=734663

MANILA, Philippines - The World Bank (WB) has scaled down its growth outlook for the Philippines this year to 4.5 percent, from an earlier forecast of five percent, due to the continued economic woes in the US and Europe.

In its Philippine Quarterly Update released yesterday, the WB likewise projected the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), to grow by a slower five percent in 2012, from the previous forecast of 5.4 percent.

“Increased uncertainty about global demand and a further slowdown in domestic investments pose significant downside risks to our GDP growth forecast,” the report noted.

It said the growth drivers this year remain the services and industry sectors, favored by a more upbeat business sentiment and the full roll-out of infrastructure-related projects.

“Capital inflows are expected to continue, but foreign direct investments (FDI) is projected to be moderate as foreign investors have become more cautious in light of the recent financial turmoil,” it added.

Nevertheless, the WB report said the Philippines is enjoying relative political stability and its fiscal position has improved.

It said consumption will be buoyed by falling unemployment, expansion of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, as well as sustained remittance inflows, which will boost the current account surplus.

The report added that the country’s trade deficit is likely to expand as imports pick up. However, gains will be partly offset by robust exports of services, particularly from business process outsourcing (BPO).

“To better insulate the Philippine economy from external shocks, it is important to maintain strong macroeconomic fundamentals and improve its competitiveness through diversifying exports, strengthening domestic competition, and improving productivity of the services sector,” WB economist Soonwha Yi said in a press statement.

“With ample fiscal space, the government is expected to boost spending in the second half and catch up on delayed implementation of infrastructure projects.”

The WB report said domestic investment is projected to expand to 21.8 percent of GDP for 2011 (from 20.5 percent in 2010), and to improve further to 23.1 percent in 2012, as the government accelerates the pace of its capital outlays and as business sentiment turns more positive.

World Bank reduces PH growth forecast :ohno:

Written by : Darwin G. Amojelar Senior Reporter Friday, October 07, 2011 00:00

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/top-business-news/8759-world-bank-reduces-ph-growth-forecast

THE World Bank on Thursday cut its economic growth forecast for the Philippines for this year and next year mostly because of the slowdown in the US and Europe.
In its Philippine Quarterly Update, the Washington-based lender projected that Manila’s gross domestic product would grow 4.5 percent this year, down from an earlier forecast of 5 percent.

For next year, the World Bank cut its forecast to 5 percent from an earlier estimate of 5.4 percent.

The lender’s projection is lower than the government’s target of between 7 percent and 8 percent.

The World Bank blamed the downward revision on the slower growth in the first half and the weaker economic outlook in advanced economies.

In the first half of the year, Philippine GDP expanded by only 4 percent.

“Our revised growth projection of 4.5 percent largely hinges on the government’s ability to carry out the implementation of delayed projects, and achieving an orderly resolution of the eurozone debt crisis and improved global trade environment,” the bank said.

The greater-than-expected weakness in global economic activity is estimated to cut down the bank’s growth forecast by at least 0.1 percentage points while subdued government spending is estimated to pull down the forecast by 0.2 percentage points—translating to a reduction of 0.3 percentage points from its forecast for a 4.2-percent GDP growth in case both events materialize.

Soonwha Yi, World Bank economist, said private consumption is expected to grow steadily, buoyed by lower unemployment, higher government spending and sustained remittances.

“With ample fiscal space, the government is expected to boost spending in the second half and catch up on delayed implementation of infrastructure projects,” Yi added.

The World Bank said the government’s zero-based budgeting process has generated sufficient fiscal space to scale up spending on priority social and economic agenda.

Domestic investment is projected to expand to 21.8 percent of GDP this year from 20.5 percent in 2010, and to improve further to 23.1 percent in 2012, as the government accelerates the pace of its capital outlays and as business sentiment turns more positive.

“On the supply side, growth for the full year 2011 is expected to come from the services and industry sectors, favored by a more upbeat business sentiment and with the full roll-out of infrastructure-related projects,” Yi said.

Ulrich Lachler, lead economist of the World Bank said the Philippines is enjoying relative political stability and a strong fiscal position. Capital inflows are expected to continue, but foreign direct investment is projected to moderate as investors have become more cautious in light of the recent financial turmoil, he said.

“To ensure inclusive growth or growth that benefits the poor, higher revenues through improved tax administration and reforms will enable the government to meet its priority spending targets, especially in public infrastructure and investment in human capital,” Lachler said.

The World Bank said the Philippines’ external position and macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong.

The current account surplus increased by 20 percent in the second quarter, owing to higher remittances and net services receipts.

“Net foreign direct investments increased in the first half and foreign reserves have surged to record highs thanks to strong capital inflows as well as sustained growth of remittances and income from investments abroad,” the lender said.

Attracted by relatively higher growth prospects and yield differentials, net foreign portfolio inflows soared through August, at $3.1billion, more than triple last year’s amount.

“To better insulate the Philippine economy from external shocks, it is important to maintain strong macroeconomic fundamentals and improve its competitiveness through diversifying exports, strengthening domestic competition, and improving productivity of the services sector,” Yi said.

Filipino teachers lowest paid in Asia :bash::bash::bash:

by Christine F. Herrera

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=/2011/october/6/news3.isx&d=2011/october/6

FILIPINO professors in state universities and colleges are the lowest paid in Asia, a lawmaker said Wednesday as the country marked World Teachers’ Day.

Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said a 2009 UNESCO study showed collegiate-level teachers in the Philippines had an annual salary of $9,202 compared with those of their counterparts in Malaysia ($11,438), Japan ($26,256) and Korea ($30,405).

“Not only is it a dishonor, it is also an injustice for our teachers to teach amid conditions of scarcity and slave-like compensation,” said Ilagan who taught at the Ateneo De Davao University for four decades.

“This is something that President Aquino should have learned in his years of study in Ateneo [De Manila University].”

Ilagan wanted President Benigno Aquino III to “best honor teachers” by reversing the budget cuts on education and addressing the shortages in classrooms, teaching positions and textbooks.

The proposed budget of 110 state universities and colleges was P45 billion but the Palace approved only P21.8 billion, Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino said.

The budget cuts amounted to some P23 billion, Palatino said. He said some P1.8 billion in capital outlay that was received by the schools in the previous administration was taken away by the Aquino administration.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said the World Teachers’ Day celebration turned into protest-rallies nationwide.

Tinio was in Cebu with some 300 teachers and 500 education students who demanded pay hikes and an increase in chalk allowances to P2,000 from P700 a year.

The Palace only approved P1,000 a year per teacher in chalk allowances for next year.

The protest started at the Cebu Normal University and moved to the Fuente Osmeña Circle.

“Hundreds of public school teachers in Metro Manila, Davao City, Masbate City, Negros City, Baguio City, Iloilo City, Butuan City, Central Luzon, Bohol, and Cagayan de Oro City today [Wednesday] held simultaneous protest actions to urge the Aquino administration to [give priority to] education by allocating a higher, sufficient budget,” Tinio said.

^^ their concerns are very valid and reasonable..

but i have to say...
ang OA ng description ni Rep. Ilagan --- "SLAVE LIKE COMPENSATION".....
IMO she's trying so hard to sensationalize it.. even comparing it with South Korea and Japan.. malamang nga...

o well.. i forgot.. GABRIELA representative nga pala cia.. it's something to be expected already...

I just wanna share some of the finest quotes of some notable persons the world has ever produced. It's too general in nature but it mentions some things about education, learning, and the role of government.
“You say: "There are persons who lack education" and you turn to the law. But the law is not, in itself, a torch of learning which shines its light abroad. The law extends over a society where some persons have knowledge and others do not; where some citizens need to learn, and others can teach. In this matter of education, the law has only two alternatives: It can permit this transaction of teaching-and-learning to operate freely and without the use of force, or it can force human wills in this matter by taking from some of them enough to pay the teachers who are appointed by government to instruct others, without charge. But in the second case, the law commits legal plunder by violating liberty and property.”
― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

^^ their concerns are very valid and reasonable..

but i have to say...
ang OA ng description ni Rep. Ilagan --- "SLAVE LIKE COMPENSATION".....
IMO she's trying so hard to sensationalize it.. even comparing it with South Korea and Japan.. malamang nga...

o well.. i forgot.. GABRIELA representative nga pala cia.. it's something to be expected already...

It's obvious that the militant congressmen exaggerated the report. If the reader is not smart, he/she would easily believe them that PH teachers are the lowest in Asia.

Asia is not only South Korea, Japan and Malaysia! There are countries poorer than PH in Asia.

It's obvious that the militant congressmen exaggerated the report. If the reader is not smart, he/she would easily believe them that PH teachers are the lowest in Asia.

Asia is not only South Korea, Japan and Malaysia! There are countries poorer than PH in Asia.

A whole lot of them. And we are not even part of these poor countries.

But it is true that most public school teachers have low salaries to the extent that those working in Mc Donalds earn more than them. This was back in the 1980s.

Making Filipino Graduates More Employable :ohno::ohno::ohno:

by TRICIA V. MORENTE (Inside Business Agenda) October 10, 2011, 3:37am

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/337217/making-filipino-graduates-more-employable

MANILA, Philippines — When the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, it painted a picture of the global economy at a time characterized by significant uncertainty.

According to the WEF, “Economies are advancing at different speeds and there is still a risk of a ‘double dip’ in a number of countries.”

It then went on to highlight 12 pillars that determine a country’s level of competitiveness, one of which is Higher Education and Training. “Quality higher education and training,” the report states, “is crucial for economies that want to move up the value chain beyond simple production processes and products.

Today’s globalizing economy requires countries to nurture pools of well-educated workers who are able to adapt rapidly to their changing environment and the evolving needs of the production system.”

The report further revealed that the Philippines ranked a poor seventh among nine Southeast Asian nations in the area of education, science and technology, and innovation. Such a shame because in a recent media roundtable discussion with Jobstreet.com, Marketing Director Yoda Buyco revealed that there is actually a surplus of jobs available in the country.

Mismatch between education and actual employment

In the recent Jobstreet.com JobGantic Career Fair 2011 last August, Buyco reports that over 158,000 job opportunities were made available to 25,000 jobseekers that came to SMX during the two-day event. “Ang daming trabaho available, both local and overseas,” Buyco shares, adding that this year, 242 employers participated in the event. The IT-BPO sector, in particular, has been the most active in hiring.

“They represent 40 percent of the postings in our website,” says Buyco. “If you visit our website today,” she adds, “you will see close to 45,000 job postings in the website. That’s just the number of postings, because if you multiply the number of job openings per posting—and some of them can range as high as 25 openings per posting—you’ll see that the total number of jobs available amount to around 250,000.”

Given the number of job opportunities available in the country, why then do we still find ourselves facing a high unemployment rate? According to Jobstreet.com Campus Specialist Maricar Estrabo, it isn’t for a lack of jobseekers or jobs available.

“One job posting in our website would actually generate over a hundred candidates, but walang nakukuhang candidate because they lack skills,” she shares, “and this is especially true for the fresh graduates segment, the ones with only one to four years of experience.”

It’s the reason why pirating employees remains a widespread trend in the BPO sector. “The common complaint among employers is that if they bank on the talents of our fresh graduates now, they end up spending a lot on training because most of our fresh graduates are not really equipped and prepared for the workforce. There are gaps from becoming a student to an employee,” reports Estrabo.

The National Internship Movement

In line with Jobstreet.com’s mission of “improving lives through better careers,” the company recently launched the National Internship Movement, with the goal to institutionalize a formal internship program in the Philippines.

“There is no national agenda on internship,” shares Estrabo, “so this is really for us to engage different sectors to help create a sustainable internship program for the youth. Our goal is to connect 1,000 employers and schools in three years.”

According to Estrabo, different sectors have already pledged their support for the movement. “The academe is putting up internship programs for schools, but they want a stronger linkage program with different employers,” she says, adding that over 100 employers have also pledged support by establishing internship programs in their respective companies.

“We also wanted to provide students the linkages with them for monitoring and assessment. We want a 360-degree monitoring and assessment for employers, students and schools,” Estrabo says.

For its part, Jobstreet.com will be providing a rendezvous for all sectors to meet by way of a micro-site where internship opportunities will be posted. “This is really our CSR (corporate social responsibility),” injects Buyco.

“Usually when an employer posts an ad about a job opening in our website, we charge them because that’s our core revenue stream. But for all internships,” she says, “we will waive the charge and give it for free. So for all of those wanting to participate in the National Internship Movement, they can post their internship programs in our website for free.”

The company also spearheaded a campus career event themed “Leadership plus the Power of Three” last September 20, and it gathered thousands of student leaders from over 100 participating colleges and universities.

Esteemed speakers and trainers discussed how student leaders should practice and maximize their leadership skills while honing the three most sought-after skills by employers: communication skills, critical thinking skills and initiative.

It’s a long journey to institutionalize a formal internship program in the Philippines, especially because “we are dealing with the national government. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we hope that when we send out a report to DOLE about the good and bad internship practices we will be able to gather from our initial run, the government will realize the value of standardizing the process,” concludes Buyco

Fungus could wipe out Philippine bananas: growersAgence :ohno:

France-Presse Posted at 10/10/2011 9:39 PM | Updated as of 10/10/2011 10:43 PM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/10/10/11/fungus-could-wipe-out-philippine-bananas-growers

MANILA, Philippines - A disease that has ravaged banana plantations across Southeast Asia could wipe out the Philippine industry in three years unless the government finds a cure, a growers' group warned Monday.

The disease, called Fusarium wilt, is caused by a fast-spreading fungus that kills the plant, said Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association.

"So far, it has already infected 1,200 hectares (2,950 acres) of banana plantations locally, although that figure can go higher," Antig told AFP.

"If we can not contain this and it remains unchecked, then in less than three years our banana industry will die."

The Philippines is the second biggest exporter of bananas in the world behind Ecuador with about 70,000 hectares of plantations, according to the association.

The banana sector is also the country's fifth largest export industry, directly employing 280,000 people, it said.

"Losing this industry will have a huge impact on our economy," Antig said.

The Philippines exports the Cavendish variety of banana, which is the most popular type around the world, according to Antig.

He said the disease wiped out the then-popular Gros Michel bananas in Central America and the Caribbean in the 1960s.

The disease also destroyed Cavendish plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1990s.

Traces of the fungus were found in controllable levels in the Philippines five years ago, Antig said.

But a more virulent type of the fungus emerged last month and quickly began spreading through plantations in the southern region of Mindanao, where most of the country's banana exports come from, he said.

Antig urged the government to fast-track the creation of a research institute to enable local growers to develop a fruit variety that is resistant to the disease.

^^ Cause for worry.

Mag-ingat....

New HIV cases up 81% in August
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 10/11/2011 6:31 PM | Updated as of 10/11/2011 6:37 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Some 196 Filipinos, including 23 overseas Filipino workers, were diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in August, a party-list lawmaker said Tuesday.

The figure is 81% higher compared to the 108 new cases reported in the same month last year.

This brought the cumulative number of HIV cases discovered in the first 8 months of the year to 1,416, LPG Marketers Association Rep. Arnel Ty said, citing data from the HIV and AIDS Registry of the Department of Health.

"At the rate new infections are soaring, we are easily looking at 200 new cases monthly for the rest of the year, 330 new cases monthly by 2012, and 550 new cases monthly by 2013," Ty said in a statement released Tuesday.

Of the 196 new cases, 182 were males and 14 were females, Ty said. Their median age is 28 years.

Fifty-five percent, or 108 of the new cases, are based in Metro Manila.

Four patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) died in August, bringing to 13 the total number of deaths in the country this year due to the disease.

Ty said that based on the records, 7,431 Filipinos have been infected with HIV since passive surveillance of the disease began in 1984. Ninety-one percent, or 6,787, were infected as a result of unprotected sexual contact.

The rest were infected via contaminated needle sharing, mother-to-child conveyance, tainted blood transfusion and needle prick injuries, he added.

Ty and four of his colleagues are calling on Congress to revisit the AIDS Prevention and Control Law and a budget of P400 million to jumpstart a national action plan aimed at suppressing HIV/AIDS.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/10/11/11/new-hiv-cases-81-august

Palace: Phl not against European investments :bash::bash::bash:

by Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated October 12, 2011 12:00 AM

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=736461&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government is not deliberately biased against European investments despite the cancellation or suspension of some projects as part of the Aquino administration’s effort to ensure the success of its Public-Private Partnership program.

“We need to clarify. We’re not against foreign governments. We are not against the European governments. We looked into some of the projects and some of the projects we found were not in accordance with law,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said yesterday in a press briefing.

“We are looking into it and reviewing it and canceling it not because of who the personalities (involved) are or, for instance, that they are European-based but more on the legality of each project,” he added.

The government had earlier cancelled a Belgian project to dredge part of Laguna Lake and a French project to build 72 roll on/roll off (RoRo) ports nationwide.

“So that’s what we are looking into and we’d like to assure the French ambassador (Thierry Borja de Mozota), we’d like to assure the EU (European Union), that there is no concerted effort to do European bashing here in the country. We look into each specific project and we evaluate it accordingly,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda also said four PPP projects of the government were on track and that not all of them would require official development assistance (ODA) from foreign governments.

“For instance, Daang Hari (South Luzon Expressway Road Project) has been bidded out – that did not require ODA. The DOH (Department of Health) vaccine program also will not require ODA. Some projects will require some ODA but not all the projects,” Lacierda said.

“DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications) Secretary Mar Roxas is looking into a PPP project where there is an ODA component but not all PPP projects will require an ODA component,” he said.

“It depends on the study made by the PPP Center and also eventually the review by NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority),” Lacierda said.

“The others are looking into reviewing. We have hired, for instance, advisers for some of the projects. But we believe that by next year we would be able to launch the other PPP projects,” Lacierda said.

During the President’s official working visit to Japan, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told Japanese businessmen that the government would continue to consider both solicited and unsolicited projects for PPP.

In the latter category, Purisima said the main consideration would be the entry of new technology.

Roxas said there are two types of PPP projects being considered: the first is classic PPP involving concession agreement, while the second one is hybrid and supported by low-cost long term ODA or loans, possibly with one percent interest rate stretched to a 30-year period.

Roxas said that for rail and airport projects, the government would separately bid out their different components.

For the Light Rail Transit 1 extension project, the government might first bid out the construction component, then the rolling stock. There might also be separate bidding for operations and maintenance contracts.

Meanwhile, President Aquino said the PPP program might also be tapped for the construction of 6,000 more classrooms by the end of his term in 2016.

“The good news here is that we are going to acquire funds through the cooperation of DepEd (Department of Education) and the private sector under the Public-Private Partnership program to address the lack of classrooms in the country,” Aquino said in his speech yesterday at the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 3 of the Eulogio Rodriguez Integrated School in Mandaluyong City.

^^Belgium and France: "Weh, di nga?!"

This is disappointing.

^^Belgium and France: "Weh, di nga?!"

This is disappointing.

Hindi yata kasali sa "europe" ang Belgium at France. Kaya inayawan ni Pnoy! Hehehe

God what a big shame!!... Kahit ano pa sabihen ni Lacierda, this is a very bad publicity. An agreement is an agreement (except in the Philippines), thats the highlight of that report!!

why are they excited about ODAs???- para may makurakot na naman sila?

these cabinet people are all incompetent and good only in words and political posturing... mga wala namang silbe

hayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....:bash:

Belgian firm pulling out
By MARVYN N. BENANING
October 14, 2011, 6:16pm

MANILA, Philippines — Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDC), the Belgian company that proposed the P18.7-billion Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project (LLRP), is shutting down its Philippine operations while other companies from member-countries of the European Union (EU) are reported to be on the verge of following BDC’s lead.

A top BDC official said he is packing his bags and flying out, weeks after the company filed a P4-billion damage suit against the Aquino government before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The company is also seeking payment of P500 million for its work on the Pasig River Rehabilitation Project (PRRP), which was finished in September, 2010, two months ahead of schedule.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Belgian executive said the top management of the Brussels-based, 150-year-old company came to the conclusion that “it would be impossible to do business in the Philippines since it is ranged against the government before ICSID.”

ICSID, which is based in Washington D.C., ruled thrice against the Philippine government, mostly in cases involving foreign investments in the power sector.

The Belgian executive said his company actually did not believe the Aquino government would be harsh on LLRP and thought a review of the contract, thrice upheld by the Department of Justice (DoJ), was not coming.

BDC established its office here 10 years ago, after the country signed an investment and trade treaty with the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union.

It terminated 250 personnel and a total of about 550 contractors late last year after President Aquino slammed LLRP twice in major policy speeches and argued that the dredging project was littered with irregularities.

However, the Belgian executive said he was pleasantly surprised why some parties were calling up their office, including the principal owner of a diversifying food and beverage company, several businessmen and companies apparently interested in reclaiming more than 600 hectares of Manila Bay.

He explained that BDC is a dredging company and is not really keen on reclaiming land from the sea, which some Chinese corporations are intent on doing.

Who's gonna save the Philippines frrom the Filipinos?

^^The Chinese? :lol:

Maybe the Canadians; they have a lot of space there. Invite the Philippines to join Canada so we will disappear as a race. That will take care of everything.

^^ i think it's already happening.. Filipinos are very visible in Canada nowadays. :)

That's it! Filipinos should start applying for immigration to the Great White North.

^^ LOL

but then, who's gonna save Canada from Filipinos?? :lol:

He he he. Hindi ko naisip yon ah. The Filipinos are gonna infect the Canadians with their corruption, backbiting, infighting and their penchant for showbusiness.

Let’s just disperse the Filipinos to all the countries of the world. That way, the Filipino race will disappear, and because they are so few in the host countries, they won’t be that infectious.

^^The Chinese? :lol:

The drug lords, the smuggling kings and the KKK.

He he he. Hindi ko naisip yon ah. The Filipinos are gonna infect the Canadians with their corruption, backbiting, infighting and their penchant for showbusiness.

Let’s just disperse the Filipinos to all the countries of the world. That way, the Filipino race will disappear, and because they are so few in the host countries, they won’t be that infectious.

Don't worry, the current crop of Filipino immigrants are destined for meaningless jobs, needed only to boost Canada's birthrate, without any influence or impact on Canadian "society." Some of the recent arrivals even the professionals end up in low end, entry level jobs and probably will be stuck there as long there is healthcare, free education to secondary, reasonable educational loans and tuition, cpp and social welfare.

As for the Filipino race disappearing, well, Filipino is not a race, but a nationality. We are already mixed racially, and aging expats have been infiltrating the bloodlines by marrying Filipinas. "Filipino" will simply become a historical reference, or possibly another term for domestics or as in Spain, "biscuit"!!!

What the fuck does PNoy know about dredging when all he thinks about is his lovelife?

Don't worry, the current crop of Filipino immigrants are destined for meaningless jobs, needed only to boost Canada's birthrate, without any influence or impact on Canadian "society." Some of the recent arrivals even the professionals end up in low end, entry level jobs and probably will be stuck there as long there is healthcare, free education to secondary, reasonable educational loans and tuition, cpp and social welfare.

As for the Filipino race disappearing, well, Filipino is not a race, but a nationality. We are already mixed racially, and aging expats have been infiltrating the bloodlines by marrying Filipinas. "Filipino" will simply become a historical reference, or possibly another term for domestics or as in Spain, "biscuit"!!!

I know a Filipino immigrant(now a citizen) who's running for city council...
and my impression of him is like the usual trapo in the Philippines.... :nuts:

I know a Filipino immigrant(now a citizen) who's running for city council...
and my impression of him is like the usual trapo in the Philippines.... :nuts:
sa Guam marami na sila:lol:

I know a Filipino immigrant(now a citizen) who's running for city council...
and my impression of him is like the usual trapo in the Philippines.... :nuts:

there's something called pandering to the ethnics, that's why there maybe an odd Pinoy who might go into politics. Other than that, the new waves will not get have the same breaks as the older generation of immigrants. besides, on tvo, steve paikin noted in a study Filipino immigrants over the past 20 years, have been generally stuck in low wage jobs unlike the previous generation of immigrants. part of that too is the decline in the quality of education in the philippines.

PH skills gaps ‘serious’ – WB :ohno:

by : DARWIN G. AMOJELAR inShare.1Published : Friday, October 14, 2011

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/top-business-news/9215-ph-skills-gaps-serious--wb

THE World Bank of Thursday cited skills gaps as serious bottlenecks for innovation and productivity among Filipino companies.
In a report titled, “Putting Higher Education to Work: Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia,” the Washington-based lender said skills gaps in the Philippines are particularly large in the service industry, export sector, and technologically intensive sector. The report said employers and employees find these gaps to be particularly severe in creativity, leadership, and problem solving skills.

“Many firms face the challenge of hiring higher education graduates who simply do not have the right skills, and these skills mismatches have been widening between firms and employees at all employment levels,” the report said. Given this, the report highlighted the importance of shifting investments towards building the country’s research capacity, particularly in higher education institutions.

“Quality research enables universities to produce ideas for the business community and contribute to technology upgrading in firms, generating knowledge and technological innovation,” Emanuela di Gropello, World Bank lead economist and lead author of the report said. “Low spending in research and development, low number of licenses, and low number of patents all indicate a low capacity for research and innovation,” di Gropello said.

For the Philippines to grow faster and achieve continued technological deepening, the government should address skill gaps by maintaining coverage and improving the quality of higher education graduates, and increasing research relevant to economic needs in a few universities or departments.

The government should also increase education spending in relation to gross domestic product, improve the use and allocation of public resources and complete the process of granting autonomy to universities while strengthening the role and functions of university boards.

The report added that the Philippines—along with other low- and middle-income countries in the East Asia and the Pacific Region—has started climbing the technology ladder and assimilated important technologies by becoming more open, developing infrastructure and improving its manufacturing industry.

^^ If we can't fix our education, this will be the end part.

there's something called pandering to the ethnics, that's why there maybe an odd Pinoy who might go into politics. Other than that, the new waves will not get have the same breaks as the older generation of immigrants. besides, on tvo, steve paikin noted in a study Filipino immigrants over the past 20 years, have been generally stuck in low wage jobs unlike the previous generation of immigrants. part of that too is the decline in the quality of education in the philippines.

i know a lot of Pinoys who are very content of their lives in Canada despite of earning average.. i guess it's what you call contentment. Income equality in Canada is actually very good. you really don't need to be rich to live decently.
Job discrimination here is also very low.. people don't judge you by your job position. maybe that's also one factor why immigrants are content with simple jobs. :)

Interesting stuff. Now, given the rise in production (peak, as per the claim), then the law of supply and demand hardly make sense now. Implies that there are many oil drilled, but rather than driving down the cost of oil, it becomes more expensive.

What are they doing?

But then again, what if all oil rans out?

According to various sources, we have reached global peak production:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/oil-production-and-consumption

and we are now using sources like biofuels to make up for increasing demand, which in turn is contributing to higher food prices. Around 90 pct of our mass manufacturing and mechanized agriculture are heavily dependent on oil, not just for energy but also for petrochemicals.

That is why various groups have released warnings. For example,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/11/peak-oil-energy-disruption

It gets worse when we realize that we don't even have to wait for oil production to drop. As long as demand keeps hitting a production ceiling that cannot rise, then we face one recession after another:

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/08/our-oil-constrained-future

with shortages for luxuries like computers, passenger vehicles, and cell phones, followed by supply problems for food, medicine, and electricity, and coupled with unemployment, deflation, etc.

And then there's catastrophic bifurcation, given a JIT system, the effects of climate change, and long-term recession.

Too many reports have been issued the last few weeks, but look up warnings of a global depression given by various groups, including the IMF, the WB, and so on.

For those interested in graphs, try

http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3421

Also, check out other factors, like the BDI and Dr. Copper.

^^ Prior to boarding for a flight from Africa, I had an interesting conversation with a German national who works with the UN. He talked exactly about these stuff. Towards the end...I asked him what's his outlook of the future. Are we going to have a better earth or will people continue to ruin it.

Unfortunately, we were not seated together in the plane.

"Derivatives: The $600 Trillion Time Bomb That's Set to Explode"

http://moneymorning.com/2011/10/12/derivatives-the-600-trillion-time-bomb-thats-set-to-explode/

i know a lot of Pinoys who are very content of their lives in Canada despite of earning average.. i guess it's what you call contentment. Income equality in Canada is actually very good. you really don't need to be rich to live decently.
Job discrimination here is also very low.. people don't judge you by your job position. maybe that's also one factor why immigrants are content with simple jobs. :)

We have social safety nets. That's what the Philippine gov'ts should try to develop. Philhealth is one, it should be universal. Education is another. Arroyo is right about the expanded CCT. The support institutions aren't there. Canada has support institutions.

As for income equality, recently read that inequality in Canada is happening at a faster rate than the US! (US and PH have the same GINI coefficient btw.) Most immigrants come to Canada for the freebies. Some get more than what taxpayers get. What happens when all these freebies are no longer available?

According to various sources, we have reached global peak production:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/oil-production-and-consumption

and we are now using sources like biofuels to make up for increasing demand, which in turn is contributing to higher food prices. Around 90 pct of our mass manufacturing and mechanized agriculture are heavily dependent on oil, not just for energy but also for petrochemicals.

That is why various groups have released warnings. For example,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/11/peak-oil-energy-disruption

It gets worse when we realize that we don't even have to wait for oil production to drop. As long as demand keeps hitting a production ceiling that cannot rise, then we face one recession after another:

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/08/our-oil-constrained-future

with shortages for luxuries like computers, passenger vehicles, and cell phones, followed by supply problems for food, medicine, and electricity, and coupled with unemployment, deflation, etc.

And then there's catastrophic bifurcation, given a JIT system, the effects of climate change, and long-term recession.

Your post has got me thinking. We probably don't need asteroids, global pandemics, mini Ice ages, nuclear war and zombies to enter a post-Apocalyptic era. As it seems, we're heading straight into it.

World governments should enforce sustainability.

Anyone posted this yet?

Malacañang respects the decision of the families of the August 23 hostage taking victims to complain to UN (http://mb.com.ph/articles/337948/malaca-ang-respects-decision-families-august-23-hostage-taking-victims-complain-un)
By GENALYN D. KABILING
October 16, 2011, 6:30pm
MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang said Sunday that it will respect the move of the survivors and victims' families of the August 23 hostage crisis in Manila to elevate their complaint against the Philippine government before the United Nations .

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte however insisted that the President Aquino's position on the tragedy stays amid reports the survivors are demanding a formal apology and compensation.

The President has rejected the families' call for a formal apology for the deaths of the eight Hong Kong hostages in a botched politice rescue last year. Aquino, during the anniversary of the hostage-taking last August, insisted that a lone gunman and not the state should be blamed for the tragedy.

"We will respect the decision of the families," Valte said in a text message. "We stand by the President's position as earlier stated," she added.

Valte was reacting to reports that survivors plan to seek help from the UN human rights council for human rights to compel the Philippine government to issue an apology and provide reparation.The victims have accused the Aquino government of alleged failure to protect the human rights during the bus hostage drama.

GO Pinoy pride! Ang galing talaga ni Penot:banana:

The lone gunman shouldn't be blamed for the botched mission of a state operated police force. I swear, PNoy is easily the dumbest leader I've ever seen. He's doing everything wrong.

The lone gunman shouldn't be blamed for the botched mission of a state operated police force. I swear, PNoy is easily the dumbest leader I've ever seen. He's doing everything wrong.

For all the accomplishments this admin had done, which ones were wrong? (just kidding here!)

The lone gunman shouldn't be blamed for the botched mission of a state operated police force. I swear, PNoy is easily the dumbest leader I've ever seen. He's doing everything wrong.

laagoooot kaaaa:lol:

I don't understand, bakit kasi ayaw nilang mag-apologize and mag compensate sa victims? Parang tama lang naman yung hinihingi ng victims.

I don't understand, bakit kasi ayaw nilang mag-apologize and mag compensate sa victims? Parang tama lang naman yung hinihingi ng victims.

The luneta incident will always be a stigma attached with this administration. The longer this admin refused to take the proper action regarding this matter, the bigger the shame this is going to bring to our country and our countrymen. I understand the reason why pnoy doesnt want to act on this, it involves close friends which includes mayor lim, vice mayor isko, dilg exec (kabarilan) puno and in some way the president itself. These people are at fault one way or the other. I pray that this doesnt get pick up by international media because this is going to cause a lot of negative publicity for us. This event is going to create an impression that we filipinos dont know how to own up to our mistakes, in short lalong bababa ang tingin ng ibang lahi sa atin. Ang tingin nila sa atin mga balasubas at walang kwentang tao. What pnoy should do is to live up to his slogan "daan matuwid" Do what is right and not what is popular, be fair to everyone and in this case the hostage victims and the filipino people. Otherwise pati potential foreign investors and tourists ay mag dadalawang isip pumasok sa atin.

Sometimes I think kulang sa pangaral ng magulang si pnoy. Dapat matuto ng tamang asal.

The only corrupt politicians in PNoy's eyes are his opponents. Shameful.

The only corrupt politicians in PNoy's eyes are his opponents. Shameful.

I agree with this one!

Sometimes I think kulang sa pangaral ng magulang si pnoy. Dapat matuto ng tamang asal.

Hmmmn make sense look at kris.

http://business.inquirer.net/25285/d...terdam-flights

DoTC to ask KLM to reconsider move to stop Manila-Amsterdam flights
By: Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
6:33 pm | Monday, October 17th, 2011

MANILA, Philippines—The government will try to dissuade Air France-KLM from halting its Manila-Amsterdam route—the country’s last direct service to Europe.
The airline decision to stop direct flights between the two cities, announced over the weekend, was prompted by the government’s insistence on charging a 3-percent common carriers tax and a 2.5-percent gross Philippine billings tax on cargo and passenger revenues originating from the country. The same taxes, together with increasing competition from heavily subsidized Middle Eastern competitors, have forced other European airlines out of the Philippine market over the last decade.
Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said he would discuss the matter with the foreign carrier.
“We will talk to them,” Roxas said, when asked about the matter.
Air France-KLM currently flies daily between Manila and Amsterdam. By the end of the month, the company said it would reduce flights to six a week. By April 2012, flights going directly to Amsterdam will cease, and instead have a Hong Kong detour.
Having a stopover in Hong Kong means less tax because the duty is only charged for revenues earned for flights directly from the Philippines.
The government said it would push for a “change of heart” on the part of the Air France-KLM officials in the Philippines.
“This is a sad turn of events if it ever pushes through,” Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in an interview. “We need direct flights to support our tourism sector.”
Arcilla said tourist arrivals from Europe have not grown significantly over the past decade, settling at around 300,000, or 10 percent of the total, at the end of 2010.
He said increased air services to Europe would help the government attain its goal of doubling tourist arrivals to six million by the end of President Aquino’s term in 2016.
Data released by the CAB on Monday showed international air passenger traffic into and out of the Philippines grew by 10 percent in the first half of 2011 over the same period in 2010.
The total number of incoming and outgoing passengers grew to 8.035 million from 7.269 million in the first six months of 2010.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) remained the top carrier with 2.044 million passengers for the period, up 4.7 percent year on year. This was followed by Cebu Pacific, which carried 1.3 million passengers, or 28 percent up from last year.
Occupying the 13th slot was Air France-KLM, which carried 129,056 passengers in the six-month period, down 9.6 percent from the year before.
Arcilla said the approval of House Bill 3928 filed by Batangas Representative Hermilando Mandanas, seeking to exempt foreign airlines from the carriers tax, could help in resolving the situation.
The House ways and means committee has given its approval for the bill, but the proposal has yet to progress in Congress.

Country to lose direct flights to Europe :bash:

BusinessWorld Online
October 16, 2011

AIR FRANCE-KLM, the only European carrier operating in the Philippines, will be phasing out direct Manila-Amsterdam flights due to issues with the country’s taxes.

Reduced flights will start by end-October and the nonstop service will cease in April next year, said Cees Ursem, general manager for South China Sea at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

He told BusinessWorld last week that this was in response to taxes levied by the Philippines on international carriers.

“The airline industry is in a very, very bad shape already for a couple of years now... and here, we are punished with taxes of 5.5% over gross receipts,” Mr. Ursem said.

Foreign airlines are slapped with a 3% common carriers tax and a 2.5% gross Philippine billings tax on cargo and passenger revenues originating from the country.

By month’s end, Air France-KLM will be reducing Manila-Amsterdam flights to six times per week from seven, to be halted during the first quarter of 2012. Flights starting April will now have a Hong Kong detour.

“We have to consider our operations... so by the end of October, we are reducing flights from seven to six. From April next year, we are not flying direct anymore to Manila,” Mr. Ursem said.

“We are making an intermediate stop by Hong Kong to make sure that we reduce the amount of tax payments because we will not have so many passengers anymore to Manila,” he added.

Mr. Ursem noted that Air France-KLM was the only airline offering direct flights from Manila to Europe, with all other European carriers having left within the last decade. December 5 would mark the airline’s 60th year of flying to the Philippines uninterrupted, he added.

“After all the meetings with different stakeholders of the [Philippine] government in the past year...it all turned out to be unsuccessful,” Mr. Ursem said.

The reduced service and end to direct flights will also mean Air France-KLM ending accommodation tie-ups with local hotels.

“We’re also stopping our crew accommodations in Sofitel [Philippine Plaza] and that’s about 11,000 rooms per year,” Mr. Ursem said.

Sofitel officials were not immediately available for comment.

A European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) official, meanwhile, said Air France-KLM’s move was the result of the Philippines’ unwillingness to address foreign carriers’ concerns.

“We have been discussing with this government the need to reduce the costs for the foreign airlines,” ECCP Executive Vice-President Henry J. Schumacher told BusinessWorld. “This is bad for tourism and investment as travellers will no longer reach the Philippines non-stop.”

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), for its part, said Air France-KLM’s move would likely have a minimal impact on tourist arrivals.

“I don’t think the effect will be very adverse as we have seen small numbers of tourist arrivals from Europe in the last couple of years as compared to other regions like Asia,” CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said.

“We still have to wait and see how this will affect [tourism]. This will be a sad news for the country because that’s our only direct connection to Europe,” he added.

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=Country-to-lose-direct-flights-to-Europe&id=40040

Hmmmn make sense look at kris.

I tried. Laylay na rin! hahahaha:jk::jk::jk::jk::jk:

Gap between rich and poor widening: IMF :ohno:

by Ces Oreña-Drilon, ABS-CBN News Posted at 10/18/2011 8:59 AM | Updated as of 10/18/2011 11:50 AM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/10/18/11/gap-between-rich-and-poor-widening-imf

MANILA, Philippines - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) unveiled its economic outlook for Asia-Pacific region in Manila on Monday, lowering its growth projection for Asia to 6.3%. As for the Philippines, the IMF said it will be affected by the slowdown in exports but its economy will remain resilient.

Asked about the protests against corporate greed in the Western world, IMF director for Asia and the Pacific Anoop Singh said the impact of a global slowdown and the prospect of a global recession may cause protests to resonate in Asia.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is not just spreading in the US but across the globe. Over the weekend, hundreds gathered in Times Square in New York, saying it is unjust for just one percent of the population to control the wealth while the rest are living in poverty. The protests led to the arrest of more than 70 people.

Britons echoed the same sentiment and criticized the global financial system. In Italy, vehicles were razed and major roads closed by the rallies.

In Germany, protests turned violent when police tried to disperse the demonstrators. Rallies have already sprung in Hong Kong.

The IMF said economic growth in Asia should be more inclusive.

Singh said even with robust growth, the disparity between the rich and the poor in Asia continues to widen, a challenge that the Philippines is also facing.

"Asian leaders recognize that in many countries in Asia too, inequalities have grown over the last decade, more than other regions," Singh said.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Monday expressed doubt Filipinos will copy the "Occupy Wall Street" protests.

"It's possible that other groups will imitate the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement... This cannot be compared with our administration. We have always fought for inclusive growth," Lacierda said.

Singh urged Asian nations to increase spending on infrastructure, health and education to benefit the poor.

The IMF director also lauded the Aquino administration's conditional cash transfer program. "Because it is targeted, it gets the poor. Because it is well-targeted, it is not very expensive," he said.

Still, the IMF warns another global recession similar to that in 2008 may recur due to the eurozone debt crisis and America's economic woes.

Should this happen, the IMF said, there won't be escaping the economic downturn, not even in Asia, the Philippines included.

Italian nationals advised not to travel to Mindanao
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/15613/italian-nationals-advised-not-to-travel-to-mindanao

By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:04 pm | Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

MANILA, Philippines—The Italian Embassy in Makati City has advised anew its 1,010 nationals in the country—including 250 to 300 Catholic priests and nuns—to avoid traveling to Mindanao, which it calls a “red area.”

Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Luca Fornari on Tuesday said the embassy “has repeatedly suggested to Italians who are based here not to travel to Mindanao” due to the not so ideal peace and order situation in the region.

^^ Ano ba yan one bad news after another. Imagine na voted uli this time ang NAIA 1 as the worst airport sa buong mundo :ohno:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/15661/naia-is-%E2%80%98world%E2%80%99s-worst-airport%E2%80%99-in-2011-says-website

^^ Ano ba yan one bad news after another. Imagine na voted uli this time ang NAIA 1 as the worst airport sa buong mundo :ohno:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/15661/naia-is-%E2%80%98world%E2%80%99s-worst-airport%E2%80%99-in-2011-says-website

ok i agree with the one sitting in malacanang but not this one

"65 million Filipinos at risk to disasters, says expert"

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/15655/65-million-filipinos-at-risk-to-disasters-says-expert

Anyone posted this yet?

Malacañang respects the decision of the families of the August 23 hostage taking victims to complain to UN (http://mb.com.ph/articles/337948/malaca-ang-respects-decision-families-august-23-hostage-taking-victims-complain-un)
By GENALYN D. KABILING
October 16, 2011, 6:30pm
MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang said Sunday that it will respect the move of the survivors and victims' families of the August 23 hostage crisis in Manila to elevate their complaint against the Philippine government before the United Nations .

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte however insisted that the President Aquino's position on the tragedy stays amid reports the survivors are demanding a formal apology and compensation.

The President has rejected the families' call for a formal apology for the deaths of the eight Hong Kong hostages in a botched politice rescue last year. Aquino, during the anniversary of the hostage-taking last August, insisted that a lone gunman and not the state should be blamed for the tragedy.

"We will respect the decision of the families," Valte said in a text message. "We stand by the President's position as earlier stated," she added.

Valte was reacting to reports that survivors plan to seek help from the UN human rights council for human rights to compel the Philippine government to issue an apology and provide reparation.The victims have accused the Aquino government of alleged failure to protect the human rights during the bus hostage drama.

GO Pinoy pride! Ang galing talaga ni Penot:banana:

They should also compel Japan to apologize for their war crimes too if that's the case dahil mas brutal ang ginawa nila dati.

They should also compel Japan to apologize for their war crimes too if that's the case dahil mas brutal ang ginawa nila dati.

Hmm. Not my point when posting this news.
Anyway, the Chinese bus tragedy was not a NOT A WAR CRIME. So not a parallel point.
I would agree had anyone been formally charged and held liable for the gross negligence/incompetence resulting in the tragedy. That's already akin to saying sorry and owning up to your mistakes.
BUT PENOT IS MORE INTERESTED IN PROTECTING HIS COMPADRES, apparently.:|

Hmm. Not my point when posting this news.
Anyway, the Chinese bus tragedy was not a NOT A WAR CRIME. So not a parallel point.
I would agree had anyone been formally charged and held liable for the gross negligence/incompetence resulting in the tragedy. That's already akin to saying sorry and owning up to your mistakes.
BUT PENOT IS MORE INTERESTED IN PROTECTING HIS COMPADRES, apparently.:|

Yes it is. The Japanese didn't even record that happening in their history books and they are brutal by a thousand miles than that bus hostage incident.

Guess what? Did Japan formally apologize to us or to those countries were their war crimes were committed? ;)

How about those comfort women who are still crying for justice? What happened to them?

The point is that how come they are easy picking on small countries like Philippines instead of going after the big fish like Japan in putting their blame on? Because we are the land of the maids so its easier for them to ask us to kow tow before them? :lol:

Oh look what happened here:

7XDP1HD7fc4

Sa kanila mismo yan ha?

According to the truck driver, he didn't help the little girl because it will cost him less to bury than spending more money for her hospitalization. Look at the mentality of these people. They have serious human rights issue in their own country and they can't even bring it to the UN. :nuts:

According to the truck driver, he didn't help the little girl because it will cost him less to bury than spending more money for her hospitalization. Look at the mentality of these people. They have serious human rights issue in their own country and they can't even bring it to the UN. :nuts:

that video broke my heart and made me furious to people walking past the kid!.. how sad that video has shown...

on the point about the driver... you that even in Manila, i've heard stories of some buses and trucks who accidentally hit people on the streets go back to the person they hit to make sure their dead.. with the same reason that if the victim is dead they'd have to support all the medical costs and be tied longer to the person unlike if that person was dead... but of course our course litigate this drivers accordingly...

that video broke my heart and made me furious to people walking past the kid!.. how sad that video has shown...

on the point about the driver... you that even in Manila, i've heard stories of some buses and trucks who accidentally hit people on the streets go back to the person they hit to make sure their dead.. with the same reason that if the victim is dead they'd have to support all the medical costs and be tied longer to the person unlike if that person was dead... but of course our course litigate this drivers accordingly...

One thing, some of the drivers here who accidentally hit a pedestrian decide to take off in fear that they will get the beat down from disgruntled bystanders.

And it does happen.

One thing, some of the drivers here who accidentally hit a pedestrian decide to take off in fear that they will get the beat down from disgruntled bystanders.

And it does happen.

yup.. specially if the accident happened near a slum area...

According to the truck driver, he didn't help the little girl because it will cost him less to bury than spending more money for her hospitalization. Look at the mentality of these people. They have serious human rights issue in their own country and they can't even bring it to the UN. :nuts:

That's the mentality of the people in the big cities of China, the old community life still exists in the rural area. But what can we do? People in China are burden with their gov't's hard fist ruling and they have to survive no matter what kind of moral issues they have to face.

I feel sad and some hatred to the people that will do those things, I heard the little girl had a very slim or no chance of survival. My heart goes out to her and to her family.

That's the mentality of the people in the big cities of China, the old community life still exists in the rural area. But what can we do? People in China are burden with their gov't's hard fist ruling and they have to survive no matter what kind of moral issues they have to face.

I feel sad and some hatred to the people that will do those things, I heard the little girl had a very slim or no chance of survival. My heart goes out to her and to her family.

Note that there is mass immigration of Mainlanders coming from the rural areas into China's large cities and once there, still carry their mentality and behavior which to some extent is uncivilized to most foreigners.

World's worst airport named
October 20, 2011 - 11:09AM
The Philippine government has pledged to improve the country's main airport after it was named the world's worst. Photo: AFP

The Philippine government pledged Wednesday to improve the country's main airport after it was named the world's worst following complaints of thieving staff, dirty toilets and a collapsing ceiling.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/worlds-worst-airport-named-20111020-1m92v.html#ixzz1bIR4uNLm

^^I'm glad they got that slap in the face to wake them up and finally do something about NAIA.

They shouldn't just pledge. They should really do it.

They shouldn't just pledge. They should really do it.

These will solve the complaints of sleeping backpackers @NAIA T1 ... :D

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/images/products/mydal-bunk-bed-frame__63504_PE171155_S4.jpg

Kahit hindi naman sleepers airport ang NAIA, talagang karimarimarim ang experience doon. :lol:

^^ But it's a lot better now...hindi na nag rereklamo yung mga kapatid kong babae na umuwi few months ago.

Yes it is. The Japanese didn't even record that happening in their history books and they are brutal by a thousand miles than that bus hostage incident.

Guess what? Did Japan formally apologize to us or to those countries were their war crimes were committed? ;)

How about those comfort women who are still crying for justice? What happened to them?

The point is that how come they are easy picking on small countries like Philippines instead of going after the big fish like Japan in putting their blame on? Because we are the land of the maids so its easier for them to ask us to kow tow before them? :lol:

Oh look what happened here:

7XDP1HD7fc4

Sa kanila mismo yan ha?

According to the truck driver, he didn't help the little girl because it will cost him less to bury than spending more money for her hospitalization. Look at the mentality of these people. They have serious human rights issue in their own country and they can't even bring it to the UN. :nuts:

Yes Japan did and even compensated us. Japan apologises every year (http://lindavdahl.com/FrontPage_Links/Japanese%20Apology.htm) since then. You're talking about the sex slavery part because Japan's reasoning is that they've already made amends for WW2.
However, Japan, along with the US is one of our top aid donors.
Still not a parallel point. Like I said, the hostage bus tragedy occured in a time of peace in and not a war crime. Had someone been prosecuted/held responsible, I agree we would not have to say sorry (unless we want to do that as well and that would elevate us in the eyes of international comm) because actions speak louder than words.
[/B]
They do have serious human rights issues but you can find that in almost every country nowadays. Maybe the Phils doesn't have as much as China but who knows, right? Also, you can't tell if this is really mainland Chinese in general or it could be just the bystander effect (http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/a/bystandereffect.htm).
Let's not be myopic in our treatment of the Chinese just because we distrust them owing to the Spratlys issue. It is their government we mainly have a problem with and not the Chinese people in general.

Except their ultra-nationalistic chicom tards:lol:

^^ But it's a lot better now...hindi na nag rereklamo yung mga kapatid kong babae na umuwi few months ago.

Kailangan talagang pukpukin ng taga-labas ang management ng NAIA para laging may improvements. :lol:

Yes Japan did and even compensated us. Japan apologises every year (http://lindavdahl.com/FrontPage_Links/Japanese%20Apology.htm) since then. You're talking about the sex slavery part because Japan's reasoning is that they've already made amends for WW2.
However, Japan, along with the US is one of our top aid donors.
Still not a parallel point. Like I said, the hostage bus tragedy occured in a time of peace in and not a war crime. Had someone been prosecuted/held responsible, I agree we would not have to say sorry (unless we want to do that as well and that would elevate us in the eyes of international comm) because actions speak louder than words.
[/B]
Let's not be myopic in our treatment of the Chinese just because we distrust them owing to the Spratlys issue. It is their government we mainly have a problem with and not the Chinese people in general.
Except their ultra-nationalistic chicom tards:lol:

Well, was Emperor Hirohito punished for his war crimes back then? Wasn't he also responsible? :lol:

They just apologize with no compensation made anyway because if they sincerely do that, then we shouldn't be hearing protests every time they honor their dead soldiers in Yasukuni Shrine and place an accurate account of their war crimes in their school text books during peacetime. ;)

Ask the comfort women of the Philippines if they got some form of compensation from the Japanese government - and they have been fighting this since ages. They are simply dying down unfortunately.

So their case is actually worse than us? So why should Philippine govt. apologize for what? For a madman that hostaged a bus loaded with Chinese tourists who have gotten out of control? What if the bus is loaded with Filipinos? Are we going to react up to now in the same way because it's not international media?

Well, was Emperor Hirohito punished for his war crimes back then? Wasn't he also responsible? :lol:

They just apologize with no compensation made anyway because if they sincerely do that, then we shouldn't be hearing protests every time they honor their dead soldiers in Yasukuni Shrine and place an accurate account of their war crimes in their school text books during peacetime. ;)

Ask the comfort women of the Philippines if they got some form of compensation from the Japanese government - and they have been fighting this since ages. They are simply dying down unfortunately.

So their case is actually worse than us? So why should Philippine govt. apologize for what? For a madman that hostaged a bus loaded with Chinese tourists who have gotten out of control? What if the bus is loaded with Filipinos? Are we going to react up to now in the same way because it's not international media?

I didn't say the case was worse. I said it was not a parallel circumstance. I'm not arguing that an orange is sweeter than an apple. And Japan did say sorry to to the veterans and made amends. What has Pnoy done? Mendoza seems to have taken all the blame. Also, it wasn't really Hirohito who was solely responsible it was his gung-ho military commanders, especially Tojo who were convinced they could momentarily cripple the US.
We also reacted up a storm during the Drug Mules impending execution, remember? Our officials practically begged several times to lift the execution order. That goes to show you that Pinoys are just as devoted to their families as the Chinese are.
Anyway, I'm just saying. Since Pnoy didn't hold anyone responsible, an apology is the least he could do not because of the madman but because of PNP incompetence/negligence especially since it is his administration. Had he dealt with the situation properly then, we could use the same line of reasoning Japan uses --- >No more apologies! We already made amends!

Like I said, let's not be myopic. Call out the Chinese or anyone for that matter if they're treating us unfairly but let's not lump them all in one group and say that they are all asking too much or trying to get their way. In fact, I think we should show them that we are kinder and humble than them.
Now the Philippine navy apologizing to the bellicose Chinese in the Spratlys, that one I can agree with. We shouldn't have apologised.

Uh-oh.. We just had a shake here in CA. There was one earlier in the afternoon but this one I think was stronger:uh:
I'm going to prepare my emergency kit just in case!

Chinese hit and run toddler dies (http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-toddler-ignored-hit-run-dies-033604124.html)

Agence France-Presse 11:16 am | Friday, October 21st, 2011

The Chinese toddler who was ignored by 18 passers-by as she lay critically injured in the street after being run over by two vehicles has died, the hospital treating her said on Friday.

Surveillance camera footage of people walking past the two-year-old girl, nicknamed Yue Yue, as she lay bleeding and unconscious sparked a wave of condemnation and soul-searching on China's hugely popular social networking sites.

A rubbish collector who finally moved the girl to the side of the street in the southern Chinese city of Foshan was hailed as a national hero, but the incident also led many online commentators to question the state of Chinese morality



“Farewell to little Yue Yue. There are no cars in heaven,” wrote one microblogger on Sina’s weibo.

“Yue Yue was consumed for a week by the fake kindness of netizens… All the wishes are fake and only the 18 passers-by are real. Farewell, and do not be born in China in your next life,” another weibo user wrote.

Police have detained the drivers of both vehicles involved in the incident

Yes Japan did and even compensated us. Japan apologises every year (http://lindavdahl.com/FrontPage_Links/Japanese%20Apology.htm) since then. You're talking about the sex slavery part because Japan's reasoning is that they've already made amends for WW2.
However, Japan, along with the US is one of our top aid donors.
Still not a parallel point.

Where did you get this crap? Japan never formally apologised for its role in WW2. It's not even recognised in their textbooks. In Germany, praising Hitler or even making the Nazi salute can land you in jail. Germany is an OECD country too and we benefited from them as well.

Just because your rapist feeds you, doesn't mean that you should forget the deed.

Quit passing that revisionist POV here. It's disgusting and insulting to the hundreds of thousands if not millions dead during the last war. One of my relatives, a guerrilla captain during the war was beheaded by the Japanese.

Does it mean that I wont be friends with the Japanese? No. I have multiple Japanese friends. Does it mean that I wont commiserate with them in their times of need? No. In fact I even visited the Japanese Embassy here and extended my condolences in the wake of the quake/tsunami.

My point is, DO NOT FORGET or water down history.

First of all, Nowhere was I trying to water down history or being a revisionist. My grandparents also suffered during WW2 and yes, I know they are not fully acknowledging their role yet in WW2. I even know about the Chinese rallies against Beijing about that. I was talking about their apology to American and Filipino troops and the apogies made by their ministers/ambassadors to Asian countries who were involved. Like this one:
That President Koizumi expressed this attitude in this arena is welcome. We welcome it," ministry spokesman Kong Quan told reporters at a summit of Asian and African leaders. "But to express it is one aspect. What's of much more importance is the action. You have to make it a reality."

He said "60 years of history has caused great harm to China and Asia (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-04-22-japan-china_x.htm)."
I only mentioned Japanese war crimes as not being parallel to that of the bus tragedy. So that's not even the point which is why I'm not going to argue if it is being refuted as a formal apology.
Now put down those raging sunglasses and take a chill pill. You asked me to read and comprehend posts. I think you should join me.

^^ I think that's not enough, what Japan did. First, they should acknowledge their mistakes and correct their history books. I am not even asking them for compensation. Stop the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. Acknowledge their war crimes like Germany did.

^^ I think that's not enough, what Japan did. First, they should acknowledge their mistakes and correct their history books. I am not even asking them for compensation. Stop the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. Acknowledge their war crimes like Germany did.

Look, I am aware of that and I'm not wholly satisfied either like you are. But I've come to realise that's all we're ever gonna get. Japan is not Germany. I understand if you feel differently.
The US asked Japan for a formal apology on PH 50th anniv and Japan refused (http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-07/news/mn-568_1_pearl-harbor). Then again, America doesn't want to apologise for Hiroshima/Nagasaki either. So it becomes a question of well, they won't so why should we? After all, Japan is as much a proud nation as America.
America only apologised to and compensated Japanese Americans. I believe.

It's all muddy because it's war. There are even those saying war is a crime in itself:smug: History is written by victors and to the victors go the spoils as they say.
Now on the Chinese bus tragedy, well that scenario does not offer a parallel to the Pacific war.

The problem with the Japanese government is not whether they give apology or not. It is their revisionism on their part of the war that pisses many Asian countries. Saying one thing, doing another thing.

To many Japanese, all they know about WW2 is Hiroshima/Nagasaki and Pearl Harbor. None is said about how they pillaged Asia and did human experiments on their POWs. I don't think they even care about their former soldiers who are haunted by their past.

its about the bus incident. but I agree with the others that the Philippines should NOT apologise. It was a crime committed by one individual, not the entire state.

Remember that Madrigal family in Beijing whose filipino father was also killed by a chinese madman with a machete after alighting from a tourist bus? No one from their side apologised as far as I remember...

its about the bus incident. but I agree with the others that the Philippines should NOT apologise. It was a crime committed by one individual, not the entire state.

Remember that Madrigal family in Beijing whose filipino father was also killed by a chinese madman with a machete after alighting from a tourist bus? No one from their side apologised as far as I remember...

Nor did we ask Hong Kong government to apologize for the Chip Tsao misunderstood satire (I still firmly believe it was directed on the Chinese arrogance as regards to Spratly's).

Nor did we ask Hong Kong government to apologize for the Chip Tsao misunderstood satire (I still firmly believe it was directed on the Chinese arrogance as regards to Spratly's).

Pia slams Chip Tsao, HK Magazine

Senator Pia S. Cayetano today joined calls to demand a public apology from a top Hong Kong publication and one of its columnists over a recent opinion article that made a racial slur against Filipinos over the country's right to claim the Spratly Islands.More: (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0329_cayetano1.asp)

Anyway, that's not my point. My point was, since nothing was ever really done. No one else except Mendoza (and maybe deputy ombudsman, the least Panot could do is offer an apology for his admin's inaction/inadequacies including that of the PNP . Had some semblance of justice been provided to the aggrieved, I agree there would be no need for an apology.

Worst Airport? How about the Post Office:nuts:?

Try and comprehend what my friend said:

http://s2.postimage.org/yuygac7nw/Facebook.png (http://www.postimage.org/)
:banana:

^^ Lilyr, don't trust Philpost. Use another reliable carrier like JAC. It's more expensive but it's worth it. Jina-jack-up ng mga buayang yan ang mga paparating na produkto dito.

More: (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0329_cayetano1.asp)

Anyway, that's not my point. My point was, since nothing was ever really done. No one else except Mendoza (and maybe deputy ombudsman, the least Panot could do is offer an apology for his admin's inaction/inadequacies including that of the PNP . Had some semblance of justice been provided to the aggrieved, I agree there would be no need for an apology.

I think you should go to the Chinese embassy and apologize on behalf of the Philippines instead because you really want to do that. :lol:

Way to be a jerk. Good comeback.:|
I'm done being an apologist for the Phils. Sawang-sawa na nga ako mag defend because most of the time I can only tell the cold hard truth to foreigners. For my sake and the respect I have for our birth country itself, I choose to shut up. I'm done rationalising the country's ills.
I will only apologise for my own actions. I am not the President nor am I even qualified to be an official. Here I am trying to reasonably debate and you choose to resort to a typical ikaw-na-lang comeback? Nice one.

More: (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0329_cayetano1.asp)

Anyway, that's not my point. My point was, since nothing was ever really done. No one else except Mendoza (and maybe deputy ombudsman, the least Panot could do is offer an apology for his admin's inaction/inadequacies including that of the PNP . Had some semblance of justice been provided to the aggrieved, I agree there would be no need for an apology.

Ask the Japanese if something was done to revise their history books regarding their war crimes.

If they also stop honoring those in Yasukuni shrine, then come back to us with that statement. ;)

Worst Airport? How about the Post Office:nuts:?

Try and comprehend what my friend said:

http://s2.postimage.org/yuygac7nw/Facebook.png (http://www.postimage.org/)
:banana:

Not a surprise. There's an entire crime organisation running the PhilPost. Daming magnanakaw dyan. But it seems, Post Offices are just like that, here, ninakaw ang padalang chocnut at jelly beans ko.

^^ Huli na nga sa CCTV deny pa e.

^^ Huli na nga sa CCTV deny pa e.

Worked with a subsidiary before connected with PPC, daming kurakot dyan. top-bottom. Puro kasi magkakamag-anak ang mga nagtatrabaho.

Way to be a jerk. Good comeback.:|
I'm done being an apologist for the Phils. Sawang-sawa na nga ako mag defend because most of the time I can only tell the cold hard truth to foreigners. For my sake and the respect I have for our birth country itself, I choose to shut up. I'm done rationalising the country's ills.
I will only apologise for my own actions. I am not the President nor am I even qualified to be an official. Here I am trying to reasonably debate and you choose to resort to a typical ikaw-na-lang comeback? Nice one.

Yes of course because you just ran out of reasons. We have a lot of examples why apologizing to them is unnecessary. ;)

More: (http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0329_cayetano1.asp)

Anyway, that's not my point. My point was, since nothing was ever really done. No one else except Mendoza (and maybe deputy ombudsman, the least Panot could do is offer an apology for his admin's inaction/inadequacies including that of the PNP . Had some semblance of justice been provided to the aggrieved, I agree there would be no need for an apology.

If Japan starts to revise their history books and stop bowing in Yasukuni shrine, then philippine apology is really warranted. ;)

really? may gumagamit pa pala ng philpost ngayon? :crazy:

^^ I don't use them anymore, pwera na lang siguro for postal ID siguro. Even for letters I might be using LBC or DHL.

[SIZE="5"]Had someone been prosecuted/held responsible, I agree we would not have to say sorry (unless we want to do that as well and that would elevate us in the eyes of international comm) because actions speak louder than words.

You never even addressed this.
Sheesh. Back read my posts, will you? Ran out of reasons? Lots of examples? You only mentioned Japan over and over again and I've stuck to mine to as well just to get you to see my pov.

Ask the Japanese if something was done to revise their history books regarding their war crimes.

If they also stop honoring those in Yasukuni shrine, then come back to us with that statement. ;)

Why don't you ask the Americans to cover the Phil Am war in all their history books as well? and return the Balangiga bells while they're at it. I'm not even Anti-American.

Or are you going to say the WW2 already made up for that? Huh?! Too whitey stricken?

]Look, I am aware of that and I'm not wholly satisfied either like you are. But I've come to realise that's all we're ever gonna get. Japan is not Germany. I understand if you feel differently.
The US asked Japan for a formal apology on PH 50th anniv and Japan refused (http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-07/news/mn-568_1_pearl-harbor). Then again, America doesn't want to apologise for Hiroshima/Nagasaki either. So it becomes a question of well, they won't so why should we? After all, Japan is as much a proud nation as America.
America only apologised to and compensated Japanese Americans. I believe.
...

Anyway, I'm done arguing with you.


Now to get back on topic.

Chinese hit and run toddler dies (http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-toddler-ignored-hit-run-dies-033604124.html)

Agence France-Presse 11:16 am | Friday, October 21st, 2011

The Chinese toddler who was ignored by 18 passers-by as she lay critically injured in the street after being run over by two vehicles has died, the hospital treating her said on Friday.

Surveillance camera footage of people walking past the two-year-old girl, nicknamed Yue Yue, as she lay bleeding and unconscious sparked a wave of condemnation and soul-searching on China's hugely popular social networking sites.

A rubbish collector who finally moved the girl to the side of the street in the southern Chinese city of Foshan was hailed as a national hero, but the incident also led many online commentators to question the state of Chinese morality



“Farewell to little Yue Yue. There are no cars in heaven,” wrote one microblogger on Sina’s weibo.

“Yue Yue was consumed for a week by the fake kindness of netizens… All the wishes are fake and only the 18 passers-by are real. Farewell, and do not be born in China in your next life,” another weibo user wrote.

Police have detained the drivers of both vehicles involved in the incident

This is really very sad. But China has some strange laws.

There was an incident a couple of years ago where a person driving a car hit a young as he called it 'peasant girl' riding a bike then reversed over her, got out and stabbed her to death. The reason he did that was the 'law' in China is if you kill someone in an accident you pay a one off compensation to the family, if they live you have to pay medical fees etc for the rest of their life.

Also another person was sued when he went to help an old lady who was knocked over in a rush to get on a bus. The lady sued the guy and the judge agreed by saying 'why would you help someone if you did not push her yourself' so there is a big reluctance of people willing to help others in China (like the poor girl who died) as people are scared that they maybe the ones who get in trouble.

You never even addressed this.
Sheesh. Back read my posts, will you? Ran out of reasons? Lots of examples? You only mentioned Japan over and over again and I've stuck to mine to as well just to get you to see my pov.



Why don't you ask the Americans to cover the Phil Am war in all their history books as well? and return the Balangiga bells while they're at it. I'm not even Anti-American.

Or are you going to say the WW2 already made up for that? Huh?! Too whitey stricken?



Anyway, I'm done arguing with you.


Now to get back on topic.

Okay, now ask yourself this question: Why don't you also ask the US govt. to apologize to the Philippines for the atrocities committed back then too?

Going back to our topic: So, why should Philippine government apologize for the bus incident as well? There was no intention of the Philippine government to commit crimes of humanity just how both Japan and US did to the Filipinos. It was just an unfortunate event on that day.

Condo demand slackening :ohno:

by Victor C. Agustin | Cocktales | Manila Standard Today | Monday October 24, 2011

THE residential condo market in the key districts of Metro Manila is exhibiting sideways demand amid a backdrop of increasing supply and a weakening economy, according to an industry report presented last week by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu at a housing finance forum organized by Home Guaranty Corp.
The flattening demand for residential condos is the lone cloud in an otherwise sunny presentation by the multinational property consultant on the explosive growth of the condominium and real estate market in the country.

In Metro Manila, about 24,000 residential and office condo units are being added yearly from now until 2015, twice the average growth rate in the last four years, Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu said.

Read More http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideBusop.htm?f=/2011/october/24/vicagustin.isx&d=2011/october/24

ECCP: More foreign carriers bound to leave Philippines :ohno::ohno::ohno:

by Abigail L. Ho | Philippine Daily Inquirer | Monday, October 24th, 2011 | 10:03 pm

Other foreign airlines may soon take Air France-KLM’s move to leave the Philippines if the government continues to ignore their plea to rationalize the current airline tax regime.

European Chamber of Commerce vice president for external affairs Henry Schumacher said the country should strike a balance between generating revenues and attracting more investors into the country.

Read More http://business.inquirer.net/26695/eccp-more-foreign-carriers-bound-to-leave-philippines

^^^ goodbye KLM! goodbye investors!! goodbye philippine tourism!!

^^ According to PNoy, "makakarma din yan sila't babalik dito."

^^ iba talaga magisip ang pinoy.



:horse:

What ?
But, But...

Aquino says Philippines to be more investor friendly
(http://www.manilamaildc.net/2010/07/26/aquino-says-philippines-to-be-more-investor-friendly/)

[http://s3.postimage.org/tpfcilueb/tumblr_ljo65lo_Sa51qeoqde.gif (http://www.postimage.org/)

hay naku naman kung kelan pa dapat mag open tayo ng mga direct international flights para lalong lumago tourism sector natin... iba talaga utak ng mga tao na to...

ECCP: More foreign carriers bound to leave Philippines :ohno::ohno::ohno:

by Abigail L. Ho | Philippine Daily Inquirer | Monday, October 24th, 2011 | 10:03 pm

Other foreign airlines may soon take Air France-KLM’s move to leave the Philippines if the government continues to ignore their plea to rationalize the current airline tax regime.

European Chamber of Commerce vice president for external affairs Henry Schumacher said the country should strike a balance between generating revenues and attracting more investors into the country.

Read More http://business.inquirer.net/26695/eccp-more-foreign-carriers-bound-to-leave-philippines

Turkish Airlines is planning to set up a direct flight from Istanbul to Manila. I wonder if this is pushing through. There's less than a couple of hundreds of Turks in the country. So they will rely highly on making Istanbul a transit point rather than a destination. I'm hoping, but let's see.

^^ According to PNoy, "makakarma din yan sila't babalik dito."

Seriously the prez said this?

^^ Not really :D

the local airlines are paying VAT, among others. it will be disadvantageous for them if we dont tax the foreign carriers.

the BIR is just implementing the law. the move to fix the tax regime is with the House and the Senate.

^^ It's going to be a hard bargain then with these foreign carriers.

naghahanap ng malaking makukuhang tax, lalong nawalan.

If the sale was made overseas, then it shouldn't be taxed locally.

I remember our company's foreign clients have zero vat in their invoices.

If the sale was made overseas, then it shouldn't be taxed locally.

I remember our company's foreign clients have zero vat in their invoices.

mali daw:lol: dapat may tax:ohno:

^^ DOF have miss out yun bigger picture yun importance ng EU direct flight. Now yun image ng Pinas sa foreign business community will be affected. Galing talaga ng dear supreme lider lahat mahawakan nasisira :ohno:

basta ang importante di bumababa ang popularity rating n ya:D

naghahanap ng malaking makukuhang tax, lalong nawalan.

Hehe. Same old shit. That's what happened back with the US bases,1991.

How about a TAX BREAK? Do you think it will work?




:horse:

How about a TAX BREAK? Do you think it will work?




:horse:

oo, namn. dapat ito na lang ginawa.
buti ka pa may magandang naiisip na solution.

sila, bayad tax, ayaw mo? layas!!!

:bash:

ambobo talaga ng janitor ni Noy:lol:

How about a TAX BREAK? Do you think it will work?




:horse:Howdy :wave: howzit goin?

Howdy :wave: howzit goin?


Howdy! Still horsin' around :horse:

^^ thats great to hear. :cheers2:

http://www.yahoofanclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/emoticon_cowboy.jpg

ANOTHER LEGAL OBSTACLE
MMDA drive vs smokers stopped:bash:
By Kristine Felisse Mangunay and Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
9:10 pm | Wednesday, October 26th, 2011


Cigarette smokers can huff and puff all they want—at least, for now.

On Monday, Judge Carlos Valenzuela of the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court Branch 213 issued a writ of preliminary injunction against the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), effectively stopping the agency’s ongoing crackdown against people who smoke in public.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/83563/mmda-drive-vs-smokers-stopped

^^ Goes to show kung bakit di sinisiryoso mga batas natin dahil sa ating pagiging ningas cogon.

dapat yung judge na yan batuhin para matauhan! :ohno: ano ba yan another flip flopping na naman. pa forward forward tapos i backward lang naman pala what an insult to our legal system:ohno:

^^ Most probably that judge is a tobacco lover or under the influence of cigarette vendor... he..he...:lol:

^^ Goes to show kung bakit di sinisiryoso mga batas natin dahil sa ating pagiging ningas cogon.

For all the people to get used to these kinds of things, one sector does something, those affected does its best to counter! Simple as that.

The arbiter happens to be the court judge. If people with resources file a case against some group or agency, the courts are more than willing to entertain as long as everyone follows the prescribed rules of court.

Where else can people go if it feels some government agencies steps over their basic rights? You let them do as they like and they will get harsher the next time around. It's like when you have your dog; allow the dog to do what it pleases, and you just make sure you have a direct line to Cesar Milan!

Airline tax row could cost Philippines, IATA warns
www.bworldonline.com

THE ISSUE of taxes levied on foreign carriers could lead to the Philippine aviation industry being left behind by other countries, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday warned.

“The Philippine authorities should recognize aviation is a key enabler of travel and tourism, and contributes substantially to the Philippine economy and employment,” IATA said in a fact sheet entitled “Cost Challenges Hurting Philippines Aviation.”

“The government should institute policies that support aviation by reducing the burden of taxes and charges imposed by various government agencies,” it added.

Foreign airlines are slapped with a 3% common carriers tax and a 2.5% gross Philippine billings tax for cargo and passenger revenues originating from the country. IATA said these should be eliminated and foreign airlines subjected to the same taxes paid by local carriers.

“These changes can be achieved by changing the interpretation of the existing laws and by passing new laws. Failure to address the current myopic policies will see neighboring countries having a competitive growth advantage with negative consequences for the Philippines,” it said.

“Eliminating both will lower the total cost of international passenger travel to the Philippines by 2.5% [and] increase the number of international arrivals and departures by 1.9%,” it added.

“[This will also] translate into a potential gain of P2 billion for the wider Philippines economy from increased tourism alone. Increased trade benefits are also expected...”

Air France-KLM, the only European carrier operating in the Philippines, earlier this month said it would be phasing out direct flights between Manila and Amsterdam due to the taxes slapped on foreign airlines.

“The recent announcement by KLM to cancel direct services to Manila is an unfortunate example of the steps that foreign airlines are forced to take due to the unsustainable cost base of operating in Philippines. The end result is that the Philippine traveler will suffer as there will be no direct flight to Europe,” the airline organization said.

It noted that carriers such as US-based Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. had also cut capacity to the Philippines over the last decade.

“As a result of the cut in airline services, the Philippines has become less convenient to visit, whether for business or pleasure. Trade, tourism and in country employment will suffer. [This, as] aviation growth to neighboring countries has been very strong,” IATA claimed.

The organization also said the matter of airlines having to pay Bureau of Customs staff allowances was an added burded.

“The provision of customs, immigration and quarantine services is a state responsibility. If there is a need for overtime, then this cost should be borne by the state. If the bureaus have a manpower issue, then they should work at addressing it rather than to pass the problem to airlines,” it said.

The Supreme Court recently upheld Bureau of Customs issuances requiring airlines to shoulder the overtime pay, traveling, board and lodging and meal allowances of Customs employees at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport to ensure round-the-clock operations.

IATA represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.

I heard that there will be a huge unbalanced men/women ratio in "favor" of men, due to mass abortion of girls in China and India, so we will be zillions of horny guys competing for a few chicks in the future and this is the open door for a massive world war

WE ARE DOOMED

I heard that there will be a huge unbalanced men/women ratio in "favor" of men, due to mass abortion of girls in China and India, so we will be zillions of horny guys competing for a few chicks in the future and this is the open door for a massive world war

WE ARE DOOMED

I think you are assuming a one-on-one scenario there!

Just imagine a woman, with red lips and her two down there; she can take 5 (if you know what I meant) hahahaha. :jk::jk::jk: