The Philippine Economy - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 19

zeejay

September 26th, 2007, 06:52 AM

Another positive development regarding the growth of imports last July. Despite the pessimistic approach some opponents of the administration exercise, the import growth is still remarkable. News has it that there was a strong demand for consumer and electronic goods which resulted to the recovery of import rate.

Imports recover strongly in July with 14.3% growth
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http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20070926103997.html

EDU LOPEZ

The strong demand for consumer goods and electronics powered the recovery of imports last July to record high of 14.3 percent annual growth at $ 5.04 billion, increasing from 3.8 percent in June and negative growth in April and May, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

Imports growth will likely continue in the coming months on the back of brisk domestic demand, economists said, forecasting the same trend for exports.

But one economist sounded the alarm bells over lower imports of capital goods, which he suggested may limit future economic growth.

On month, imports were up 7.2 percent from the revised $ 4.70 billion in June when they rose 9.5 percent on month.

With exports in July at $ 4.19 billion, the country posted a trade deficit of $ 854 million, wider than the July 2006 deficit of $ 396 million.

"Consumer goods imports sustained its momentum with 39.7 percent growth compared to year-ago levels. Both durable (41.3 percent) and nondurable (38.7 percent) goods imports showed continued strength," said Socio-economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos.

Articles of apparel and accessories experienced its first double digit growth (28.6 percent) in seven months.

The year-to-date growth increased to 4.1 percent with total imports reaching US $ 30.4 billion.

Electronic products, which account for 42.7 percent of the country’s total import bill for the month, posted a 12.8 percent growth, continuously accelerating since June, as all major components except control and instrumentation posted positive growth.

Semiconductors, which comprise the biggest chunk of electronic products, grew by 11.4 percent, according to the NSO.

"Imports of mineral fuels, lubricant and related materials also registered strong growth at 44.3 percent as prices rose in preparation for the US and Europe summer travel season. This, combined with the increase in raw materials and intermediate goods, effectively offsetting the decline in capital goods imports," Santos added.

The United States continues to be the country’s top source of imports with a 12.5 percent share for the month, followed by Japan with 11.3 percent share. Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and China rounded up the top five with 11.2 percent, 10.5 percent, and 7.6 percent shares, respectively.

"The recovery in import growth is reassuring for the outlook of exports given that electronic imports, a key export ingredient, continued to grow briskly from year-ago levels," said Frederic Neumann, an economist with HSBC.

Economists said the increase in the value of oil imports is natural given the rising demand of a growing economy and amid higher world oil prices.

ATR Kim-Eng Securities economist Luz Lorenzo expects gross domestic product growth at 7.1 percent this year. "This robust growth will fuel more imports," said Lorenzo.

"The data are not really that positive. It indicates that we’re paying more for the same things. At the same time, it confirms the perception that we’re not really investing enough," said University of Asia and the Pacific economist Victor Abola.

"We’re just at the beginning of a strong growth, and in order to sustain that trend, growth should be driven by investments."

It is the data on capital goods that disappointed Abola. Imports of capital goods, which accounted for 28.1 percent of total imports, fell 4.2 percent on year to $ 1.42 billion.

kikodj

September 26th, 2007, 07:41 AM

^^^ at this point, the issue of why ZTE was preferred over the other companies should have been made clear to the public. ZTE's broadband deal sought to cover all 3000 base stations and 300 backbone stations in the country while AHI and ARESCOM only wanted to cover 87 and 21 base stations respectively. AHI and ARESCOM would have been done in the BOT scheme, but the fact that they choose to cover so little base stations throughout the country made their offer unpalatable.

If AHI and ARESCOM were to cover all the base stations and backbone stations in the country (like what ZTE was proposing), their proposed costs would end up being $562million and $1billion respectively.

What we need from the next hearings are more feasibility studies (why do we need this project), reasons as to why our current backbone infrastructure can't be developed instead of building a new one, and of course more on the bribery issue.

ayun di naman pala pro GMA e... NEUTRAL LAANG..... ayos tol!! tagal kong hinanap ang thread na ito....("_)

kikodj

September 26th, 2007, 07:43 AM

Even if this is a legitimate overpricing kickback deal or not, one way or another the opposition will fabricate scandals after scandals of anomalous dealings because it's really easy to confuse the public . in that case expect our economy to muddle along for decades to come while our population continue to grow amazingly. back to the good ol happy days. :banana:
these people will never change. same exact sentiment here, i often wonder why these politicians who always leave on their junket abroad never bother to apply what they see of other more progressive countries to the PHils.
they know ordinary pinoys can't travel much, so are content and desensitized with the squalor surrounding them.

"He said many politicians have visited Bangkok, but apparently “just enjoyed (themselves) there. They did not observe or they did not absorb what they saw there.”"

patama to both sa Pro and Anti GMA right???

jonno

September 26th, 2007, 08:34 AM

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1190...googlenews_wsj

COMMENTARY

Philippine Fly-Over
By GREG RUSHFORD
September 25, 2007

CLARK FIELD, Philippines -- The economic potential of the Philippines -- and all the reasons it has yet to live up to that potential -- come sharply into focus as soon as a visitor lands. Literally. With Manila's current major international air terminal, some 50 miles to the city's south, already too congested for serious expansion, the battle over the future of the Philippines' next premier international air gateway has become a microcosm of all that the country could be, and all that's holding it back.

Still widely known as "Clark Field," the old name from its days as an American military airbase, the airport-in-waiting is now officially the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, in honor of the former Philippine president and father of current President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. And Ms. Arroyo has been playing the crucial, and often conflicted, role in determining the airport's future.

Clark and its surrounding community in the province of Pampanga have never been rich. In its heyday during the Cold War, Clark Air Base bustled with energy as a major U.S. listening post and home of the 13th U.S. Air Force. But in June 1991, the U.S. Air Force, under fierce attack from nationalist forces in the Philippine Senate, finally flew out, leaving Clark covered in the volcanic ashes spewed out by nearby Mt. Pinatubo. Clark immediately fell upon hard times. Looters stripped the base clean, down to the toilet lids.

Things began to change in January 2006, when Ms. Arroyo -- responding to complaints from the Pampanga business community that too many regulations from Manila were holding back Clark's potential -- signed an executive order unilaterally proclaiming open skies. The move unleashed the forces of economic liberalization at Clark by allowing foreign airlines to fly in hundreds of thousands of tourists from Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and as far away as Dubai. It also opened the door to all the trade that could be conducted via the cargo holds of those planes. The formerly sleepy Clark, which processed fewer than 50,000 passengers three years ago, took off, bringing in nearly 500,000 last year. And prices are dropping. Singapore's Tiger Airways has been offering flights from Macau to Clark for $9.99.

The benefits aren't so much trickling into the local economy as pouring. More than 50,000 Filipinos now work here, some 10,000 more than were employed when the Americans ran the place. More jobs are coming as foreign companies find it easier and cheaper to move people and goods in and out.

Texas Instruments is putting in a billion-dollar semiconductor plant. The United Parcel Service has made Clark a regional hub. Yokohama Tire Philippines is making a $100 million expansion, and is exporting tires from Clark all around the world. Shoemart, the big Philippine retail giant, has moved in, as has Jollibee's, the Philippine answer to McDonald's (which also serves the nearby community). Other foreign and Philippine entrepreneurs are opening up more businesses to cater to the workers and tourists: hotels, restaurants and so on.

But the growth remains fragile, and will come to a halt if Ms. Arroyo's government insists upon bringing Clark's passenger traffic back to a trickle. Which, alarmingly, is just what the government has tried to do. In August 2006, just eight months after the initial liberalization, Ms. Arroyo bowed to pressures from domestic protectionist cronies -- the most well-known of whom is billionaire Lucio Tan, the owner of Philippine Airlines -- and issued a revised executive order aimed at slowing down the foreign airline traffic. While the numbers for arriving passengers were still up some 35% in the first quarter of this year, it is clear that Clark's ambitions to become the Philippines' premier gateway have been seriously threatened.

Citing "the continued uncertainty regarding the regulatory situation at Clark," Tiger Airways announced on March 23 that it would be reducing its flight frequency from Singapore to Clark to nine weekly flights from 14. As Clark spokesman Arnel San Pedro told me, local business leaders are outraged that the national government would "refuse to prosper because of the subservience of some greedy people to the personal interests of 'Manila's Imperial Dragons.'"

Ms. Arroyo's reversal was especially galling because Mr. Tan -- the archetypal "imperial dragon" -- is such a terrible well from which to draw economic advice. He first got really rich in the 1970s, thanks to various tax breaks and favors bestowed by former Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Understandably, the Chinese-born tycoon takes a dim view of cuttthroat market-oriented competition from foreign-run budget airlines. His critics revile him as the personification of what's wrong with the Philippine economy.

But Mr. Tan's current ally in the presidential palace, Ms. Arroyo, is more forgiving. In 2002, the president honored him for his "lifetime" of achievements in "helping build the nation." Numerous press reports from Manila have it that Mr. Tan has been among Ms. Arroyo's most generous sources of campaign financing; presidential press secretary Ignacio Bunye declines comment.

Now Ms. Arroyo is being pressed by a deeply concerned Clark business community that believes that Mr. Tan's influence upon the Arroyo administration is pulling the economic ladder out from under them. The airport's energetic chief executive, Victor Jose Luciano, made an impassioned presentation last month to Ms. Arroyo and her cabinet urging the president to issue a third executive order undoing the damage she created with her second one back in August 2006.

Ms. Arroyo holds a doctorate in economics, so she presumably understands that her first instincts to open the Philippine skies were the right ones. Her method may be problematic, though. When she moved to slow down the Philippines' open skies prospects last year, Ms. Arroyo's public rationale was that instead of unilateral liberalization, the Philippines would negotiate with foreign governments for increased access to their airports in return. Indeed, the Arroyo administration has recently concluded negotiating a major expansion of passenger landings for flights between the Philippines and South Korea.

But behind the scenes, Mr. Tan seems to dominate the process. A leaked copy of the Aug. 9, 2007, minutes of the Philippine government's official air negotiating panel shows that nine of the 23 members aren't government officials, but work for Mr. Tan's PAL and two other Tan-owned airline and cargo operations. Cebu Pacific, another domestic carrier that is following Mr. Tan's anti-open skies lead, has another two seats.

Since in practice the Philippine airline negotiating body seeks unanimous consent to schedule negotiations with foreign airlines, Mr. Tan effectively has veto power -- and last month's minutes make clear that PAL sees "no immediate need" for urgency in scheduling many more air talks. Supporters of open skies report that the last air talks the Philippine government held with Macau were in 2001, that similar negotiations with Hong Kong last occurred in 1996, and in 1995 for Malaysia and Thailand.

From PAL's perspective, why hurry? Philippine airline industry sources who ask not to be identified report that Mr. Tan's airline has found a wonderful way to profit from current restrictions. When passenger quotas assigned by the Philippine authorities to, say, Macau, or Hong Kong, or Dubai, have been filled, the Philippine government has given expanded entitlements to fly more passengers to PAL, which turns around and "rents" those entitlements to foreign carriers. While the details of such deals remain confidential, credible industry insiders report that Dubai is paying PAL at least $1 million a year in passenger rents. Not that this money is "free," of course: The foreign carriers pass the extra expense on to fliers -- many of whom are hard-pressed Philippine overseas workers -- in the form of pricier tickets. Mr. Tan, who declined persistent requests to be interviewed for this column, is turning a profit for PAL without flying his own airplanes.

The question now is whether Ms. Arroyo will be able to summon the political courage to stop him from doing it. She might reflect on some history. When the airport's namesake, her father -- an economic reformer -- was elected in 1961, the Philippines boasted the second-largest economy in Asia, second only to Japan. When Ferdinand Marcos won election four years later, he went on to help enrich his cronies while crippling the economy with an array of protectionist schemes. With a stroke of her presidential pen, Ms. Arroyo could not only re-open Philippine skies to economic development, she could also prove that "Philippine prosperity" doesn't have to be an oxymoron.

Mr. Rushford is editor of The Rushford Report, an online journal that follows the politics of international trade and diplomacy.

heathcliff

September 26th, 2007, 11:51 AM

ayun di naman pala pro GMA e... NEUTRAL LAANG..... ayos tol!! tagal kong hinanap ang thread na ito....("_)

kikodj, if you have something to say about the issue, do so. Don't resort to branding others here as pro GMA simply because you have no better arguments to offer.

kikodj

September 26th, 2007, 11:54 AM

?????

kikodj, if you have something to say about the issue, do so. Don't resort to branding others here as pro GMA simply because you have no better arguments to offer.

Be Fair Anti man or PRO yung iniimbestigahan... kung meron kang gustong sabihin sabihin mo tol...

kikodj

September 26th, 2007, 11:59 AM

I'm still having a hard time sifting through all the crap to find out why the other offers should have been chosen over that of ZTE. Here's some information I found comparing the ZTE proposal to the other proposals from AHI and ARESCOM:

Cost vs deliverables:

ZTE = US $329 million

3000 Base Station
300 Backbone Station
30 IPMPLS Nodes
25, 844 CPEs with IAD/VOIP Terminals
1 IDC & NOC with back up
Managed Services and Trainings

AHI = US $240 million

87 Base Stations
500 Cell Sites

Note: Government will buy its own cellphone from AHI or other vendors

ARESCOM = US $___

21 Base Stations
83 CPEs
Satellite Central
Hub Station

Cost to provide same coverage:

ZTE = $329 million

AHI = $562 million

ARESCOM = $1 billion

Coverage:

ZTE = Government offices up to 6th class municipalities

AHI = Access up to 2nd class municipalities and some 3rd class depending on the distance to cell sites

ARESCOM = 21 Selected DILG Regional Offices

Company Information:

ZTE = State-owned company, publicly listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Selected and nominated by China Government for the NBN

AHI = A holding company (No other details were provided)
No partners mentioned except the Liga ng mga Barangay and unidentified Chinese partners

ARESCOM = A consortium of companies, but no details were provided

Financial capability:

ZTE = Asset amounting to RMB23.07B or Php140.54B

AHI = Paid up capital of Php312,000

ARESCOM = Paid up capital of Php625,000

here's one why compare only those three Bidders??? there was no Public Bidding... pano kung mas okay ang offer ng local companies???

nasabai na nga ni dancethingy e??? diba??? kya sabi ko buti nalang neutral yung views niya sa situation... tyaka sinabi ko na dun sa politics thread dun... bakit parang nang aaway ka????

umm di kasi maiwasan na pag Pro... or Anti... hindi neutral ang pananaw... be neutral yun lang... bakit parang you want a ANTI versus PRO???? politiko naman yun mga yun pareho e...

heathcliff

September 26th, 2007, 01:10 PM

Be Fair Anti man or PRO yung iniimbestigahan... kung meron kang gustong sabihin sabihin mo tol...

here's one why compare only those three Bidders??? there was no Public Bidding... pano kung mas okay ang offer ng local companies???

nasabai na nga ni dancethingy e??? diba??? kya sabi ko buti nalang neutral yung views niya sa situation... tyaka sinabi ko na dun sa politics thread dun... bakit parang nang aaway ka????

umm di kasi maiwasan na pag Pro... or Anti... hindi neutral ang pananaw... be neutral yun lang... bakit parang you want a ANTI versus PRO???? politiko naman yun mga yun pareho e...

Hindi ako nang-aaway. Siguro newbie ka sa forums kaya you tend to take the comments here personally. Kung may opinyon ka sa isyu, sabihin mo. Hindi yung aakusahan mong pro GMA ang iba kung sa palagay mo ay hindi agree sa opinyon mo, at neutral lang kung agree sa iyo. Depende naman kasi yan pre, kahit sabihing tending towards pro or even anti, kung logical naman yung argumento, hindi maganda yung magpapasaring ka na hindi neutral yung tao.

Halimbawa ako, I support GMA, but I always back up my arguments with facts and logic. Gayundin si 3cr most of the time, although kumokontra rin siya kay GMA, pero may sense naman kausap. Again, wala naman kasing masama sa pagiging pro or anti as long as your argument has basis on facts and logic.

In the end, I believe all or at least most of us here want what's good for our country. If you want others to be fair, then you yourself also have to be fair.

heathcliff

September 26th, 2007, 01:30 PM

There are always two sides to every coin. Hindi maiiwasan ang mag-take sides on every issue. What is important is that you can defend your side with logical arguments.

Let us remember that forums like Skyscrapercity thrive on differences of opinion. Kung pare-pareho tayo ng opinyon (yung sa palagay mo ay neutral) this forum would cease to exist.

crappypants

September 27th, 2007, 05:43 AM

yeah you can't be a fencesitter all the time or nothing will happen you'll be stuck in one place. which is where our country's been for two decades while our neighbors sprint fast us in the race of economic prosperity. Because we never punish anyone. b labla bla forgive and forget

kikodj

September 27th, 2007, 10:54 AM

but kung ganun ang mentality... ganito ang beleif... everything a politician known as an anti says and does is in correct and every thing the politician known as pro says and does is ALWAYS correct??? ano yun?? nasan ang logic nun???

plus if kung meron kang sides... di ka dapat commissioner of election, Justice Secretary, Supreme Court Judges... because meron kang side na pinapanigan... example lang yan...

then why compare ourselves sa Mamiso (COIN???) (pera??? joke) e tao naman tayo...(joke) my point lang is don't be a SUPPER PRO or SUPPER ANTI..

example you ask the supreme being GOD dinaman nya sasabihin na tama ang Anti or Pro... pag aaralan nya yung facts by investigations (kunyari lang) then wala syang pakialam kung Anti ba yun o PRO kundi... Tama ba yun o Mali

pareng heathcliff nairita ka dun sa comment ko na wala kaming pake sa utang ni JOEY right??? sorri na... hehehehehehe

nag based lang naman ako sa pinost mo dun sa politics thread na parang your judging Joeys credibility dahil may utang siya sa ZTE????... and ngayun you seems judging my credibility as a newbie... okay kalimutan nalang natin to kasi ZTE ang topic right????

i have nothing against you as a PRO Gloria... and I'm Not an Anti Gloria...
and i hope you respect me for not taking sides... ("j)

I am an ANTI CORRUPT POLITICIANS both PRO and ANTI man yan.... at kung iniimbestigahan yan... maganda yan.. and not derailing our government as what some said...

allan_dude

September 27th, 2007, 07:38 PM

Philippine cultural heritage may explain economic malaise: study (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jAhhHP7F6c4wlEFI-71rqzvUs5xQ)

Agence France-Presse

MANILA (AFP) — Poor Philippine economic performance may be due to a Latin cultural heritage giving rise to powerful political families pursuing their own rather than the state's interests, a new study has said.

Some 330 years of Spanish rule had influenced the Philippines greatly, an impact that survived nearly 50 years of later colonial occupation by the US, the study by Robert Nelson of the University of Maryland said.

This Spanish Catholic influence, in contrast to the US Protestant model, had led to a "dominant political role" by large landholding families in the Philippines just like in Latin America, Nelson said.

A weak government and powerful political oligarchies combined to put the state in the service of private interests, he added.

"If culture is now to be considered an important economic influence, it may be that this common Spanish Catholic heritage is a main contributing factor in the economic histories of the Philippines and most of Latin America," the study said.

These cultural attitudes "now stand in the way of freer markets and a more successful political democracy," said Nelson, who undertook the study as a visiting fellow at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

In the 1950s, according to a World Bank study at the time, the Philippines was destined to become the region's second Japan.

But it missed out almost completely on the foreign investment-fuelled Asian boom of the 1970s to the 1990s, and by 2000 Filipino per capita income exceeded only Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, North Korea and Myanmar.

Particular problems like large fiscal deficits, inflation or corruption might be cited as reasons why the Philippines had failed to attract high levels of foreign investment, he said.

But that failed to explain the policy failures behind those problems in the first place, he argued.

wheel of steel

September 28th, 2007, 06:10 AM

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

^^ THE PHILIPPINES IS AT IT'S BEST SHAPE NOW, ^^

^^ THAN THREE OR MORE YEARS AGO. ^^

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers::

jbd0130

September 28th, 2007, 06:28 AM

beads_strawberries

September 28th, 2007, 07:00 AM

At least, the economy is recuperating by now. Maybe, we have not imagined that we can recover from economic loss some years ago. But now, the economy is stabilizing. These are not merely manifested in economic figures the government is presenting to the people but also shown with the growing confidence the international community is giving to us.

The president knows what she is doing. Pursuing the right economic path will really lead to economic progress.

amigo32

September 28th, 2007, 07:02 AM

sana magkaisa na ang mga Pinoy.

OtAkAw

September 28th, 2007, 07:58 AM

Louman

September 28th, 2007, 08:45 AM

Myanmar was actually seen as another potential economic powerhouse. Be glad we didn't end up like them.

flymordecai

September 28th, 2007, 09:36 AM

In the end, it's still the Marcoses' fault. I also do not blame our heritage for the country's poverty, I mean, we could eat Hamburger and watch hours of Heroes right now listening to Mariah Carey and saying things like "yeah", "hey" and whatever because of 40 years of American colonization. And sadly, none of that American so-called Protestant work ethic manifests in Philippine Society.

You're right, we only inherited the American pop culture.

Animo

September 28th, 2007, 05:08 PM

^^ Which is basically a world culture that is not unique only to the Philippines.

hiiamdib

September 28th, 2007, 09:11 PM

we missed out big time but change will come to those who seeks it

3cr

September 29th, 2007, 07:31 AM

Arroyo basks in praise from US business
By Christine Avendaño
Inquirer
Last updated 00:47am (Mla time) 09/29/2007
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=91391

NEW YORK--AMERICAN businessmen marveled at the strength exhibited by the Philippine economy and told President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of their excitement over business opportunities in the country.

For the second straight day Friday, the President, who is here to attend the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, basked in the praise from US business and political leaders for the "excellent job" that she was doing of running the economy.

At lunch with 20 leaders of top US companies, Ms Arroyo was praised for her leadership in turning the economy around.

"The statistics tell the story," said Matthew Daley, president of the US-Asean Business Council which organized the luncheon attended by leaders of the Abbott Laboratories, American Investment Group (AIG), Citi, the Coca-Cola Co., Ford Motor Co., Pfizer and Time Warner, among others.

Daley said the Philippines was now experiencing the "highest average economic growth, greatest job creation and lowest inflation."

"And this of course happened under your leadership and I think one of the greatest challenges now is to focus perception to catch up with that reality," Daley told Ms Arroyo, adding that a mission from the US-Asean Business Council would be going to Manila in October.

At a forum the day before, Ms Arroyo also received praise for having turned around the economy from former US President Bill Clinton, who described the President as a former classmate at Georgetown University and a friend of many years.

Ms Arroyo later told reporters that she was "happy that he [Clinton] thinks that way."

Martin Sullivan, president and CEO of AIG, said the attendance of top US businessmen at the luncheon for the President showed "how the US business community sees the Philippines and its importance in regional and global scales."

Sullivan also praised Ms Arroyo for the excellent job she was doing of running the Philippine economy.

"It has shown tremendous progress under her leadership and she also recognizes quite clearly the long-standing bilateral relationships between the Philippines and the US," he said.

Ms Arroyo thanked the businessmen for their kind words.

On path to permanent growth

"I am very happy and grateful for your willingness to share the good news about the Philippines with the rest of the American business community," she said.

She told them that what they were seeing now was a Philippines "on the path to permanent growth and stability."

"Why do I say permanent? Following the pain of raising taxes with the gain of investing the proceeds in human and physical infrastructure, we should bring in investments and create jobs and that is the source of long-lasting economic growth and development," she said.

She then touted the "billion dollar plus investments" that the Philippines has gotten from, among other sources, the US-based Texas Instruments, Korea's Hanjin and Japan's Marubeni.

"Let me assure you that our administration will continue to focus like a laser beam on the economy because I think that focus has gone behind our best economic performance in 20 years and I hope to continue this focus to make the Philippines a better place for American investment," she said.

She delivered the same message at a dinner for US companies which attended a business processing outsourcing summit seminar hosted by the Philippine American Chamber here.

The President said the BPO conference was "oversubscribed," noting that many wanted to join.

BPO so big

"The success in the BPO industry contributed mightily to the economic renaissance going on in the Philippines right now," she told her audience.

The outsourcing industry, she said, was so big now that it was slated to be a $12-billion industry by 2010.

She said the business processing outsourcing "has become the fastest growing sector in the economy, providing 300,000 new jobs."

"But we do not want to rest on our laurels," she said.

Having established strength in call centers, the government was now focused on "growing the higher value-added services segment of the knowledge process outsourcing industry, including accounting, legal, human resources and administrative services," she said.

"We are excited by your presence here. We encourage those who have invested, to continue to do so. And to those of you who are just getting to know the Philippines, we urge you to come explore all that the country has to offer you and your business," the President said.

le Reine

September 30th, 2007, 07:48 PM

If the Philippines missed out completely all the foreign investment in the 1970s to 1990s it should be because we are under Martial Law at that time.

Martial law was declared in 1972 and democracy restored in 1986, what a coincidence?

As other Asian Countries benefited fromt the foreign-investment boom, the Philippines has been robbed by the Marcoses. So talagang mangungulilat tayo.

I think being a former Spanish Colony is not the reason behind, in fact we are already influenced by the Americans up to now.

Yung nainfluenced ng Spain eh mga patay na.

I think there's some truth to what the article says. Spanish influence is still strong in this country. Of course, there are other factors which contribute to our economic malaise. But I'm very sure that culture is one of the main factors.

Even your own argument says it all. We could have been better off now if not for martial law. But you must remember that it's not martial law per se that caused our problems but the actors in that era. And voila, most of them are the same oligarchs that we see daily in society pages of our newspapers! We incurred a mountain range of debt not only because Marcos funneled it all to his pocket but all of his cronies too. Not to mention that they still hold the same positions in government and own the same companies for almost a century. So was there any change? NONE, NADDA, ZILCH!

beads_strawberries

October 1st, 2007, 05:04 AM

^^ We're really moving towards the right path on economic growth. It's really good that investments are pouring in, the peso is strong while the stock market has reached historic heights. More so, the creation of six million jobs in six years helped a lot in realizing the goals of ordinary Filipinos who just want to provide their families a better living.

The BPO industry really made a boom in the Philippines. The main cities like Manila, Cebu and Baguio were reported to be among the largest sources of BPO, as per the news today. It surely looks like it. :)

zeejay

October 1st, 2007, 07:49 AM

The good news about this economy growth is that the international community has taken notice of such fact of growth. The US-ASEAN Business Council is aware of these economic growth, job creation and inflation rate that is low. They have commended President Arroyo for a job well done and said that it indeed happened during PGMA's term. Well, that is a nice acknowledgment. Hopefully our kababayans will do the same and remain positive and inspired to work harder because of these developments that the Philippines experienced this year.

earlat

October 1st, 2007, 09:07 AM

:rock: ‘Infra upgrade to boost growth prospects’ :applause: :applause:

By Jun Vallecera
Reporter

LOCAL output measured as the gross domestic product (GDP) was seen to accelerate faster than originally targeted this year, ranging only from 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent, the Department of Finance said on Friday.

Under revised goals, the economic managers project GDP expanding instead by 6.5 percent to as high as 7.5 percent. The optimism was communicated to the global investment community by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, who was with President Arroyo in a no-deal economic road show in New York.

Teves said Philippine growth was to be underpinned by good governance and national harmony, enabling local output to range as high as 8 percent two to three years down the line.

Documents show government vowing to “strengthen national security” and “improve the rule of law, pursue a sound regulatory regime and adopt more civil-service reforms.”

Teves also vowed to cut red tape and for government as a whole to “seek national harmony.”

The National Economic and Development Authority also presented a paper recognizing several challenges, including the robust intraregional growth that mandate the need to continually raise the country’s competitiveness.

The paper said fiscal measures remain a priority to sustain growth and that weakened external demand compounded by the cooling US economy and the slow recovery of Japan “may pose downside risks.”

Inflationary pressures from the volatile oil market need to be monitored and addressed as well.

Infrastructure upgrading will continue to be the top agenda, according to the government paper. Teves said the country’s performance this year thus far was on track, and that the year’s targets were “within reach.”

Actual GDP averaged 7.3 percent in the first half, well above the most optimistic forecast growth of only 6.7 percent, in an environment where domestic interest rates were also well below target range of 4 percent to 4.5 percent, and the local currency was not weaker than the ceiling of P48 per dollar at only P47.5 per dollar.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10012007/headlines02.html

amigo32

October 1st, 2007, 10:50 AM

hehehe, si GMA ba? akala ko dahil panalo ang opposition sa senate? j/k

earlat

October 1st, 2007, 05:21 PM

:banana: Shifts in RP economic patterns cited :banana:

BESIDES ‘MOST SOLID’ FUNDAMENTALS, TETANGCO SAYS REDUCED RELIANCE ON OLD MARKETS A PLUS

By Jun Vallecera
Reporter

THE country’s economic bedrock is the strongest in a decade, presenting opportunities for business to range beyond narrow domestic confines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor said, capping with good news a gloomy week on the economic front with revelations of alleged bribery in the biggest state telecom project and declines in the Philippines’ ranking in global corruption indices.

At the annual meeting of members of the Chamber of Thrift Banks, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. also said the changes in the local economic landscape were accompanied by a change in outlook as well.

“The Philippines’ economic fundamentals are the best in 10 years,” said Tetangco, enumerating the usual leading indicators.

But far more important than the lower-than-program year-to-date inflation of 2.6 percent and foreign currency reserves in excess of $30 billion, Tetangco highlighted changes by which resident entrepreneurs conducted business.

“There have been changes in the pattern of economic activities from 10 years ago, like exports [predominantly going] to the US but now increasingly going to Europe and Asia,” he noted, in response to a question about credit policies.

While economic history shows Philippine reliance on the US market for growth, current trade patterns show a marked shift. “This is not to say we have completely delinked, but the magnitude of delinkage is clear. Intraregional trade accounts for 55 percent of all trade in Asia.

Our trade now is more diversified in terms of destination,” he said.

Trade diversification has rendered the Philippines “less vulnerable to external shocks,” Tetangco added.

Likewise, the sources of funds that used to come from foreign creditors has changed as well.

“For now, there is more local sourcing of funds, from the banks and the equities and bond markets, making us less linked to developments abroad,” he said.

He noted the local currency lost ground between 2001 and 2004 but started to appreciate by 2005 and continues to do so till now.

“But it is just one of many factors influencing competition, like the state of our infrastructure which has beneficial effects on all sectors. It increases the absorptive capacity of the economy,” he said.

Tetangco said peso liquidity growth as measured by the M3 aggregate slowed to just 14.9 percent in August, from as high as 26.3 percent in April.

The deceleration makes less imperative changes in the current monetary policy rate settings as forecast by some experts when the policymaking monetary board meets this Thursday.

Most argue for a rate cut given the benign outlook for inflation over the next 14 to 21 months.

Tetangco said actual inflation of 2.6 percent in the first eight months was way below target, ranging from 4 percent to 5 percent this year.

“But we have to be careful in assessing the balance of risks,” he said.

Such risks, according to Tetangco, include the rising cost of world oil prices that could push inflation higher.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10012007/headlines01.html

Ex!lE

October 2nd, 2007, 02:00 AM

GDP growth likely at 7% in Q3 (http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20071002104578.html)

The Philippine economy likely expanded more than 7 percent year-on-year in the third quarter on the back of brisk consumer demand, sustaining the above-target growth trend of previous quarters, acting Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said yesterday.

"We expect the first-half performance to be sustained in the third quarter. We expect pretty much the same number," Santos told reporters on the sidelines of a national conference on statistics.

The Philippine economy expanded at its fastest pace in nearly two decades in the second quarter, up 7.5 percent on year due to higher consumer spending and stronger trade, pushing first-half growth to 7.3 percent on year.

"The driver will still be primarily private consumption," Santos said, citing strong remittances from Filipinos working abroad as well as revenue from business process outsourcing companies, a growing industry in the Philippines.

Given the trend and an expected recovery in the agriculture sector, the government "may have to adjust" its GDP growth target of 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent for the full year, Santos said.

hiiamdib

October 2nd, 2007, 02:56 AM

Frankly, when I heard of the 7-8-9 plan, I didn't actually believed in it. But seeing how things work right now, hmmm... that's all, hmmm in a positive manner... ;J

[dx]

October 2nd, 2007, 04:17 AM

Philippine economy seen growing more than 7 percent in 3rd quarter (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/01/business/AS-FIN-ECO-Philippines-Economy.php)
International Herald Tribune

MANILA, Philippines: The Philippine economy likely expanded more than 7 percent in the third quarter on the back of brisk consumer demand, sustaining the growth trend of the previous quarters, a top economic official said Monday.

The economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly two decades in the second quarter, rising 7.5 percent from the same period last year and pushing first-half growth to 7.3 percent.

"We expect the first-half performance to be sustained in the third quarter. We expect pretty much the same number," said Acting Economic Planning Secretary August Santos.

He said given the trend and an expected recovery in the agriculture sector, the government may have to adjust its growth target of 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent for the whole year.

"The drivers will still be primarily private consumption," Santos said, citing strong remittances from Filipinos working abroad as well as revenue from business process outsourcing companies, a growing industry in the Philippines.

In 2006, the economy expanded 5.4 percent.

beads_strawberries

October 2nd, 2007, 04:35 AM

^^ Well, this only shows we're moving on the right path.

We have recorded a 6.9% growth last quarter so the above 7% is just realistic for me. With the advent of more jobs and more small scale industries in the country, I'd like to think this is really achievable. This is beside foreign investments that our global counterparts are giving to us.

Raven83

October 2nd, 2007, 05:58 PM

In my calculation we needed to grow at least 10percent perannum in at least 12 years for us to reach an NIC status. But 7% in six years or a single presidential term is enough for us to significantly redude poverty levels that is at least if the population growth rate is reduced by half

jbd0130

October 2nd, 2007, 10:13 PM

waketrex

October 2nd, 2007, 10:26 PM

Are we not NIC status already? I think we already reach that status. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yup we are

flymordecai

October 3rd, 2007, 02:44 AM

Economist says OFW-fueled growth can’t be sustained (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=92149)

By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--The economic growth fueled by money remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will likely last for five to 10 more years, given favorable global demographics, but a more solid industrial backbone has to be built to sustain growth of over seven percent over the long haul, a regional economist said Tuesday.

HSBC economist Frederic Neumann, visiting from Hong Kong, said the Philippines should work harder to attract investments and harness tremendous potentials from three sectors: business process outsourcing, mining, and tourism.

The gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.3 percent in the first half, including a 7.5-percent expansion in the second quarter, the country’s strongest growth rate in 20 years.

“Despite this tremendous economic achievement in the first half, to some degree, it’s a bit of a mirage because it was fueled by a tremendous amount of remittances coming from abroad,” Neumann said. “But over the long term, that model of economic development is not sustainable.”

He said growth in money remittances from overseas Filipinos slowed down in the past few months, and this could have a dampening impact on private consumption in the quarters ahead.

For this year, Neumann expects the GDP growth to average 6.5 percent before slowing down to 5.5 percent next year, as the economy remains “vulnerable to shifts in remittance.”

“We can’t maintain an economic growth rate of seven to eight percent by just basically throwing money to the economy,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not a real achievement, but what we know is we need investments to make it sustainable, and investment is what is sorely lacking.”

Neumann also said banks’ real lending growth remained anemic, suggesting sluggish investment appetite.

“There has been activity in the construction sector, but this is largely financed by cash [from] older OFWs bringing money to build homes for their retirement,” he said.

The favorable demographics will likely continue in the meantime, Neumann said, referring to the country’s young population, contrasting this with the aging population in western countries that is likely to drive up demand for imported labor.

He added the Philippines could also benefit from skills and earnings brought home by returning workers. This is what is happening in India, which had experienced the remittance phenomenon ahead of the Philippines, he said. With INQUIRER.net

------

I've always thought those two of the three sectors she mentioned, particularly tourism and mining, are the vehicle to sustain the economic growth of the Philippines.

bariQ

October 3rd, 2007, 04:59 AM

Are we not NIC status already? I think we already reach that status. Correct me if I'm wrong.

nopes i dont think so... we are still too poor overall. but soon that will become reality if our growth wont be stunted

GearX

October 3rd, 2007, 05:23 AM

Are we not NIC status already? I think we already reach that status. Correct me if I'm wrong.

yes we are NIC
NIC - New Integrated Corruption:lol:

waketrex

October 3rd, 2007, 05:38 AM

nopes i dont think so... we are still too poor overall. but soon that will become reality if our growth wont be stunted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newly_industrialized_country#Current_NIC_countries

based on 4 reference studies

Paweł Bożyk (2006). "Newly Industrialized Countries", Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 164. ISBN 0-75-464638-6.

Mauro F. Guillén (2003). "Multinationals, Ideology, and Organized Labor", The Limits of Convergence. Princeton University Press, 126 (Table 5.1). ISBN 0-69-111633-4.

David Waugh (3rd edition 2000). "Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22)", Geography, An Integrated Approach. Nelson Thornes Ltd., 563, 576-579, 633, and 640. ISBN 0-17-444706-X.

N. Gregory Mankiw (4th Edition 2007). Principles of Economics. ISBN 0-32-422472-9.

wynngd

October 3rd, 2007, 07:18 AM

We are under NIC category since last year.

3cr

October 3rd, 2007, 08:59 AM

US tagged as top growth risk
But ‘decoupling’ to mitigate impact on Asian economies

A SLOWING US ECONOMY remains the number one risk to global growth but Asia, including the Philippines, is gradually decoupling itself from the world’s biggest economy.

And while financial markets will have to deal with volatility over the next two months as a result of the US’ subprime woes, the Philippines can weather the storm thanks to rising dollar remittances from Filipinos working overseas, HSBC economist Frederic Neumann yesterday said.

"Decoupling doesn’t mean Asia will be entirely unaffected, particularly if the US goes into deep recession. There will be an impact on exports, but it will be less than it used to be," he told chief executives attending an international conference in Makati yesterday.

Mr. Neumann, who spoke at the 6th International CEO Conference of the Management Association of the Philippines, said a recession in America remains the top threat to the global economy as a declining reliance on the US market would continue over the next five, 10 or even 20 years.

Still, a US slowdown would not have much impact on remittances since Filipinos working there belong to noncyclical industries — healthcare and education, for instance — where growth will continue even during a recession.

Moreover, the reported 30-40% share of the US in total overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances is overstated, he said, because a big chunk passes through remittance centers there.

"So I don’t think a US economic slowdown will have such impact on remittances," he said.

The World Bank ranks the Philippines fifth globally in terms of remittances from overseas workers. Based on 2004 figures, India received $22 billion; China, $21 billion; Mexico, $18 billion; France, $13 billion; and the Philippines, $10 billion.

In 2006, OFW remittances coursed through banks reached a record $12.8 billion. Another $1.2 billion was estimated to have been sent through informal channels. The total is equivalent to 10.9% of Philippine gross domestic product (GDP), a huge resource that offers a lot of opportunities.

Economic activity, Mr. Neumann said, was shifting away from the US to Asia and Europe, which is reflected in the weakening dollar.

The weaker dollar has made it increasingly harder for Asian economies to complete globally, he said, but Asian countries have to get used to it. The long-term phenomenon will force countries to rely less on exports and more on domestic consumption.

"We can see that in the Philippines. Domestic consumption is growing. The driver of economic activity tends to be more local now. The external sector becomes less and less important."

It used to be that when the US economy slowed, the dollar would rally because it was viewed as a safe investment haven. The greenback had also gained together with rising US long-term interest rates.

This is no longer the case, Mr. Neumann said.

Asian exports, meanwhile, continue to perform strongly even as the US manufacturing index has dropped.

It also used to be that when the US slowed, commodity prices declined. Now, oil prices are at an all-time high of nearly $85 per barrel, despite slower US growth, as global oil demand continues to pick up.

"How can this be? Because the center of economic activity is shifting away from the US towards other nations. The US economy as a share of global GDP has shrunk," Mr. Neumann said.

Asian countries, he said, are selling less goods to the US and more to Europe, China and other emerging markets.

China, in particular, is figuring more in the global economic equation since it has become a dominant supplier of goods.

Countries outside the US, he said, should not view China as a threat but more as an opportunity, especially as the communist country’s household spending should pick up soon.

"Private consumption in China is yet to be unleashed. If that’s true, it has important implications for the world economy overall, especially for Asian economies outside China."

Mr. Neumann further noted that rising oil prices would have inflationary consequences later on. "If inflation rises, interest rates have to rise over time."

But this does not mean economic growth will be depressed. "But it will mean we will see higher interest rates and higher cost of capital over the next several years," he added.

Mr. Neumann also said that aside from the threat of a US recession, there is the risk of rising commodity prices as well as a severe adjustment in China.

"I would imagine at some point we will see a temporary correction in China as well."

_________________________________

China accepts cancellation of national broadband project
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW100307/content.php?id=075

CHINA HAS accepted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s "difficult decision" to cancel the Philippines’ National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp., a late-breaking statement from the Office of the Press Secretary said.

Palace officials, however, declined to elaborate on the matter.

The government last month suspended the project with the Chinese firm to set up a broadband network after allegations of bribery and corruption.

"We cannot evade the fact that the scandal hurt China," said Cerge Remonde, the head of the President’s management staff.

"That’s why the President is going there, to ensure that the damage created by the National Broadband Network scandal is repaired," Mr. Remonde said.

In an interview yesterday, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed understanding on the issue during the 30-minute bilateral talks.

He added that the President clearly presented her decision to Mr. Hu, who understood and accepted it.

Amid the scandal, the government also suspended an education project funded by China worth $460 million and two major farming initiatives intended to provide agricultural products for the Asian giant.

Beijing publicly said the ZTE controversy would not affect trade ties, but the fallout has cast a shadow over $1.4 billion in Chinese loans due to be extended to the Philippines over the next 12 months.

Diplomatic sources have said that China is privately unhappy with the suspensions and has warned that future loans could be adversely affected. The President has created a special committee to review all government projects with China.

3cr

October 3rd, 2007, 09:08 AM

Group drafts roadmap for local BPO industry
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20071003104657.html

The Philippines is fast emerging as a preferred location for offshoring and outsourcing needs of companies in the United States, Europe and even in Asia as this Southeast Asian country takes up a strategy to further ramp up capacity and services offerings.

Oscar Sanez, CEO of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), said the Philippines was ready to provide a wide range of services for companies that are looking for the high quality work at less costs.

"The Philippine IT-enabled service sector has done well over the past few years and industry players through the BPA/P have adopted a plan of action to lay the foundation for breakthrough growth," Sanez said.

He added that even the BPA/P itself was beefed up to meet the challenges that the industry faces, with a full-time team organized to implement the strategy called Roadmap to 2010.

Sanez said the strategy was geared at enhancing the Philippine IT-enabled services industry’s strengths, including a high quality labor pool and its leading cost position

"Our work force is not only well trained but is part of the worlds third largest English-speaking nation outside the US and the UK, he said. The Philippines is a natural global hub for contact center services, especially with a 12-hour difference with the West."

However, Sanez said that the Philippine IT services industry is also known for higher-value, non-voice services like back office processing and shared services, software development, medical transcription, engineering design, animation, and legal transcription.

"The Philippines has the Asia-Pacific’s biggest pool of accountants and business-related college graduates, with some 3,000 accounting graduates become certified public accountants yearly."

Sanez said another strength of the Philippines was its building up on the industry’s emerging reputation for quality, especially in contact center services.

"Philippine contact centers use world-class technologies to handle transactions like CRM technologies, interactive voice response system, computer telephony integration technologies, call management systems, automated quality monitoring and recording systems."

Not only are the Filipinos highly educated and English-proficient, they are also IT proficient, dedicated and customer-oriented professionals, Sanez said.

Some of the leading global companies with dedicated contact centers in the Philippines are American Express, AOL, Citibank, Fleet National Bank, Microsoft, Expedia.com, Barnes and Noble, WorldCom, CommSouth, Dell Computers, Sony, Minolta, JVC, Sun Microsystems, Procter and Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The Philippines also services some Fortune 500 companies like Nokia, MSN, Sony, Intel, FedEx, MCI, AT&T, and Kodak among others.

The contact center industry is one of the fastestgrowing industries in the Philippines, growing from 3,500 contact center seats in 2001 to 160,000 seats in 2006.

Still another advantage of offshoring to the Philippines is its leading cost position among low-cost countries.

Studies have shown that the profit after tax margin for a contact center located in the US or Europe is typically of the order of 5 percent to 10 percent, while the equivalent margin in the Philippines is between 20 percent and 25 percent.

jbd0130

October 3rd, 2007, 04:33 PM

nopes i dont think so... we are still too poor overall. but soon that will become reality if our growth wont be stunted

Yes we already are, NIC means Newly Industrialized Country, I think this is equivalent to Developing Country so we really are.

Search the internet you can see Philippines is categorized under NIC.

amigo32

October 3rd, 2007, 05:08 PM

di ba Newly Industrializing Country?

jbd0130

October 3rd, 2007, 08:14 PM

di ba Newly Industrializing Country?

The category of newly-industrialized country (NIC) is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists and economists.

NICs are countries whose economies have not yet reached first world status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts. Another characterization of NICs is that of nations undergoing rapid economic growth (usually export-oriented). Incipient or ongoing industrialization is an important indicator of a NIC. In many NICs, social upheaval can occur as primarily rural, agricultural populations migrate to the cities, where the growth of manufacturing concerns and factories can draw many thousands of laborers.

NICs usually share some other common features, including:

Increased social freedoms and civil rights.
A switch from agricultural to industrial economies, especially in the manufacturing sector.
An increasingly open-market economy, allowing free trade with other nations in the world.
Large national corporations operating in several continents.
Strong capital investment from foreign countries.
Political leadership in their area of influence.

Current NIC countries
The following table presents the list of countries consistently considered NICs in each continent by different authors and experts.

Some authors still consider the first generation list of countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong[6]) as NICs, and some others argue they are now developed countries. Turkey is classified as a developed country by the CIA[7] and is a founding member of the OECD since 1961. Mexico joined the OECD in 1994 and is also a member of the G8+5, along with China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Africa
South Africa
North America
Mexico
South America
Brazil
Asia
China
India
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Europe
Turkey

hiiamdib

October 3rd, 2007, 08:41 PM

^^ according to other studies, kasama sa list ang chile, argentina, indonesia, jordan, cyrpus at egypt. Alam ko, may napanuod ako sa TV about this. Nakita ko pa nga si PGMA acknowledging this.

bariQ

October 3rd, 2007, 10:00 PM

crappypants

October 3rd, 2007, 11:46 PM

it's because of our overpopulation and supersonic growth rate.
i've no doubt we can reach 8% but our pop. growth outpaces it.

wynngd

October 4th, 2007, 02:38 AM

deleted (double post)

wynngd

October 4th, 2007, 02:41 AM

i dont feel we are industrialized though.... :ohno:

i remember when taiwan, singapore and later... malaysia became NICs and they already looked very 1st world... The Philippines still feels rural save for a handful of cities

^^Have you seen India? before judging our own country you should make a comparison. Taiwan and Singapore is already in 1st world category. Malaysia got lucky with their petroleum depot in their country and that's a huge money. all of the three countries have small land area and population so they can easily got a higher per capita. Thus, people there have a higher purchasing power based on their salary.

If you will look in the Philippines and compare them to other developing country like Vietnam, Burma, Myanmar etc. Our economy is way ahead of them. Based on the stories I heard in my officemates who travelled to India for Business, Philippines Infastructures, public utility vehicles and even the airport is a lot better. You can even live rich there for $500 in 3 months. During my travel in Taiwan for 1 month I'm spending $1,000 for a typical standard of living. In the Philippines, you cannot live a typical std of living in the city for (IMO) $250. I still remember one of our expat told me that Philippines doesn't look like a 3rd World Country, With all the luxury cars driven in Manila and Malls all around the metro area.

bariQ

October 4th, 2007, 05:24 AM

^^ your statements doesnt convince me.... but thats just me though....

and why do i have to make a comparison with vietnm, cambodia, laos?

when i want the Phils to be like India, China, Taiwan, Sinagpore, Thailand...

I have been living in the Philippines most of my life! and most of the Philippines is still untapped....

and we dont have an adequate military, we are our world class stadiums? :ohno:

yes im judging my country, coz i know it well. well enough to know that people work too hard for too little...

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 05:38 AM

I still remember one of our expat told me that Philippines doesn't look like a 3rd World Country, With all the luxury cars driven in Manila and Malls all around the metro area.

Only Manila is 1st World and perhaps some selected cities. If only your expat friend traveled to the provinces or just outside NCR, then your expat friend would have no doubt we're still 3rd world.....

Arkdriver

October 4th, 2007, 06:03 AM

^^Have you seen India? before judging our own country you should make a comparison. Taiwan and Singapore is already in 1st world category. Malaysia got lucky with their petroleum depot in their country and that's a huge money. all of the three countries have small land area and population so they can easily got a higher per capita. Thus, people there have a higher purchasing power based on their salary.

If you will look in the Philippines and compare them to other developing country like Vietnam, Burma, Myanmar etc. Our economy is way ahead of them. Based on the stories I heard in my officemates who travelled to India for Business, Philippines Infastructures, public utility vehicles and even the airport is a lot better. You can even live rich there for $500 in 3 months. During my travel in Taiwan for 1 month I'm spending $1,000 for a typical standard of living. In the Philippines, you cannot live a typical std of living in the city for (IMO) $250. I still remember one of our expat told me that Philippines doesn't look like a 3rd World Country, With all the luxury cars driven in Manila and Malls all around the metro area.

You were talking as if malaysia totally dependent on oil alone.Malaysia is not Brunei where per capita GDP can be said depend solely on oil profits. Malaysia is more like Singapore and Taiwan (they're slowly transforming in the mould of Taiwan and Singapore). Their manufacturing industry base is massive and contribute more to the economy than profits of selling oil. For pinas, manufacturing takes back seat behind services and agriculture, and government is trying to do economic miracle by skipping manufacturing phase in economic transformation when they realize developing strong manufacturing industry base took time. Malaysian company has massive construction contracts in India and Middle East worth billions of dollars, just like how we earn on OFW remittance per annum.

Of course there's no doubt that our infrastructure is better than India, and ask your expat friend what will be his opinion if he goes to Bangalore or Delhi, you think there's no luxury cars in those cities? They're first world cities too, like Manila (with cables still dangling on air, you called it first world?)

I think Bariq is right.

wynngd

October 4th, 2007, 07:47 AM

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 08:34 AM

of course we want to be NIC...India has nearly a Billion people. Their economy is certainly huge because of their success in IT and they are known all over the world for this. The problem for RP is because of too much politics...

"The road to NIC-hood is concurrent with the term of office of elected/appointed government officials."

We are not pessimistic...we're just being realistic. We indeed have all the resources but most of our economic programs are hindered by too much politicking on both sides, including the leftist organizations who practically do everything to bring down every government...

Most of our huge infrastructures/projects are concentrated in imperial NCR that's why there is a great disparity between NCR and the countryside. In fact, NCR is congested with too much infrastructure. It's like NCR is another country if you're from the provinces. One can build a 4 kilometer road in NCR in 1 month, while in the province, it would take 2 years to finish a 200-meter road. It's just not fair to say we're 1st world when much of the country do not even have the needed infrastructure/facilities that would qualify as even 2nd world....:ohno:

wynngd

October 4th, 2007, 08:57 AM

^^We have a long way to go to get to first world country let's just be happy that we are on track right now in moving forward than backward. That change is gradual and will not happen in the next 5 to 10 years.

If we try to understand, the government needs to improve NCR first since the heart of our economy is in Metro Manila. It will symbolize the whole country. They need to work faster in Metro Manila to keep up with the needs of the new businesses sprouting here and there. I do agree about the short comings of our politicians and we are still hoping that they will soon change their point of views in life where they put the country first. We have a lot of short comings but let's just look at our glass as half full to drive us more in reaching the first world countries. :)

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 09:14 AM

I don't think improving NCR is the key. It's over-developed already. The key really is to develop the countryside to decentralize the center of economy so if there's political trouble in NCR, the entire country won't be affected. The fact is if there are street protests (ala EDSA) it's the entire country being affected even if it is concentrated only in NCR. Worse, it's happening in Makati...:ohno: That's why I'm glad that the Super-Regions were being pushed.

dattebayo

October 4th, 2007, 09:17 AM

Being an NIC doesn't mean that you have to have good infrastractures or feel like you're on a first world country. The Philippines is categorized as NIC because it is already focusing on industry and services rather than agriculture although we are still agricultural-based. I don't really think that we should focus more on agri because typhoons can affect our Economy.

bariQ

October 4th, 2007, 09:21 AM

my point here is that we are an NIC no matter what our city or rural looks like. It is the measure of how big our economy is and not how tall our buildings are. All the countries in the world have their own low and high profile places like cities and a provinces here in the Philippines. India is a member of NIC, I tried to tell you that compare to India we have better infrastructure but they are under NIC not because they lack infrastructure but because they have a huge economy. We are always looking up for other countries so high that we already forgot what's good in our country. Isn't it ashame that we Filipinos think like that in our own country? Whatever we say in our country it's the same as telling that into ourselves. Our country's image is the mirror of us, Filipinos.

I already had this argument with one of my friends. I told him that many Filipinos are too pessimistic with our country and compare it to United States and other first world country. Most of us always tends to find a wealthy life without any sweat. we always look in our glass as half empty and try to find another full glass instead of pouring more liquid in our own glass. We look too much in other countries good sides and despise all the down sides of our own country and blinded with the good sides of it.

I am not turning this to a bashing thread but let's just think about it. If we don't believe that our own country will rise to the first world then who will???

no. im not pessimistic. especially when our country is booming right now. and i am not ashamed to tell everybody that the Philippines IS a beautiful country although it is STILL developing. and yes, i am just telling, my point of view, which is the Philippines is still poor. an example of that is when you go out of the big cities, what do you see? lack of services, lack of infrastructure. please see for yourself if you dont believe me. but we are on our way to become an NIC.

^^We have a long way to go to get to first world country let's just be happy that we are on track right now in moving forward than backward. That change is gradual and will not happen in the next 5 to 10 years.

If we try to understand, the government needs to improve NCR first since the heart of our economy is in Metro Manila. It will symbolize the whole country. They need to work faster in Metro Manila to keep up with the needs of the new businesses sprouting here and there. I do agree about the short comings of our politicians and we are still hoping that they will soon change their point of views in life where they put the country first. We have a lot of short comings but let's just look at our glass as half full to drive us more in reaching the first world countries. :)

umm.. no. the govt should not prioritize just manila... look at washington dc? beijing? new delhi? symbolize? only manila? we cant just leave other cities in the dust just because we have to make a face in the world as if we are a first world country. imo the Philippines should not pretend it is a first world country. The world should not see manila as the philippines as a whole because the gap of wealth is too large... what will the tourists think? they see manila with amazing skyscrapers, freeways, roadawys and then they go to the other cities seeing much lesser... :ohno:

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 09:27 AM

Arkdriver

October 5th, 2007, 12:03 PM

world's top 20 attractive economies for foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the World Investment Prospects Survey 2007-2009 FDI released Friday.

china
india
us
russia
brazil
vietnam
britain
australia
mexico
poland
germany
thailand
france
malaysia
indonesia
singapore
italy
ukraine
japan
canada

According to the survey, South, East and Southeast Asia, which offer major locational advantages such as market growth and size, cost and quality of labour, are consolidating their position as the most preferred region of international investors.

In fact, almost two thirds of the companies which participated in the survey say they have plans to invest in either China or India or both.

"While, in the view of investors, they share the same advantages in terms of labour costs and size/growth of market, India ranks higher in terms of skilled labour," it notes.

Unctad says FDI flows are expected to increase over the next three years despite concerns about global financial instability and protectionism in some countries.

According to it, the survey results are based on 192 respondents among the largest transnational corporations (TNCs), and that more than two-thirds of them plan to increase their FDI expenditure in each of the years from 2007 to 2009.

The survey shows that FDI is expected to increase across practically all sectors and home countries due to continued world economic growth, high profitability and the availability of external finance.

Greenfield investments (the establishment of new affiliates in foreign countries) will be more commonly used as an entry mode into developing economies while investment in developed countries will more frequently take the form of mergers and acquisitions.

Unctad says access to large and growing markets will be by far the main driver of FDI growth - this factor was mentioned as a major investment determinant by more than half of the TNC respondents - followed by access to resources (17 percent of respondents), especially skilled labour.

On the other hand, geopolitical and financial instability are mentioned by companies as the major uncertainties that could potentially hinder their FDI expansion, as well as possible increase in protectionism.

The survey says more than 80 percent of the respondents mention these three risks as important or very important.

*********************************************************

Pinas are not even on the top 20 list. i have yet to check the full ranking released.

3cr

October 6th, 2007, 06:32 AM

Talk is cheap. Let's see in 5 years...

Peso seen rising to 25/$1
By Roy Pelovello
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news1_oct6_2007

THE peso will rise to 25 to the dollar in five years on the back of strong economic growth and continuously rising remittances, an official said yesterday.

“I’m thinking [that because of these factors], in five years the peso would go back to the 25 [level]. It’s very clear as sunlight,” said Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, a former presidential chief of staff.

He made the prediction even as the peso rose to its highest level in 10 weeks against the dollar on speculation the central bank prefers a strengthening currency, and was the best performing of the 10 most-active Asian currencies for a second day.

The local unit advanced 0.5 percent to 44.74 at the 4 p.m. close in Manila, the highest since July 24, according to Tullett Prebon Plc, the world’s second-largest inter-dealer broker.

And the central bank said its international reserves, an indicator watched by creditors, investors and credit-rating agencies, rose to an all-time high of $30.75 billion at the end of September.

It traced the increase to the robust remittances and investment flowing into the country and to its dollar purchases.

Salceda noted that the gross domestic product continued to grow at a rapid pace, rising by 7.5 percent in the second quarter.

“There is no country in the world which has achieved [a] 7.5 [percent growth] only to drop to zero the next year,” he said.

But the key factor that would spur more growth for the Philippines and boost the peso further was the increasing demand for Filipino labor worldwide, Salceda said.

“The population rate in the whole world is dropping, like in Russia, so the demand for labor would be huge,” he said.

He said Filipinos enjoyed a great advantage over other workers because of their “unique socio-cultural predisposition for the Western lifestyle.

“Why would JP Morgan prefer the Philippines to put up their back office here? Because our English is neutral: They wouldn’t know whether you’re from Texas or [from some other US State].

“That’s why, if you look at the international trade, there’s no way that the intensity of the demand for [Filipino labor] would slacken.”

But with the peso’s continuing strength against the dollar, exporters should shape up to be more competitive and stop looking to the government for protection, Salceda said.

“They’ve been pampered, so they need to adjust. They were allowed to be competitive because of an artificial competitiveness from currency, not because of genuine productivity in the cost of doing business.

bariQ

October 6th, 2007, 07:01 AM

^^ nagpapapogi na naman :ohno:

adverg

October 6th, 2007, 03:54 PM

The whole world seems hate Philippine and the Filipinos to grow, dont we have the right. It seems every movement in our country always been highlighted worlwide in negative ways. Dont worry Philippines you will take over all asean countries at latter stage, hehehe over optimistic, why not......

michael677

October 6th, 2007, 05:35 PM

i dont feel we are industrialized though.... :ohno:

i remember when taiwan, singapore and later... malaysia became NICs and they already looked very 1st world... The Philippines still feels rural save for a handful of cities

malaysia? hmm
maybe only KL looks like singapore.. (10 years ago?)
they're still a developing country afaik,
but i dont know, ive seen kl pictures many times already..
there is no cbd to speak of
and the skyline is less dense compared to bangkok's and even manila's
but petronas rocks!

michael677

October 6th, 2007, 05:44 PM

Anyone has seen last 2 week's show on CNA - business class?
it was a 30 minute feature about manila ^^
fyi, the show is about doing business in top asian cities
the list includes beijing, bangkok, mumbai...
ive also seen the beijing spot.

for those of u who didnt get a chance to watch here's something for u,
they described manila as one of the more modern cities of SE asia..
then of course shot in makati and the whole wall street of the phil intro..
overall, the program was very informative
also shown were the 24 hr golf at intramuros and the greenbelt nightlife
but the only part of bgc that was there was a hero's monument ..
too bad they shouldve shown more of it!
but great job! manila is indeed back on track! :banana: :banana:

dattebayo

October 6th, 2007, 08:40 PM

^^ saan ipapalabas? by the way if we'll only talk about cities, Manila is the richest city in Southeast Asia

le Reine

October 6th, 2007, 08:45 PM

^^naku, maraming mang-aaway sa iyong taga-ibang bansa lalo na sa ASEAN. I remember some forumers before na nagpakitaan ng stats. :lol:

Arkdriver

October 7th, 2007, 11:00 AM

malaysia? hmm
maybe only KL looks like singapore.. (10 years ago?)
they're still a developing country afaik,
but i dont know, ive seen kl pictures many times already..
there is no cbd to speak of
and the skyline is less dense compared to bangkok's and even manila's
but petronas rocks!

seems like your world view is very limited. there's no doubt manila is much more bigger and has many denser building but their KL living condition is much more better than manila albeit slight price difference. Indeed malaysia is a developing country like pinas pero they are ahead of us. that's reality. No CBD? Come to Malaysia, i'll show u around...

BTW im not turning this thread into comparison, foreign cities's bashing thread. But i would like to suggest michael 667 to expand his world view before jumping into conclusion. Remember Pinas has so many OFW around the world to shed some light about how's the other side of the world looks like.

any SSC pinas from melbourne?

animasola

October 7th, 2007, 12:03 PM

^^ saan ipapalabas? by the way if we'll only talk about cities, Manila is the richest city in Southeast Asia

Where did you get this? I read somewhere before that Manila was somewhere between 40-60 in the ranking between cities with the highest GDP per capita.

wheel of steel

October 7th, 2007, 12:23 PM

^^ Wow!!! panalo po si Manny Paquiao.. Yess!!! :banana: Pero I think mas maogong yata and Philippine Economy natin.... :banana: :banana: Ayos!!!

michael677

October 7th, 2007, 04:18 PM

seems like your world view is very limited. there's no doubt manila is much more bigger and has many denser building but their KL living condition is much more better than manila albeit slight price difference. Indeed malaysia is a developing country like pinas pero they are ahead of us. that's reality. No CBD? Come to Malaysia, i'll show u around...

BTW im not turning this thread into comparison, foreign cities's bashing thread. But i would like to suggest michael 667 to expand his world view before jumping into conclusion. Remember Pinas has so many OFW around the world to shed some light about how's the other side of the world looks like.

any SSC pinas from melbourne?

first of all, ur right! they're indeed ahead of us
im not here to disagree with u
u can say im pretty much well travelled so ive seen it
been to progressive countries except for aus, w. europe, and perhaps uae.,
i shldnt have made blind conclusions
i was just commenting on the tone of the previous post...
i have observed in some of our kababayans their usually negative views of the phils
and whats more disheartening is some are even putting us down
im not naming anyone in specific here ok?
and i was just taken aback by all of the recent devts here!!!
i was also away for at least 1 year so..

i dont know if ull agree with me,
i believe we can once again have the top spot
AND when all the ofws come home and contribute their vast international-level skills and knowledge... dang!! ........
btw, congrats to all of the filipinos worldwide for winning the world boxing title! ^^ :banana:

lastly, lets be proud, its TIME for the Philippines!

michael677

October 7th, 2007, 04:25 PM

^^ saan ipapalabas? by the way if we'll only talk about cities, Manila is the richest city in Southeast Asia

it was shown last 2 weeks in CNA
twas a saturday night
i dont know if there is a replay...

can u please elaborate more if we'll only talk about cities, Manila is the richest city in Southeast Asia..

allan_dude

October 7th, 2007, 04:59 PM

^^ I saw that episode. They mentioned about: doing business in Manila is hassle-free for Westerners because of our proficiency in English and renowned hospitality. They also highlighted our modern society.

For the down side, they said you need 2 hours allowance when traveling during rush hour within the Metro. Also, I was not visually impressed with the presentation. Maybe I was comparing again with our more progressive SEA neighbors. Next time I'll just think of Laos or Cambodia. :lol:

At least the report's substance is acceptable. Very informative.

kikodj

October 7th, 2007, 05:50 PM

Arkdriver

October 7th, 2007, 07:45 PM

first of all, ur right! they're indeed ahead of us
im not here to disagree with u
u can say im pretty much well travelled so ive seen it
been to progressive countries except for aus, w. europe, and perhaps uae.,
i shldnt have made blind conclusions
i was just commenting on the tone of the previous post...
i have observed in some of our kababayans their usually negative views of the phils
and whats more disheartening is some are even putting us down
im not naming anyone in specific here ok?
and i was just taken aback by all of the recent devts here!!!
i was also away for at least 1 year so..

i dont know if ull agree with me,
i believe we can once again have the top spot
AND when all the ofws come home and contribute their vast international-level skills and knowledge... dang!! ........
btw, congrats to all of the filipinos worldwide for winning the world boxing title! ^^ :banana:

lastly, lets be proud, its TIME for the Philippines!

no offence pare. Maybe i didnt get ur message. About kababayan oversea, one of my friend, told me..when u are working oversea, it's better to make friends with local people, because the one who will bring u down (office politics) are often your own fellow OFW. i dont know and im not sure about this, but my friend is a first time OFW in Malaysia (service desk guy). How true is this?

le Reine

October 7th, 2007, 07:56 PM

^^my dad said the same thing when he went back home from Dubai and China

Raven83

October 7th, 2007, 08:08 PM

it was shown last 2 weeks in CNA
twas a saturday night
i dont know if there is a replay...

can u please elaborate more if we'll only talk about cities, Manila is the richest city in Southeast Asia..

Well income per cap here is almost two times the national average,so thats 15million people times $2'000++ and thats roughly $45B++ or around 45% of national GNP. Singapore is a city state of roughly 4million citizens with $25'000 income per capita and that is around $100B....

maybe the CNA guys says one of the richest but not the richest...

portludlow

October 7th, 2007, 09:27 PM

pinapataas ni paquiao ang moral ng pinas at ng mga tao dito...
pinapababagsak naman ng mga politiko... tsk... ("_)

does someone have a data about corruptions during Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyos' terms???

sino ang pinaka corrupt na administration???

lahat naman sila ay may katiwalian dahil hindi ka mananalo sa pagka-presidente kung hindi mo ibebenta ang kaluluwa mo sa mga negosyante at politiko na nagmamay-ari sa ating bansa. Kung umaasa pa tayo na mawala and pagnanakaw sa pwesto malayo pa nating makakamtan iyon. Maititigil lang kung merong tunay na rebolusyon.....pero ito naman ay sa tingin ko ay malaho at mapanganib pa sa kinalalagyan natin ngayon.

bariQ

October 7th, 2007, 10:04 PM

^^my dad said the same thing when he went back home from Dubai and China

thats what i also heard here... i hope this destructive rumour wont continue... since i still trust our kababayans kahit na dedma lang sila :cheers:

dattebayo

October 8th, 2007, 09:55 AM

dattebayo

October 8th, 2007, 09:56 AM

kikodj

October 8th, 2007, 11:43 AM

lahat naman sila ay may katiwalian dahil hindi ka mananalo sa pagka-presidente kung hindi mo ibebenta ang kaluluwa mo sa mga negosyante at politiko na nagmamay-ari sa ating bansa. Kung umaasa pa tayo na mawala and pagnanakaw sa pwesto malayo pa nating makakamtan iyon. Maititigil lang kung merong tunay na rebolusyon.....pero ito naman ay sa tingin ko ay malaho at mapanganib pa sa kinalalagyan natin ngayon.

kawawa naman tayo kung alang political will to combat the real problem which is corruption..

hmm the LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND??? mas madaming perang pumapasok sa bansa natin mas maraming makukurakot... tsk...

nakakaapekto sa economiya at sa mga investors ang corruption right???
kahit maging riches city tayo sa south-east kung corrupt naman ang gobyerno... wala din... theres no way but down... sila lang ang yumayaman...

appoint pa ng appoint ng mga kupaloids na corrupt na tao sa gobyerno..

I really hate this politicians... specialy the lack of will to fight corruption...

adverg

October 8th, 2007, 11:48 AM

It doesn't mean one is ahead of another, he is always ahead forever, wath out Philippines and Vietnam, were coming back, takbo Philippines takbo, hehehe...

Rence

October 8th, 2007, 01:34 PM

Asian stock markets rally to fresh records

Thomson Financial
Last updated 06:21pm (Mla time) 10/08/2007

SINGAPORE - Stock markets across Asia rallied Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street Friday after the September jobs report delivered what investors were hoping for -- evidence that the labor market is in decent shape, making it less likely the world's biggest economy is headed for recession.

Benchmark indexes in South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines set records. Hong Kong and Chinese markets gained more than 2.0 percent, as investors on the mainland returned from a week-long holiday to catch up on a global rally.

The Japanese market was closed for a public holiday.

"It's a relief that the Dow rallied to a new high even with reduced hopes for another rate cut. This should promise a good start for the week here," said Kim Young-Ik, analyst at Hana Daewoo Securities in Seoul.

The major US indexes rallied on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing to another record above 14,000, after the government said the economy added 110,000 jobs in September, slightly above market expectations for a rise of 100,000. Crucially, the August reading was revised higher, to show payrolls rose by 89,000 instead of shrinking by 4,000 as the initial data showed.

Analysts said the report was positive even if it reduced the chances the Federal Reserve will follow last month's 50 basis point cut with another move at its October meeting.

The recovery in job creation is a welcome sign that the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and credit crisis that followed have failed to fully dent economic growth.

"With [those] problems seemingly arrested for now due to recent Fed action, investors can once again focus on our own internal market fundamentals," said Francisco Liboro, president of PCCI Securities in Manila.

"From the looks of it, investors already have, resulting in strong buying momentum that we have seen in the last three weeks."

The Philippines Composite rallied 2.9 percent to 3,884, as telecommunications carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone stretched to a fresh record on continued upbeat expectations for its earnings.

EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT

In South Korea, LG Philips LCD shares rose 2,700 won or 6.3 percent to 45,600 won on expectations that firmer prices for display panels will boost its quarterly earnings -- the company kicks off the third-quarter season on Tuesday.

LG Electronics gained 1,700 won or 1.9 percent to 89,600 won.

The KOSPI was last up 1.0 percent at 2,014 after setting an all-time high of 2,022 in early trade.

"Wall Street's rally brought the overall positive mood in early trading though there's some uncertainty in the run-up to the expiry of options contracts," said Dongbu Securities analyst Lim Dong-Min.

A range of options are due for settlement on Thursday, the same day that the Bank of Korea will hold its regular policy meeting.

Shares of shipbuilders were among key gainers amid brisk orders overseas.

Hyundai Heavy was up 21,500 won or 4.8 percent at 465,500 won and Samsung Heavy jumped 1,700 won or 3.4 percent to 51,100 won.

In Hong Kong, MTR Corp shares rose 45 cents or 1.4 percent to 25.65 Hong Kong dollars.

Shareholders will meet tomorrow to discuss the planned merger with KCR Corp., another railway company. Some analysts are betting that the merger will be approved.

The government owns 76 percent of MTR, the second-largest operator of public transportation in Hong Kong, with a 24 percent share of the market. The merged entity will be the biggest operator and is expected to have 40 percent of the market.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) gained 15 cents or 2.5 percent to $6.14. The biggest bank in the mainland by assets is planning to issue credit cards overseas, the Standard reported Monday, citing ICBC executive vice president Zhang Weidong.

ICBC has issued 18 million credit cards in the first half of the year, accounting for 27 percent of the market in mainland China, and plans to issue up to 20 million credit cards by year-end, the Standard said.

China Shenhua Energy jumped $2.40 or 5.0 percent to $47.30. The mainland's biggest coal producer said it raised 66 billion yuan from its initial public offering in Shanghai, the biggest in the country to-date.

Shares of China Shenhua will start trading in Shanghai Tuesday, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late Sunday. China Shenhua was listed in Hong Kong in 2005.

The size of Shenhua's IPO exceeds that of China Construction Bank, which raised 58 billion yuan last month.

The Hang Seng was last up 2.0 percent at 28,380, while the Shanghai Composite gained 2.5 percent to 5,691. Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.1 percent to 9,721.

GAINS DOWN UNDER

Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1 percent to 6,680 and the All Ordinaries was up 1.1 percent at 6,690. Mining stocks continued their rise with BHP Billiton up 1.5 percent at 44.78 Australian dollars, and Rio Tinto gaining 3.1 percent to 111.02.

In Singapore, stocks that will be be included in the revamped Straits Times index (STI) were all higher.

Investors have long anticipated the inclusion in the index of stocks with substantial market capitalization such as Chinese shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Wilmar International, the owner of palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, and Chinese property developer Yanlord.

However, SIA Engineering, the aircraft maintenance services arm of Singapore Airlines, was a surprise addition to the new 30-stock STI, which the bourse will be using from January 2008.

SIA Engineering was up six Singapore cents at 4.86 dollars, Wilmar rose eight cents to 3.92 dollars, Yangzijiang added 16 cents to 2.59 dollars and Yanlord was up 20 cents at 4.32 dollars.

The STI rose 1.2 percent to 3,869.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite gained 0.27 point to 1,372, the Thai SET was up 0.8 percent at 859.33 and the Jakarta Composite rose 0.9 percent to 2,521.94. – By Ciara Linnane

hiiamdib

October 8th, 2007, 06:15 PM

kwestyon, kelan po lalabas ang 3Q reports? mga november po ba?

3cr

October 9th, 2007, 06:39 AM

RP behind on millennium goals
By Darwin G. Amojelar
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/09/yehey/top_stories/20071009top2.html

The Philippines is making slow progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals or MDG, which are development targets that 189 countries have pledged to achieve by 2015.

In a joint report Monday by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations, the Philippines is lagging in poverty reduction, reducing the number of underweight children, providing sufficient potable water and improving sanitation.

In fact, the Philippines is either slow or showing no progress in nine of the 21 categories, according to the report entitled “The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007.” There eight development pledges, and each has several categories.

Also some 14.8 percent of Filipinos live on less than $1 a day, according to a previous story of The Manila Times. But some say the poverty threshold be living on $2 a day.

“For both Vietnam and the Philippines the current ratios of under-5 [years old] mortality between poorest to riches quintile also represent deterioration. Despite their success in achieving or moving toward he under-5 survival goals, the gaps between poor and rich have been widening,” according to the study.

The Philippines, the study said, is either showing no progress or even regressing in the MDG criteria for the number children enrolled in primary education, number of those able to reach fifth grade, the extent of forest cover, levels of carbon dioxide emissions, and water accessibility in urban areas.

Good marks

However, the Philippines is an early achiever in other MDG criteria, including primary education completion rate, gender equality as far as finishing school up to the tertiary level is concerned, lowering the tuberculosis prevalence rate, reducing the tuberculosis death rate, increasing the number of its environmental protected areas, and reducing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) consumption.

Besides this, the study said the Philippines is making progress in reducing the mortality rate for children younger than five years, infant mortality rate, reducing the number of people infected with HIV, and improving urban sanitation.

The millennium development goals are based on the United Nations Millennium Declaration endorsed by all 189 United Nations member-states in 2000. The goals include halving extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality by two-thirds; reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters; reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and creating a global partnership for development. The deadline for meeting these goals is 2015.

Animo

October 9th, 2007, 09:06 PM

MANILA, Philippines--HOTEL chain Waterfront Philippines Inc. (WPI) of businessman William Gatchalian sees its room sales growing 20 percent starting this year with the launch of the company's online booking system last month.

Riding on the rising popularity of online booking for hotels, WPI took a major step in managing its own online booking system. The website is powered by Micros Fidelio, the world's leading provider of enterprise application for hospitality and retail industries worldwide, the firm said in a statement.

WPI is the first hotel chain in the country to manage its own electronic reservations, where all its database and back-end operations are being done in the Philippines. This is unlike other hotels which farm out their online booking system to overseas companies, it said.

Waterfront's marketing network covers 2,000 local and international travel agencies and 5,000 active corporate clients.

It has opened its doors to a global distribution system a couple of years ago by partnering with global online reservations and booking portals like Rates to Go, DirectWithHotels and Unirez Hotel Factory.

WPI's own Global Distribution System (GDS), which consists of its partnerships with global booking portals and its own online booking system, accounts for a fifth of its monthly room revenues with a growth rate of 30 percent in the first half.

The group is expecting an additional increase of 20 percent in room sales with its own online reservations system, from its year-to-date revenue of P342.7 million. The new website will serve not only walk-in clients and travelers, but also accredited travel agencies and corporate clients through password-protected rates.

Online bookers can make reservations in different languages--including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish and French.

Elizabeth S. Lacson
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=93071

3cr

October 10th, 2007, 07:58 AM

Cosco investment hits snag due to infrastructure
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2007100957

The multi-billion dollar investment of China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco) has hit a snag because there are still no infrastructure in place in their preferred location.

“The first choice of Cosco is Sangley Point but there are many problems because there are no access roads,” Ambassador Francis Chua, special envoy on China trade and investments said in an interview.

Aside from access roads, Chua said the land needs to be reclaimed. This he estimated would take at least five years. “The Chinese would like to invest soon and they have to wait for a long time for Sangley Point to be ready,” Chua explained.

Sangley Point is the headquarters of the Philippine Navy in Cavite.

The Navy said they are looking at moving to the San Miguel Naval Station in Zambales should Sangley Point in Cavite be reclaimed. However, the Zambales base needs a lot of developing.

The study to relocate the 140-hectare naval station in Sangley Point is being conducted by the Navy’s Plans and Programs Committee.

The study started June 21, the same time President Arroyo signed Executive Order (EO) 629 that orders the conversion of Sangley.

Under EO 629, the Philippine Reclamation Authority was ordered by the Malacañang to convert Sangley Point into an international logistics hub with modern seaport and airport through an enabling reclamation component.

___________________________

Cosco reconsidering investment
By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/10/yehey/business/20071010bus1.html

THE Arroyo administration’s decision to cancel a costly broadband deal may cost the country in terms of a strategic investment by one of the world’s largest shipping firms, as China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco) is reconsidering its plan to put up an integrated logistics and shipping hub in the Philippines, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

On the sidelines of the launch of the 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo, Francis Chua, the government’s special envoy to China for trade and investments, said the shipping giant is now looking at two separate locations for its $5-billion investment. It had earlier been eyeing only the Philippines.

Earlier this year, Cosco had announced plans to invest in Sangley Point, a former United States Naval Base. After reclaiming about 4,000 hectares, and converting the Philippine Navy headquarters into an economic zone, the location however is still not big enough to accommodate Cosco’s planned facility.

“They need a few hundred hectares for the project. If Sangley, a lot of reclamation must be done so it would take time,” Chua said.

The Cosco group owns and operates a fleet of 770 vessels with a combined tonnage of more than 47 million. The company also is into global logistics, shipbuilding, ship repair, terminal operations, trade, financing, real estate and information technology.

Citing his discussions with the company, Chua said that the proposed Maritime School could be put up in Sangley Point. However, the company would then have to look for a second location for its shipbuilding, industrial and logistics hub.

Chua said the company is now looking at some areas in Cavite, Subic, Bataan, Quezon and a small island in the South. But the Chinese firm is also considering other countries in the region.

He said Chinese companies are just waiting for the right time to invest amid the ZTE broadband controversy.

“Chinese investors do not usually back out from their commitments to invest in any country, like the Philippines. They just wait for the right timing, but Chinese investors are somehow cautious because of the ZTE controversy,” he said.

3cr

October 10th, 2007, 08:34 AM

Foreign investments in July 2007 up by 70 percent: central bank
PhilStar
http://philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=54&type=2&sec=91&aid=2007101021

The central bank reported that net foreign direct investments (FDI) posted a substantial net inflow of US$419 million in July 2007, a reversal of the net outflow of US$79 million in July 2006.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), this brought the net FDI inflows for the first seven months of the year to US$1.6 billion, higher by almost 70 percent when compared to the level recorded in the same period a year ago.

The substantial improvement in net FDI flows in July was due mainly to the almost fourfold increase in the net inflow in the Other Capital Account to US$345 million.

These transactions pertain largely to intercompany lending between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries/affiliates in the Philippines.

Foreign equity capital investments also reversed to a net inflow of US$80 million in July from a net outflow of US$192 million a year ago.

Year-to-date, the strong FDI performance was traced to the marked improvement in net foreign equity capital inflows to US$1.7 billion from only US$589 million in the comparable period last year.

beads_strawberries

October 10th, 2007, 10:56 AM

heathcliff

October 10th, 2007, 12:22 PM

^^ A 70% increase in foreign investments can only make me nod. :) I guess the confidence of our foreign counterparts is manifesting with the way they are investing here in the Philippines.

I think this positive trend will continue especially when the president is persistent in persuading foreign investors to invest in the country.

In the meantime, the oppositionists are doing their best to scare off foreign investors and even ruin diplomatic relations with their endless investigations that are more for the sake of publicity than any real interest in the nation's welfare.

flymordecai

October 10th, 2007, 12:29 PM

Philippines' Aug exports fall 4.8% vs year ago (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=95309)

Reuters

Philippine exports shrank 4.8 percent in August from a year earlier, the first annual drop since December 2006 as a strong peso cut annual shipments of electronic goods, clothing and petroleum products.

Exports of electronic parts, accounting for nearly two thirds of the total, contracted 4 percent in August from a year ago. Shipments in the first eight months of the year were up 4.8 percent, far below the government's 2007 export target of 11 percent growth.

Electronics, largely assembled from imported parts, accounted for 64 percent of total export revenues in August.

The top three export groups -- electronics, clothing and accessories and petroleum products -- all recorded a drop in annual shipments in August.

Exports from January to August climbed 4.8 percent from a year ago, far below the government's export growth target of 11 percent for 2007 and last year's 14 percent expansion.

"It's worse than we expected. We had expected a slight increase but this suggests the rapid appreciation of the peso was taking a toll on the Philippines' competitiveness, but perhaps more importantly it does underline the fact that the Philippine economy is exposed to a U.S. slowdown," said HSBC economist Frederic Neumann.

"Given the high dependence on electronics exports, the Philippine exports sector remains vulnerable to a slowdown in the world economy at large."

"Overall, we expect exports to continue to underperform in the Philippines and we also expect the economy to slow from the rapid pace it has exhibited early this year."

Shipments to the United States dropped 5.7 percent in August but the U.S. remained the Philippines' top export market, accounting for 19 percent of total shipments. Japan was second at 15 percent and China was third at 11 percent.

The Philippines has a 2007 export growth target of 11 percent. The central bank has however forecast export growth in the year will be 8 percent.

allan_dude

October 10th, 2007, 01:57 PM

Cosco reconsidering investment
By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/10/yehey/business/20071010bus1.html

THE Arroyo administration’s decision to cancel a costly broadband deal may cost the country in terms of a strategic investment by one of the world’s largest shipping firms, as China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco) is reconsidering its plan to put up an integrated logistics and shipping hub in the Philippines, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

On the sidelines of the launch of the 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo, Francis Chua, the government’s special envoy to China for trade and investments, said the shipping giant is now looking at two separate locations for its $5-billion investment. It had earlier been eyeing only the Philippines.

Earlier this year, Cosco had announced plans to invest in Sangley Point, a former United States Naval Base. After reclaiming about 4,000 hectares, and converting the Philippine Navy headquarters into an economic zone, the location however is still not big enough to accommodate Cosco’s planned facility.

“They need a few hundred hectares for the project. If Sangley, a lot of reclamation must be done so it would take time,” Chua said.

The Cosco group owns and operates a fleet of 770 vessels with a combined tonnage of more than 47 million. The company also is into global logistics, shipbuilding, ship repair, terminal operations, trade, financing, real estate and information technology.

Citing his discussions with the company, Chua said that the proposed Maritime School could be put up in Sangley Point. However, the company would then have to look for a second location for its shipbuilding, industrial and logistics hub.

Chua said the company is now looking at some areas in Cavite, Subic, Bataan, Quezon and a small island in the South. But the Chinese firm is also considering other countries in the region.

He said Chinese companies are just waiting for the right time to invest amid the ZTE broadband controversy.

“Chinese investors do not usually back out from their commitments to invest in any country, like the Philippines. They just wait for the right timing, but Chinese investors are somehow cautious because of the ZTE controversy,” he said.

:bash: Ano ba yan! Haaay.. The fact that they are considering other countries, not so good news ito! Naku mukhang masusungkit na ito ng Vietnam.

Politica at crab mentality sa Pilipinas hindi na taglaga nagbago. Kelan pa kaya tayo aasenso? Haaay..

flymordecai

October 10th, 2007, 03:40 PM

^^ Wait, you are correct about politics being the cause of this but how did crab mentality come into this? I hate crab mentality as much as anyone, but let's not blame everything wrong in the Philippines as a byproduct of crab mentality. :)

I can be a little superstitious sometimes, let's not make the crab mentality continue by bringing it up so often. :D

Anyway, I agree with you. I actually hope that COSCO would consider the eastern coast of Luzon, perhaps develop Dingalan in Aurora. That would strongly push for the Tarlac-Aurora Expressway.

allan_dude

October 10th, 2007, 05:08 PM

^I just mentioned that beacuse "crab mentality" is very obvious not just in the ZTE controversy. Don't you ever notice that it is the main trait of the Opposition? Blaming everyone else, whether doing right or wrong, then trying to get all the credit. It only shows an image of instability and phony politics.

It's just so sad to know all of these are affecting potential investments in our country. We don't often hear investments worth Billion$ of dollar$ pouring in.

Yeah Dingalan is a good alternative site, positioning it as a mega port city. Hope they stick with the original plan to build all the facilities in a single location.

Ex!lE

October 11th, 2007, 06:29 AM

FDI inflows rise 70% to $ 1.6 B in first 7 months
(http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20071011105435.html)

Lee C. Chipongian

The country’s foreign direct investments (FDIs) increased by 70 percent to $ 1.6 billion for the first seven months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday.

For the month of July alone, FDIs posted a substantial net inflow of $ 419 million from only $ 79 million in July 2006.

According to BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr.: "The substantial improvement in net FDI flows in July was due mainly to the almost four-fold increase in the net inflow in the ‘Other Capital Account’," he said in a statement. This amounted to $ 345 million for the period.

"Other Capital Accounts" are intercompany transactions, such as lending between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries/affiliates in the Philippines.

For the seven months the "Other Capital Account" shifted to a net outflow of $ 27 million from a surplus of $ 236 million a year ago, following settlement by local subsidiaries of their loans to their mother companies.

"It is expected that the continued solid performance of the economy and the improvement in underlying economic policies will encourage more foreign direct investments in the medium term," Tetangco said.

BSP noted that foreign equity capital investments also reversed to a net inflow of $ 80 million in July from a net outflow of $ 192 million a year ago. Major investors came from the US, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong.

In the meantime the report said the strong FDI performance was traced to the marked improvement in net foreign equity capital inflows to $ 1.7 billion from only $ 589 million in the comparable period last year.

Gross equity capital placements amounted to $ 1.8 billion during the period, and most of these total were invested in the manufacturing sector (electronics, health and chemical products, garments, food, automotive sensors, decorative crafts), services (international courier, information technology development, multimedia service provider), construction, mining, real estate, financial intermediation, and agricultural industries.

"The reinvested earnings account was also in surplus at $ 14 million during the January -July period," BSP said.

In September, the BSP reduced its full-year FDI forecast to $ 1.08 billion from $ 1.46 billion because of inter-company prepayments – or companies are paying off their advances to their parent company abroad, which would indicate capital outflows.

Tetangco said this is a positive sign. "This is good because it means companies are making money so they are able to pay their advances from their parent companies."

wheel of steel

October 11th, 2007, 07:22 AM

^^ Naku! Kinabahan ako, I thought COSCO will be cancelling their $5b future investment here... :ohno: I always pray that they still choose the Philippines as their no. 1 choice regardless of the places they are willing to invest here.

Sana, dumami pa ang namumuhunan sa atin. Considering the results of the first 8months figure of FDI's in S.E. Asia, the Philippines registered only $1.6b compared to Vietnams $6b. This is so alarming because we suppose not to depend only on OFW remitances to boost our economy. I hope we might be wrong but this clearly shows that we have to look and work hard to improve our investment climate here. Pakistan also registered $4 in just 8 mos. only while Indonesia expects $6.5b for the whole year. The Philippines on the other hand expects to attract at least $2.1b for the year 2007.

waketrex

October 11th, 2007, 07:27 AM

Spending power of Philippines diaspora bulks up middle class (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071010/lf_afp/lifestylephilippinesjobsoverseas_071010152515)

MANILA (AFP) - Robust dollar inflows from millions of Filipinos working abroad are altering the Philippines economy as their relatives join the ranks of the middle class, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The international market research group The Nielsen Co estimated 800,000 households in the Philippines spent most of the 12.7 billion dollars in annual remittances last year.

Much of it was spent on homes, cars, appliances, telephones and high-tech gadgetry like mobile phones, digital cameras and home video players, the survey said.

"It has actually increased the level of the middle class," said Jay Bautista, country director of Nielsen media research which polled 300 overseas workers families in urban areas around the country.

Some 23 percent of families who have relatives working abroad now belong to the middle class, he told a news conference.

By comparison just 11 percent of the Philippine population without relatives working abroad are considered middle class and 84 percent poor.

The survey showed that more than 91 percent of the families of overseas workers receive around 30,000 pesos (677 dollars) a month or less.

Of that amount 32.9 percent goes to savings and investments, 8.8 percent to pay off debts and 58.3 percent used for consumption.

Bautista said the study found that family members tended to drop out of jobs and rely on remittances to sustain the family.

Most did not possess skills to invest the cash into productive activity. [red flag]

"They have this impression that the stream of dollars coming in has no end so they'd rather be staying at home and waiting for the remittances," he said.

Some 36.1 percent of respondents had their head of family working abroad, while 28.5 percent had a daughter overseas and 17.8 percent had a son working in a foreign land.

Bautista said despite the fact Philippine businesses spent 5.13 billion pesos (115.8 million dollars) in advertising last year to cash in on this money train, there remained huge market opportunities for this sector.

Though top real estate firms such as Ayala Corp say 39 percent of their sales are now accounted for by overseas workers, the survey found just 11 percent of these families had credit cards and 39.5 percent called their relatives abroad less than once a week.

3cr

October 12th, 2007, 06:59 AM

Bullish on next generation Pinoys
Boo Chanco
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2007101164

A major international investment bank is bullish on the next generation Pinoys. “A strong progressive force is emerging in the Philippines,” CLSA Asia Pacific Markets leads off its country report, “spurred on by a maturing electorate, new political talent, an educated workforce backed by returning expatriates, committed and forward-thinking company executives and a consumer base less tolerant of mediocrity.”

The Filipino people, CLSA strongly asserts, is the country’s solid fundamental foundation, “ but strong political leadership is needed to trigger any lasting stability and economic growth.” And for those of us who are wondering if we will see a Philippines we can be proud of within our lifetimes, CLSA predicts “the tipping point will take place in the next five to 10 years.”

The next generation Filipino, CLSA observes, is evolving “from the changing character of Philippine politicians, to the deepening talent pool of managers in the corporate sector and finally to the developing Filipino worker — local and overseas.” The next generation Filipino “epitomizes the quality of people required if the country is to move forward,” CLSA observes.

CLSA sees the truly global Filipino emerging in the next 10 years: a people who are more international in perspective, tolerant of different cultures, more open-minded, driven and results-oriented, more technology savvy, more tolerant of change, multi-culturally exposed and more sophisticated, knowledgeable and demanding workforce, consumers and managers.

As for the prevailing chaos in our streets and country in general, CLSA points out “there are plenty of examples illustrating that Filipinos can unify, follow and succeed. Filipinos overseas, whether permanent residents, professionals or working visas or OFWs, have shown they can be led, can follow laws when these are enforced fairly, and have the creative talent to do well and shine.”

There are, as we might expect, problems along the way towards this dawning of a new era. The principal obstacle the CLSA report singled out is today’s Pinoy politician. “ Political leaders today are hardly the role models they ought to be,” CLSA laments.

But we shouldn’t despair because CLSA thinks “the cascade effect of free-flowing information, an active and aggressive media, growing exposure to work and life overseas and indirect exposure to the world through call centers” should help the new generation overcome the scourge of traditional politicians on our lives.” Overall, CLSA insists, “we are encouraged by what we see.”

And CLSA thinks it is all starting to unfold. In case we have not noticed, the average Filipino has shifted gear, the investment bank observes. And proof of this emerging change for the better, CLSA points out, is the mid-term 2007 elections that “show incipient political maturity.” More specifically, the bank cites “the electoral defeat of public figures like Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez – movie actors – and Manny Pacquiao, a world famous boxer, seems to evince a more enlightened electorate.”

CLSA’s country report puts a lot of importance on 2010. “In many respects, 2010 is important for the Philippines political future… the 2010 elections will be a good start.” CLSA is hopeful about the names being mentioned as potential successor to Ate Glue.

Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte is the only local government official, and the oldest, mentioned in CLSA’s short list which includes Chiz Escudero, Dick Gordon, Loren Legarda, Manny Pangilinan, Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Noli de Castro and Ping Lacson.

CLSA doesn’t think Ate Glue will be an important factor in 2010. “We would be surprised if Arroyo officially names a preferred candidate for 2010. Nor would we expect her endorsement to be aggressively sought. The experience of many candidates in 2007 – from senators to local government level leaders – speaks volumes regarding the effect of being too closely associated with the president. Ralph Recto’s in his re-election bid, Prospero Pichay and Mike Defensor all paid dearly with embarrassing losses.”

Interestingly, the report felt the Senate damaged the promising top leadership prospects of former Sen. Juan Flavier and Sen. Dick Gordon. Praising Flavier as an effective Health Secretary, CLSA thought “his stint in the Senate had been less than stellar.”

As for Gordon, the report noted that he “was believed to be a strong presidential material as early as 1992. His claim to fame was his work to turnaround Subic Base after Mount Pinatubo’s eruption… his stint as tourism secretary was equally spectacular… He was an energetic, combative administrator who delivered results… But in the Senate, he has failed to inspire because of ‘his way or the highway’ brand of management.”

If the CLSA report was downbeat on the quality of the current political leadership, it was upbeat on the quality of private sector leadership. “Filipinos have always suffered from the absence of good role models at the top levels of government,” the report observes. But, “the business sector has no such gap.”

CLSA predicts a positive generational change in the Philippine business world. Even if the next generation has pretty big shoes to fill, “all of them are well prepared.” Among the next generation business leaders cited were Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Lance Gokongwei, Miguel Aboitiz and Tessie Sy-Coson.

Most encouraging is how these young taipans view their responsibilities: “Our key responsibility is to manage our businesses well, provide stable and secure jobs, invest in the local economy and make a positive influence as we grow our business.” According to the CLSA report, it is the view of these new generation taipans that “giving back is not done just simply through charitable work or corporate social responsibility programs, but built into the way the companies are structured and run.”

I don’t know about you folks, but this CLSA report really made my day. It gave me hope that despite everything we see around us today, the future is going to be brighter and we may yet see all these good things happen within our lifetimes. CLSA echoed many of the points I have raised in this column, notably my feeling that the OFW phenomenon will eventually result in a much improved electorate. All those OFWs have seen how things work in other lands and will want the same kind of governance at home.

Oh… if we can just fast forward these last three years of Ate Glue so we can get started with this bright new world for us…. Then again… we are known for shooting ourselves in the foot just when the promise of good things are about to happen. We have to remain focused and of course, we have to pray hard that CLSA has, what we would say in Tagalog… may dilang anghel or an angel’s tongue whose predictions of a great future for us will surely come true.

Animo

October 12th, 2007, 05:36 PM

By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
Inquirer
Last updated 08:09pm (Mla time) 10/11/2007

FIRST Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) of the Lopez Group is raising up to $270 million or about P12 billion in new debt to pursue its planned purchase of additional stakes in sister firm Manila Electric Co. FPHC is in the process of finalizing a dual tranche--or dollar and peso--floating rate note facility of at least $220 million or its peso equivalent, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

BDO Capital will be the lead arranger of the facility.

FPHC president Elpidio Ibañez said during the firm's special stockholders' meeting that the amount of debt that banks would support could reach $270 million, while the minimum would be $220 million.

In a disclosure, FPHC said proceeds of the float would be used to complete the purchase of additional stakes in Meralco, composed of the 9.1-percent held by Spanish utility firm Union Fenosa Internacional S.A. through First Philippine Union Fenosa and the 6.6.-percent stake of Meralco Pension Fund.

FPHC has a 17.7-percent stake in Meralco. The additional stakes would raise its total holdings in Meralco to 33.4 percent.

FPHC is also interested in the government's 28-percent stake in Meralco, which is being considered for privatization.

"If we will vie for the government's 28 percent, we may tie up with partners because we do not need to get the whole thing," Ibañez said.

On top of the additional borrowings, FPHC is expecting to generate P5 billion within the first semester of 2008 from a planned preferred share offer.

On Thursday, FPHC gained regulatory approval to create P20 billion worth of preferred shares, consisting of 200 million shares at P100 apiece.

Ibañez said proceeds from the preferred shares issue would be used to refinance debts and to raise its interests in Meralco, Manila North Tollways Corp. and First Generation Corp.

Ibañez said FPHC was interested to participate in the operation and maintenance of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway possibly with MNTC French partner Egis and Tollways Management Corp., the operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=93896

3cr

October 13th, 2007, 06:33 AM

Privatization yields P43.2b—Finance
By Lawrence Agcaoili
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business4_oct13_2007

The government has raised P43.2 billion from the sale of big-ticket items as it relies heavily on privatization proceeds to offset the huge tax collection shortfall, the Department of Finance said yesterday.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said in a statement that the P1.2 billion raised from the sale of the old airport in the town of Mandurriao in Iloilo City would bring to P43.2 billion the total receipts from the disposition of government assets.

The sprawling 54-hectare property was awarded to Megaworld Corp. of tycoon Andrew Tan after the government declared the auction on May 9 a failure. Robinsons Land of taipan John Gokongwei, SM Prime Holdings of retail king Henry Sy, and Tan’s Empire East Holdings attended the bidding.

The finance department sees proceeds from the privatization of government assets to hit a record P86.1 billion this year, or about 15 times the P5.8-billion revenues raised last year from the sale of government assets.

The government has exceeded its P25.3-billion programmed revenues from privatization this year.

Assets sold include the government’s 46 percent stake in Philippine Telecommunication Investments Corp. worth P25.2 billion; its 20 percent interest in Philippine National Oil Co.—Energy Development Corp. worth P16.6 billion; and the remaining 4.6 percent stake in Philippine National Bank worth P998 million.

Other assets to be sold this year include the government’s remaining 40 percent stake in PNOC-EDC worth at least P37 billion and the Fujimi property in Japan worth P3 billion.

The government hopes to raise P39 billion more from the sale of major assets next year.

Assets lined up for privatization include the government’s 24 percent stake in food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp., its 10 percent interest in Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co., the 500-hectare National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, and the 100-hectare property of Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City.

The Philippines expects to trim the budget deficit to P63 billion,or 0.9 percent of gross domestic product, this year from P64.8 billion, or 1 percent of GDP, last year despite the shortfall in tax revenue collections.

The national government relies on non-tax revenues, which include the privatization proceeds to offset the huge tax collection shortfall of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

The tax take of the Internal Revenue crawled by 8 percent to P473 billion this year from P438 billion last year but was P37.7 billion short of its goal while the Customs bureau collections inched up 3.5 percent to P133.9 billion from P129.3 billion but was also P12.1 billion short of target.

_______________________________

RP’S GROWTH DRIVER Remittances
Shielded from US Slowdown
BY MAX ESTAYO
Malaya
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct13/busi1.htm

The Philippines need not fret that much about workers’ remittances being affected by the slowdown in US economy, according to Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp.

Remittances fuel the country’s growth. One out of 10 families rely on remittances to survive.

Fred Neumann, economist of HSBC, said that while about 48 percent of total OFW remittances comes from the US, Filipino migrant workers are spread out in North America and just channel their remittances through US banks.

"They therefore show up in the data as coming from the US even if the Filipino worker in question resides and earns the cash in another country," Neumann said.

Also, Filipino workers are "less cyclically sensitive," Neumann said, helping ensure robust remittance flows despite blips in the US economy.

"Unlike Mexican workers who have often taken on jobs in the US construction industry or similar occupations, a large number of Filipinos tend to be employed in the healthcare and education sector, rendering them less vulnerable to a cyclical downturn," he said.

Moreover, remittances are not likely to slow on decreasing deployment, the Hong Kong-based economist said, because unrecorded employment is rising.

Deployment has fallen by at least three percent in the first eight months from last year, making the government off the target of sending out at least a million workers this year, he said.

"Official data comprises only lower skilled workers," Neumann said.

"There are reasons to suspect that an increasing number of professionals are leaving the country who may seek their own arrangement when taking jobs abroad," he said.

"Therefore the falling deployment numbers do not necessarily reflect the overall growth in OFWs heading overseas," he added.

Lastly, another optimism for OFWs is demographics.

"Population trends overwhelmingly favor an outward migration from the country, with young, qualified Filipinos meeting the labor requirements in other economies with more rapidly aging populations," Neumann said.

"The country appears well placed to exploit an increasingly important trend in the global economy – the shortage of qualified workers in industrialized nations," the economist said.

Remittances comprise more than 10 percent of the country’s growth domestic product and is behind the growth in spending, which is supporting economic growth.

Total remittances are seen reaching $14.7 billion this year, the bulk or $14 billion of which are seen passing through banks.

Filipino workers sent home a total of $12.8 billion in remittances through banks last year.

3cr

October 13th, 2007, 06:37 AM

Less schooled poor get poorer; income disparity widens
BY ALBERT CASTRO
Malaya
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct09/busi2.htm

The Philippines is succeeding in lifting more Filipinos out of poverty but it has failed like other countries in Asia in narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor according to the Asian Development Bank.

ADB in its most recent report on the world’s progress in eradicating poverty under the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) noted that the rich are getting richer faster than the poor crawling out of the poverty trap.

What is sadder is that in the Philippines, lack of education by breadwinners or head of families drive them deeper the poverty quicksand.

It pointed out that in 2003, three out of five people in poverty lived in a household where the head had the lowest education level, a higher proportion than a the beginning of the 1990s.

ADB also pointed out that the Philippines is sliding back on its promise to protect the environment.

It said government focus on developing mining poses the biggest pressure on the country’s forest cover.

ADB said that benefits from economic growth are being skewed towards the better off, not only in the Philippines but worldwide.

It said that while in many countries the poor continue to see their incomes rise, the richest have seen their incomes rise even faster and as a result here have been significant increases in inequality.

In the Philippines the ratio of the the population surviving on $1 per day has dropped from 19.8 percent to 14.8 percent. Unfortunately the poorest 20 percent’s share in national income has been reduced to 5.4 percent from 5.9 percent.

This means that while the number of the abject poor had gone down, their income as a proportion to total income had gone done.

The Philippines is among the 14 Asian countries where the gap widened.

ADB Poverty unit head Shilo Chaterjee said the Philippines is at the bottom two of the 14 countries where income disparity widened.

Poverty also saw the increase in the number of deaths of children below five years from 2.7 percent to 3.2 percent for the very poor.

It also pointed that in the very poor families, only 25 percent of births are attended to by skilled birth attendants compared with 90 percent for the richest.

The ADB said that in general, the Philippines like many other countries is poised to achieve most of the goals identified under the MDG — (1.) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2.) achieve universal primary education; (3.) promote gender equality and empower women; (4.) reduce child mortality; (5.) improve maternal health; (6.) combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (7.) environmental sustainability; and (8.) develop a global partnership for development.

"Most developing countries can point to success in some of the goals, but none is on course to achieve all of them," said ADB.

Philippines for one regressing in its vow to stick with goal number seven, particularly in keeping the country’s forest cover, reducing forest cover, reducing carbon dioxide emission, and cutting by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.

The ADB noted that "some of the economic growth in the region has been at the cost of rapid deforestation — notably in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines." The Philippines is currently promoting its mineral deposits whose extraction poses big pressure on the country’s forest cover.

Chaterjee stressed that for countries to achieve the target, "major changes has to be made, with more cooperation among regional countries in the Asian region, and increased aid for countries who are deemed unable to achieve the MDG targets."

________________________________

16 million workers are poor, group says
By Joel M. Sy Egco
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics3_oct13_2007

More than half of the country’s 30 million workers are languishing in poverty, with each earning only P41 per day or even less, according to non-government organization.

Citing its own study, the Global Call to Action against Poverty Philippines said roughly 16.1 million Filipino wage earners are poor.

GCAP-Philippines explained that this was one of the many reasons for the hunger rising to its record high status since [mid-] 1998 with 21.5 percent of families living in poverty.

The group claimed that the workers’ low income, combined with skyrocketing prices of goods and services, fuels the rising poverty and hunger in the country.

“According to official data, 1 out of 4 Filipinos is poor, but if you have P41 [national poverty threshold] in a day for all your food and non-food needs then you are not poor,” the group said. “P41 is not enough for any person to live a decent life, the government is mocking us all by saying so.”

In the past few years, the group said, household incomes have gone down by 10 percent and most Filipinos have problems making ends meet because of skyrocketing prices of goods and services.

The latest survey results of the Social Weather Stations showed that hunger has worsened, surpassing the previous records of 19 percent in November 2006 and February 2007. From 3.5 million families, a new record high of 3.8-million families (21.5 percent) experienced “involuntary hunger” at least once in the last three months.

The SWS survey last February 2007 prompted the government’s declaration of the war against hunger with the release of a billion peso-fund designed to fund school feeding programs, food for work programs, and feeding programs run by religious and civic organizations, to alleviate hunger in depressed areas in Metro Manila and in some provinces that have high incidence of hunger.

But GCAP-Philippines bewailed that “the government’s P1 billion worth six-month hunger response which ended last September proved worthless.”

“This just shows how ineffective the government hunger intervention programs are... We said it in March and we say it again, more strategic solutions, rather than palliatives or stop-gap solutions are needed to fight worsening hunger,” it further said.

The P1 billion hunger mitigation program of the government, which began last March, could have been put to better use rather than just for stop-gap measures, the group added.

To boost the government’s hunger and poverty mitigation measures, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently increased the budget for her Food-for-School Program in 2008 to P3.3 billion, a 1.2-percent increase from this year’s FSP allocation of P2.75 billion.

3cr

October 13th, 2007, 07:11 AM

Has NEDA gone Nada?
by ALECKS P. PABICO
Philippine Institute for Investigative Journalism
http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2007/neda.html

HE IS known by many Filipinos as the author of that economics textbook with the blue cover, but once upon a time Gerardo P. Sicat was the head of a powerful government agency that took care of preparing and coordinating the country’s socioeconomic and development plans. In fact, back then, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was very powerful, particularly given its oversight function with respect to the plans of government agencies. Though by protocol, the NEDA director general was not a member of the Cabinet, the position was of Cabinet rank and the NEDA chief was even regarded as a primus inter pares (first among equals).

NEDA was created by then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 by merging the Presidential Economic Staff (PES) and the National Economic Council (NEC). Sicat, who was appointed by Marcos as NEC chairperson in 1970, served as the newly organized NEDA's first director general. Recalled Benjamin Turiano, who joined NEDA at about the same time as Sicat and is now a director there: “That was the time when NEDA really had so much clout, when it was looked up to by the Cabinet.”

But Sicat was eased out of the agency in 1981, and moved to the Philippine National Bank to become its chairperson and president (during which he also wrote that ubiquitous textbook that has been used by millions of students). Apparently, the Palace had been displeased with his criticisms of the economic directions being taken at the time, as well as with his having too seriously pushed for a liberalized economy. Yet another reason for Sicat’s sudden change of workplace was because then First Lady Imelda Marcos, as minister of human settlements, had already began bulldozing her way through the bureaucracy; her pet building projects, for instance, were no longer coursed through NEDA for evaluation and approval.

Today the now 72-year-old Sicat — along with other NEDA chiefs who came after him — is seeing a similar deed being done to the country’s premier social and economic development planning and policy coordinating body. And again a powerful woman is in the picture: no less than the president herself, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, although as things stand, it is not that clear what role she has played in driving NEDA to — as Solita ‘Winnie’ Monsod describes it — “its lowest point.”

Monsod served in the reorganized agency from February 1986 to May 1989 under the first post-Marcos government of Corazon Aquino. At a forum last week at the University of the Philippines, she, Sicat, Cayetano Paderanga, Felipe Medalla, Cielito Habito, and Dante Canlas agreed that, essentially, what the recent revelations by another former NEDA chief, Romulo Neri, boiled down to is that the agency’s independence and integrity have been compromised. At the very least, it seems that under Arroyo, NEDA and its director general are again being sidelined, if not marginalized, on matters that fall within their mandate, particularly seen as being less important in relation to the president's economic team — which consists of the secretaries of the Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

NERI AND A 'WEAK' NEDA

Neri had testified at one of last month’s Senate hearings on the scrapped National Broadband Network project that he approved a $329-million deal that had the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) hastily signing a supply contract awarded to Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Limited (ZTE) Corporation last April in Hainan, China. The contract, he said, was covered by a yet-to-be perfected executive agreement with the Chinese government.

Neri, however, also testified that he had done so even after he was offered a P200-million bribe by Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Benjamin Abalos Sr. in exchange for approving the project in favor of ZTE. Neri said he flatly rejected the bribe and reported the incident to the president. (Abalos, who has since resigned as Comelec head, said Neri was lying about the alleged bribe.)

Neri invoked the executive privilege when grilled by senators about the extent of Arroyo’s involvement in approving the NBN deal. But he did recall a November 2006 NEDA board meeting when Arroyo had made it clear that the government broadband project should comply with the following conditions:

that it be established along a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or similar undertaking using private funding
that there should be no government subsidies
that there should be no "take or pay" conditionalities and instead be a "pay for use" facility.

All of which were, interestingly enough, absent in the deal that Neri gave the go-signal to. Neri, though, painted a picture of a rather “weak” NEDA in his testimony. While the agency assesses project viability and consistency with the country's long-term development goals, he said it is not the one that chooses suppliers. "We approve the project,” he said, “and the implementing agency in turn goes around and finds out what is the best way to implement the project that NEDA approved, whether it's a BOT or, in this case, a government-to-government undertaking."

Neri even acknowledged that the NEDA staff didn't have the capability to verify the project cost or the savings from such an undertaking, "though the staff tried to verify these through the Internet." He likewise explained the decision to eventually approve the project as naturally resulting from the collegial character of the NEDA-Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC), and that he was only one of its members. It is the NEDA-ICC that evaluates the fiscal, monetary, and balance of payment implications of major national projects.

It was a description of NEDA that left the likes of Sicat quite aghast. At the recent UP forum, Sicat insisted that NEDA is "not an ordinary government agency." The 1987 Constitution even mandated it to be a constitutional body, although the lack of an enabling law means it has yet to become one in fact.

Monsod, for her part, was particularly resentful of how Neri has distanced himself from the NBN deal. She pointed out that NEDA has everything to do with the country's development projects. "In principle,” she said, the approval of projects depends on the president, the leadership of the director general, and the NEDA staff."

If a project is bad, Monsod said, the NEDA director general is "morally constrained to tell the president." She adds that under the circumstances, resignation would have been the better option for Neri, who has since been transferred to the Commission on Higher Education, which he now chairs.

SOURCES OF POWER

It was during Monsod’s term at NEDA that its director general, drawing lessons from the past, was concurrently designated as Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Development. Monsod also initiated NEDA's commendable turnaround from its image of a Marcos rubber stamp — although the Aquino administration continued to convene the Coordinating Council for the Philippine Assistance Plan (CCPAP) that usurped NEDA's investment planning function.

Yet while the powers and functions do reside in the NEDA Board chaired by the president, the NEDA director general is not as powerless and less influential as Neri had portrayed the position to be. The director general, as chief executive officer of the NEDA Secretariat, exercises general supervision and control over the agency's technical and administrative personnel. The Secretariat, in turn, serves as the research and technical support arm of the NEDA Board in all the various aspects of development planning and policy formulation, coordination, evaluation, and monitoring of plan implementation.

The NEDA director general is also vice chairperson of the NEDA Board, as well as co-chair of four of the six cabinet-level inter-agency committees that provide assistance to it: Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), Social Development Committee (SDC), and Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM). He chairs the other two committees: Infrastructure Committee (InfraCom) and Regional Development Committee (RDCom).

In light of the NBN controversy, Medalla, the NEDA chief during Joseph Estrada's brief presidency, said the public should also be made to understand the dynamics between the two NEDAs: the "NEDA sa Pasig," the NEDA Secretariat under the director general with its offices in Ortigas in Pasig City, and "NEDA sa Pasig River," an obvious allusion to Malacañang, the seat of executive power.

Medalla said he was disturbed while listening to Neri explain during the Senate hearing the NEDA project evaluation process and how the national broadband deal bagged by ZTE Corporation got past NEDA. It was evident, he said, which of the two NEDAs had managed to gain the upper hand.

As NEDA director general, Medalla said it was his job to "stop bad things and make good things better." For the many times he said “no” to proposed projects, particularly recalling the proposal to extend the MRT 3 line from North Avenue to Monumento in Caloocan City, he said Estrada came to the point of casually referring to him as "Dr. No."

To Medalla, Neri's justification that NEDA does not look at the financial side of the project is a "distortion." Medalla said it is precisely NEDA's role to determine how a project should be financed, whether it is going to be under a BOT scheme or will be funded by official development assistance (ODA). “(But) here, you see a NEDA policy completely reversed by a line agency,” he said. “Unless, of course, it's been changed in private."

PROTECTING PROJECTS FROM 'CROCODILES'

Attempts to bypass NEDA have actually reached the level of amendments to the implementing rules and regulations of the BOT Law that have been in the pipeline for the past year. Among the proposed changes — which the private sector and multilateral lending institutions are opposed to — are replacing the two-pass approval system with a one-pass one, limiting NEDA-ICC's role to approving only the list of priority projects, and giving the authority to approve individual projects and contracts to implementing agencies or local government units.

"But this is like leaving the zoo to be guarded by crocodiles," remarked Habito at the UP forum. He added that his enduring recollection of NEDA is encapsuled in a quote from the late journalist Luis Beltran: that it is the only agency “na hindi nalalagyan (cannot be bribed).”

Habito was NEDA director general under the Ramos administration. In his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he had also noted that the NEDA’s clout lies in its role in the evaluation and approval of ODA-funded projects, which was what the NBN project was supposed to be. Republic Act 8555, or the Official Development Assistance Act, is explicit as well about the submission to NEDA by all concerned implementing and oversight agencies of all information and reports it may require in its review of draft contracts.

Habito said, too, that RA 8555 does not allow ODA funds to be used "directly or indirectly for...telephone programs contracted as of January 1, 1996, except basic telephone programs and projects for rural areas not adequately serviced and/or currently developed by private enterprises.” No doubt, the NBN project was nothing less than a very ambitious telecommunications undertaking.

On the issue of foreign grants and concessional loans, Medalla also believes that NEDA had been remiss in its obligation as stipulated in the ODA law. Under Section 4, it is NEDA's duty to ensure that the ODA obtained shall be for previously identified national priority projects that are urgent or necessary. ODA, the provision further stated, shall not be accepted or utilized solely because of its availability, convenience, or accessibility.

At the forum, Habito recalled that even during his tenure at NEDA, there was already a general desire to bypass the agency as it was perceived to be an "unnecessary obstacle" to government projects. Habito recounted that then President Fidel Ramos had told him that the feedback he got from some in the private sector about NEDA was that it was doing "too much analysis to the point of paralysis." Ramos, a former military man, was known for having projects “fast-tracked.”

But Habito said he told Ramos that “NEDA is there to protect him from Senate blue ribbon committee investigations." At the very least, said Habito, NEDA's project evaluation process should help agencies anticipate issues and questions to be raised during meetings of the NEDA Board and NEDA-ICC.

Paderanga, who was NEDA director general during the Aquino administration, also defended the agency’s duty to make its own expert comments on proposed projects. During his time, he said, NEDA saw to it that two documents were submitted for review by the NEDA-ICC: the feasibility studies of the implementing agencies and the NEDA report containing its objective comments on the studies.

"What NEDA should do,” he said, “is to look at the socioeconomic costs and benefits of the projects, rank them, and then identify which of these are priority projects." The search for funding is also within NEDA's area of expertise, he also said, as it is the one coordinating with assistance agencies. "NEDA,” said Paderanga, “would know their preferences, what funds are available for what types of projects."

CONTINUING ITS 'EXEMPLARY REPUTATION'

In the last two weeks, the Senate has been trying to pry more information from NEDA about the Palace’s connection with the NBN deal. Current NEDA Director General Augusto B. Santos, however, has done a Neri by invoking the executive privilege and refusing to hand over the minutes of the meetings of the NEDA-ICC that led to the deal’s approval. In a recent letter to the Senate, he argued that since “discussions in closed-door Cabinet and NEDA meetings are considered executive privilege…the minutes of said closed-door meetings are also covered by executive privilege.”

Such an argument could well add more to the growing frustration of Sicat and company over NEDA’s current state, especially since it is the first time that the agency has obviously been put under a gag order. Yet Sicat and the other former NEDA chiefs present at the UP forum said they would like to believe the staff of the agency remain professional and want the agency's "exemplary reputation" to continue.

This can be done, they said, by promoting greater transparency and a clearer accountability in every step of the evaluation process. Monsod, in particular, also recommended that post evaluation of projects be conducted to find out if the assumptions borne by projects are correct, aware that rates of return can be manipulated.

And if NEDA is worth saving at all, Monsod said it is imperative to make sure that the right person heads it. In 35 years of its existence, NEDA had been headed by a non-economist only once. That lone non-economist happens to be Neri, whose background is in marketing and finance, though he teaches macroeconomics at the Asian Institute of Management and has several books on the economy.

Monsod, however, warned the public of an even graver threat. “It's the beginning of the end of NEDA,” she said, “when it's headed by a politician.”

But with NEDA being only a creation of an executive order, can the agency really be insulated from politics and pressure from politicians?

“Even now, we get a lot of pressure from legislators for their own projects,” Turiano told PCIJ, confessing that he thinks the agency will really not be independent as long as Congress passes a law to operationalize Section 9 of Article XII on National Economy and Patrimony in the Constitution.

Yet even that provision appears to be contradictory, as Medalla pointed out. “It calls for creating an independent planning agency but which would still be headed by the president,” he said.

Monsod and Paderanga are not receptive to the idea, though. To them, establishing an independent economic and planning agency will only make it a “paper tiger” — isolated and even more innocuous than what NEDA has apparently become.

____________________________

NEDA cites need for policy reform to help poor earn more
BY ALBERT CASTRO
Malaya
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct13/busi3.htm

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) yesterday cited the need to speed up policy reforms to help the poor earn more.

NEDA released yesterday the results of the 2006 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES), which showed that while the average income of families has been improving alongside economic growth, the very poor are being left behind.

The survey also showed that the poor is spending 59 percent of their money on food, showing that food prices are either high or their income is really that limited.

The rich also spend 39.3 percent of their income on food again proof that food prices in the Philippines are high.

"Policies should be pushed to bring equitable growth, especially among the lower income brackets," according to Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary (NEDA Director-General) Augusto B. Santos said in a memorandum to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the results of the survey.

Santos said that while the survey showed that the average income of families has been improving alongside with economic growth, there is the glaring need to accelerate the pace of growth to enable the poor to earn more.

Santos stressed that among those needed to be implemented are "policies to sustain macroeconomic stability, modernize agriculture, strengthen small enterprises, and expand export markets in order to create employment opportunities."

Also, "the realignment of the national budget towards social services is a good opportunity for the government to put more emphasis on education and health in tandem with an effective population management program," according to him.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) recently reported that from 2003-2006, average nominal incomes of families in the bottom 30 percent grew faster at 17.5 percent compared to families in the upper 70 percent which grew by 15.9 percent. Income growth among the lower income groups was also higher than the national average income growth of 16.2 percent. Nonetheless, families from the bottom 30 percent posted negative savings due to higher spending.

Income distribution among families was more equitable in 2006 than in 2003. Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality ranging from 0 to 1 where a value away from zero means increasing income inequality, improved to 0.4564 in 2006 from 0.4605 in 2003.

3cr

October 14th, 2007, 08:30 AM

Budget spells out government’s priorities
By Maricel V. Cruz
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/14/yehey/top_stories/20071014top2.html

Editor’s note: The House of Representatives on Friday passed on second reading the General Appropriations Act of 2008, more simply called the national budget. The House added some P30 billion to social services and reduced the amount allotted for debt servicing. The House aims to pass the budget bill by November. The Senate deadline is December, and it’s too early to tell how they will align the expenses with the national priorities as the senators see it. Following is an analysis of the proposed budget as drafted by Malacañang. A look at the budget gives an indication of the government’s priorities.

For 2008, the Palace has proposed to Congress a P1.227-trillion national budget, the highest in history.

Contained in House Bill 2454, the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2008 or the budget bill, is P101 billion higher than the current year’s level. That extra amount represents a 9-percent increase to fulfill the Arroyo administration’s goal of a balanced budget by 2010—one of the targets listed in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan. Actually, the balanced budget timetable has been advanced to 2008.

“While a balanced budget is ideal, it is not mandatory,” Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said in the bill’s explanatory note.

“A deficit which is under control is not a badge of fiscal law. More than a balanced budget, what is needed is an optimum prioritization of appropriations for physical and human infrastructure to attain genuine and sustainable development,” he added.

Next year’s proposed budget includes the following:

• “Appropriations” and “new general appropriations” will account for P770,728,857,000 (about P656 billion programmed and P114 billion un-programmed);

• Automatic appropriations total P570,763,234,000 while unused appropriations/unobligated allotments comprise P114,492,09,000.

The P571 billion for automatic appropriations includes the following: government payment for interests (P296 billion); customs duties and taxes (P12 billion); and special accounts, including net lending, tax refund pensions and grant proceeds (P37 billion).

There are different approaches in to look at the national budget: allocation by expense class, macro-economic assumptions, by recipient or allocation by department/agency, or through sectoral allocation.

Allocation by expense class

In terms of expense class, the P1.227-trillion budget is allocated as follows: P385 billion or more than 31 percent for personal services; P683 billion or 56 percent for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE); and P160 billion or 13 percent for capital outlays and net lending.

The proposed allocation for personal services will cover, among other things, the salaries and benefits of about 1.1 million national government employees. Personal services also includes the amount of P30.8 billion to cover the 10-percent salary increase in 2007 and the proposed compensation reform to be implemented in 2008.

For the P683-billion MOOE, about P296 billion or 43 percent will go to debt servicing while P211 billion or 31 percent will go to the local government units representing their share from the internal revenue allotment (IRA).

The balance of P176.1 billion or 26 percent can be classified as regular MOOE to be distributed for the operational requirements of the various departments and agencies.

Under House Bill 2454, capital outlays including net lending of P12 billion, will get an allocation of P159.7 billion or 13 percent of the total budget. The capital outlays of P147.7 billion will boost the infrastructure program of the national government. Specifically, this incorporates about P116-billion worth of infrastructure programs that will be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of Agriculture, among others.

Macro-economic assumptions

The proposed 2008 GAA is based on the following macro-economic assumptions:

* Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 6.1 to 6.8 percent;

* Gross National Product projected growth rate of 6.3 to 7.1 percent;

* Inflation rate between 3 percent and 4 percent;

* The benchmark 91-day treasury bill is expected to average between 4 percent and 5 percent;

* The peso-dollar exchange rate projected to continue at P46 to P48 levels;

* Oil price is projected to be between $62 to $70 a barrel;

* Remittance from OFWs is projected reach $15.5 billion annually and revenue collections projected targeted at P1.236 trillion.

Department allocations

The Constitution mandates that the biggest share of the budget should go to education. House Bill 2454 does just that, according to Palace officials. Indeed the Department of Education ranks on top with the highest allocation of more than P146 billion for 2008.

The budget for the education sector is actually higher than P146 billion as it should include not only the budget for DepEd but also allocations for state universities and colleges and the Commission on Higher Education.

Next to DepEd is the Department of Public Works and Highways with P55 billion; Department of National Defense (including its modernization program), P56 billion; the Department of the Interior and Local Government, P53 billion; the Department of Agriculture (including the agriculture-modernization programs), P24 billion; the Department of Transportation and Communications, P22 billion; the Department of Health, P16 billion; the Department of Agrarian Reform (including Agrarian Reform Fund), P13 billion; and the Department of Foreign Affairs, P10 billion.

The proposed allocation for the judiciary is about P10 billion. As a gesture of inter-department courtesy, Congress generally does not touch the budget of the judiciary. If ever it does, it cannot reduce the judiciary’s budget to an amount lower than the previous year’s.

Social services will get the highest share about 30 percent or P369 billion, next only to debt servicing. The budget bill states the amount will principally address the demands of education and manpower development (P182 billion); health-care services (P23 billion); social security, welfare and employment (P69 billion) and housing and community development (P8 billion), among others.

Next to social services, the biggest chunk goes to economic services with P287 billion. The sectors covered include agriculture and agrarian, natural resources and environment, trade and industry, tourism, power and energy, water resources development and flood control, communications, roads and other transportation, other economic services and subsidy to local government units.

Defense’s share of the budget pie will increase from P53 billion to P61 billion—mostly for additional payroll and modern arms for personnel in the field.

General public services will also be adjusted upward from P182 billion to P201 billion.

____________________________________

Hopes pinned on ’08 budget
By Darwin G. Amojelar
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/14/yehey/top_stories/20071014top1.html

ECONOMISTS have expressed optimism that the Philippines may attain economic growth target next year given a higher outlay to prop up the economy.

Victor Abola, economics professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said the country is likely to meet the economic growth target of between 6.1 percent and 6.8 percent next year given the increased spending for public and private sectors.

Referring to the government, Abola said, “They have the money to spend more to pump prime the economy.”

For next year, the government has proposed a P1.227-trillion budget, 8.9 percent higher than this year’s P1.126 trillion. In 2005, the country’s budget was P1.04 trillion.

The share of economic services was increased to 23.4 percent from 21 percent, social services to 30.06 percent from 28 percent, and defense to 5 percent from 4.7 percent, according to the proposed budget. Actually, the House version is looking to add P30 billion to the allocation for social services.

Abola projected that the economy may grow between 6.5 percent and 7 percent next year to be driven by mining, construction, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remittances and private commercial industries.

“The economy will be driven domestically,” rather than by exports, he said.

UP view

Felipe Medalla, former socioeconomic planning secretary and professor at the University of the Philippines, agreed with Abola that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) target for next year is “doable.”

He noted that despite the projected economic slowdown in the US and China, the Philippines and other East Asian countries would not be affected unless Japan’s economy will also decelerate.

Medalla said the economy next year would be supported by hefty increase in government spending for infrastructure projects and social services.

The government’s infrastructure spending for next year is about P116 billion or 3.1 percent higher than the P94.6 billion this year.

About 77.8 percent (P90.3 billion) of the 2008 outlay for infrastructure will go to the Department of Public Works and Highways (P75.31 billion) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (P14.97 billion) to build the much needed highways, railways, ports, airports and other transport facilities that will link strategic areas and business centers crucial to trade and investments.

Negative outlook

Benjamin Diokno, former budget secretary and economics professor at the University of the Philippines, said the US and Chinese economic slowdown would impact on the country’s economic growth.

The slowdown of the two economic giants could decelerate the country’s exports that may restrict the economic expansion.

Diokno, however, explained that even without the slowdown in US and China, the government infrastructure spending for next year is not enough to lift the country’s GDP.

“The government is unlikely to meet its economic goal this year even the low end target [even when] our growth this year will be higher than expected,” he said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected the GDP for next year to grow 6 percent from the earlier forecast of 5.6 percent.

“In 2008, the services sector will continue to drive GDP and is expected to grow at 7.4 percent. Overseas remittances will support thriving retail trade, transport, residential real estate and communications services. A slow pick-up in global demand for electronics products will add to export growth, keeping the current account surplus at 5.2 percent of GDP in 2008,” the ADB said in a report.

It added that export-oriented manufacturing would do better if global demand for electronic products picks up as projected, but mining and quarrying are likely to decelerate from the rapid expansion seen in 2007.

“Government expenditures on infrastructure will support growth of construction. Industry as a whole is expected to grow around 5 percent, and agriculture, assuming normal weather conditions, at 3.9 percent,” the Manila-based lender said.

The government this year is targeting between 6.1-percent and 6.7-percent GDP growth. In the first half of the year, the economy grew 7.5 percent on the back of strong infrastructure spending and services sector.

President Gloria Arroyo had said the budget will be balanced, and the revenue agencies must deliver, as her administration is committed to sustain growth momentum toward eventual economic takeoff.

“Our prudent approach to spending, involving expenditure rationalization and matching sources of revenues enabled us to grow our economy while keeping a tight rein on our deficit,” Mrs. Arroyo had said.

She added the budget will sustain major infrastructure projects in all so-called super regions, long demanded by local government units and regional development councils, industries and investors, and local communities.

Where’s the money?

Secretary Rolando Andaya of the Department of Budget and Management has described the General Appropriations Act of 2008 as an outlay that will be totally supported by internal revenues as it reflects government confidence in a continued “economic upturn.”

The budget is premised on revenues of P1.236 trillion—P1.108 trillion from taxes and P127 billion in nontax revenues. Of which, the Bureau of Internal Revenue will contribute P885 billion and the Bureau of Customs, P254 billion.

The proposed national budget is also doubling its investment in housing to P7.6 billion and increasing funds for economic services to P287 billion from P242 billion, social services to P368 billion from P320 billion, and defense to P61 billion from P53 billion.

Topping the list of recipients of the 2008 budget is the Department of Education with P146 billion, followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways, P94.5 billion; National Defense, P56.1 billion; Interior, P52.6 billion; Agriculture, P23.8 billion; Transportation and Communications, P22.3 billion; Health, P16.3 billion; Agrarian Reform, P13 billion; Judiciary P10.2 billion; and Foreign Affairs, P10.1 billion.

kikodj

October 16th, 2007, 12:27 PM

ZTE won an award?? but still... over pricing is over pricing...

saan galing ang pondo ng 0.5M sa mga congressmen?? mabuhay si GLORIA!...
wala manlang resibo??? anak ng...

sa executive fund siguro???... good sa economy... nag pawala ng pera sa mga projects??? ewan... experts explain naman???

nayki

October 16th, 2007, 04:29 PM

^^Tama ka dyan, over pricing is still over pricing kahit siya pa ang isa nangungunang kompanya sa linya nya. Saka kung talagang walang malaking kababalaghan sa ZTE deal na yan dapat hindi yan binasura ni GMA. Kilala natin si GMA na matibay ang paninindigan nya sa pagpapatupad ng mga hakbang basta alam nyang mas makakabuti iyon sa bansa natin tulad ng mga ginawa niyang tax measures. Pero itong ZTE hindi niya kinaya dahil nga siguro sa masyadong maanomalya at medyo nainvolve ang asawa nya. At saka syempre sya ang pumirma sa pinal na kontrata.

nayki

October 16th, 2007, 04:31 PM

10/16/2007 | 06:55 PM

A weaker export industry has forced the National Economic and Development Authority to slash its gross domestic product forecast for 2007 to between 5.9 percent to 6.5 percent, from an original range of 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent.

"Given that exports will slowdown from 11 percent to 8 percent in 2007, the impact to GDP [gross domestic product] growth is estimated to be -0.245 percentage points," Augusto B. Santos, socioeconomic planning secretary told reporters on Tuesday.

"The declining exports will likely have a significant impact on GDP [gross domestic product] growth," Santos added.

For the first first half of the year, the GDP grew 7.3 percent mainly driven by higher government infrastructure spending and services.

From January to August, merchandise exports rose 4.8 percent, lower than the government target of 11 percent, mainly due to weak demand for electronics, the country's chief product.

In August, electronics, which accounted for 63.7 pecent of the total export revenue dropped by 4 percent to $2.591 billion from $2.700 billion in August 2006.

"The significant of the softening of the electronic market highlights the need to diversify exports production given that for the past years, the share of electronics in the total exported manufacturers remain high," Santos said.

"Specifically, electronic products dominate the exports industry. While there has been a noticeable decline in the share of electronic and other electronics from 69. 1 percent in 2005 to 65 percent in 2006 and 2007, there is an enormous room for product diversification. We need to intensify promotions and support for the priority sectors as specified in the plan," he added. - GMANews.TV

crappypants

October 16th, 2007, 07:40 PM

that's too bad i thought we might hit 8% next year.

metrosuburban

October 16th, 2007, 07:54 PM

^^ why the German exports continue to soar despite the strong euros?

kiretoce

October 17th, 2007, 05:04 AM

International Survey Shows Philippines Tops in Women Managers (http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-16-voa10.cfm)

Women are breaking gender barriers in the Philippines where an international survey shows that they hold half of all senior management positions, one of the highest levels in the world. Filipinos say that finding only verifies a long-standing strong female role in Philippine culture. Douglas Bakshian reports from Manila.

Banker, financial director, managing director, senator and even president - these are just some of the senior jobs filled by women in the Philippines.

A recent Grant Thornton International Business Report says women hold half of the senior management jobs in the country, the highest rate in the study of 32 nations representing 81 percent of the world economy.

Brazil was second with women in 42 percent of senior positions, and Japan was last with seven percent.

Another striking figure is that 97 percent of businesses in the Philippines have women in senior management positions, the highest in the poll. Once again Japan is at the bottom with 25 percent, followed by the Netherlands (27 percent), Luxembourg (37 percent), Germany (41 percent) and Italy (42 percent).

At her 16th-story office in the heart of Manila's Makati business district, Dina Salonga heads a 26-person office that provides information technology services to business. She is managing director of SQL Wizard, which she co-founded in 1996. The 48-year-old Salonga says men in the Philippines are used to women in authority.

"I think that the Philippine society is basically a matriarchal one," she says. " And that men don't really mind reporting to a higher authority who is female. So that in the home the children, sometimes even the husband, would take orders, if that's right word for it, from the wife. So they don't really mind reporting to a woman manager."

The Philippines is often portrayed as having a macho culture in which men dominate. But Salonga says this is only a façade and women control things from behind the scenes.

"I think from the outside that's what the men want the other people to perceive them to be. But inside the home I think it's really the woman who enjoys the power," she says. "And sometimes they just make the husbands feel that they are the ones who are powerful. So they do it in a really subtle way and they get their way around it."

Liza Maza is head of the Gabriella party, named after a woman revolutionary who died in the fight against Spanish colonial rule. While she says the feminist movement has helped women advance, she notes that Philippine culture has a strong female component. She points out that the symbol of the country is a woman.

"The Filipino society looks up to women. Our image of the Philippines, Inang Filipina, is a woman. Unlike the United States, which is Uncle Sam," she notes.

But it is not all culture; economics plays a big role. Mina Lim, 49, has been finance director for the software company Oracle in the Philippines for seven years. She says the desire for a good living standard has also helped women rise in the working place.

"I think it's economics. It allows you a lifestyle where, in a family, there is the wife and the husband working and they put together resources, and it allows them a certain lifestyle that they can enjoy," she says.

The Philippine Labor Department says women have outnumbered men in executive positions for several years. The department says there were more than two million female executives in 2006, compared with just over one and a half million men in top jobs.

The department credits education. Government data show that of the 13 million women workers in the country in 2006, one out of three had attended university while only one out of five men did so.

What do the men have to say about all this?

Dan Roces, chief of research for People Management Association, says women are accepted in business.

"There really isn't any discrimination," he says. "We really tend to trust our businesses with [to] females. Our culture is more maternalistic. We tend to trust our women more because we were taken care of by our mothers. So we really don't mind if we take orders from them."

Ramon Casiple, a Manila political analyst who also follows cultural trends, says Filipino women participate strongly at most levels of society.

"Men recognize a place for women outside of the home," he says. " So you may have women for example as community leaders, women in various occupations that are usually [held] only by men. But we find it a usual thing that if women can excel in the same occupation, then they are accepted."

Women also make up about half the estimated eight million Filipinos who work overseas and send home money to support their families, another position of economic authority. They have become major contributors to the Philippine economy, and increasingly have taken on a bigger political role.

zeejay

October 17th, 2007, 05:40 AM

Filipina women are strong, independent, knowledgeable, and competent. These are the reasons why there are many women managers, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders in the country. Our President alone is a big proof of that. She is a good leader and economic manager. It's time that credit be given to Filipinas who no longer are mainstays of the house but have bloomed into successful leaders in their own rights. That is why the government also has a policy for women empowerment and the rights and privileges of the women are made sure to be protected from abuse and prejudice.

3cr

October 17th, 2007, 09:14 AM

Foreign investments back at precrisis levels
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/17/yehey/business/20071017bus4.html

FOREIGN direct investments (FDI) in the Philippines last year picked up to their highest level since the Asian financial crisis struck, according to a new report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

In its World Investment Report 2007, the UN body said FDI inflows to the Philippines rose 26 percent to $2.3 billion last year from $1.8 billion in 2005.

“The Philippines’ potential to attract FDI has been highlighted by the decision of Texas Instruments (United States) to invest around $1 billion in the country over 10 years in a new testing and assembly facility,” the report said.

FDI outflows dropped to $103 million last year from $189 million in 2005.

The report said the Philippines ranked 102nd last year, an improvement from 109th in 2005 out of 141 countries surveyed. In the same study, Thailand ranked 52nd; Malaysia, 62nd; Indonesia, 95th; Korea, 123rd; and Vietnam, 140th.

“The performance of other Asean member countries in attracting FDI in 2006 was generally good,” the report said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Last year, developing countries attracted a combined $380 billion in FDI.

“While two thirds of these flows went to rapidly growing markets in Asia, virtually all developing regions participated in the increase. Investments rose particularly fast in many countries that are richly endowed with natural resources,” Unctad said.

Globally, FDI inflows soared to reach $1.306 trillion—a growth of 38 percent. This marked the third consecutive year of growth, and approached the record level of $1.411 trillion reached in 2000.

The report added that the rise in global FDI flows was partly driven by increasing corporate profits worldwide and resulting higher stock prices that raised the value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

The UN report however said the increase in global flows this year is likely to be at a slower rate than last year.

3cr

October 17th, 2007, 10:02 AM

Philippine budget deficit at P40B

The Philippines recorded a budget shortfall of P14.5 billion in September, bringing the deficit for the first nine months of the year to P40 billion in the first nine months of the year, the Department of Finance said Wednesday.

That's lower than the target shortfall of P53.98 billion for the first nine months of 2007.

The Philippines, which hopes to achieve a balanced budget next year, hopes to limit its full-year shortfall to P63 billion.

"It should be on track to meet the full year target of P63 billion, as the latest data suggests a comfortable deficit of P23 billion in the fourth quarter. The Bureau of Internal Revenue managed to reach its in-house target for September although it still fell short of the government's targeted P53.5 billion," said Informa GlobalMarkets managing analyst Patricia Lui.

"Still, the main concern is not so much as to whether 2007 budget target will be met but whether the momentum could sustain over the longer term given BIR's erratic performance this year. Selling off state assets, such as in the case of PNOC-EDC this quarter, is hardly a long-term solution to the budget woes."

The government, which spends about 29 percent of its budget on interest payments for about $84 billion in foreign and domestic debt, relies heavily on local and foreign borrowing to fund its budget deficit and pay off maturing debt.

In 2008, the government had planned to borrow $1.0 billion overseas get a matching amount from multilateral lenders. It had planned to borrow 220.7 billion pesos from the domestic market, down 15 percent from this year.

But the government has said it is considering scaling down foreign borrowings and increasing local debt issues to reduce upward pressure on the peso, which has risen about 11 percent already this year against the dollar.

sathya_226

October 17th, 2007, 10:50 AM

Philippines needs to work hard to compete with its bigger counterparts in asia like china and india to become a major economic power house in asia.
Both India and china are growing at an alarming pace where the transformmation from a third world economy to a developed one is happening in each nd every seconds. So phillippines needs to concentrate heavily on its infrastructure rural development and upliftment of its own citizens( living standards) to become as a major economic powerhouse in the asian continent. So i think India , china nd Philippines can form a collective free trade agreement treaty so that these three future superpowers ( india nd china for sure, but Philippines?, i dunt know) can control the entire business around the globe)..

cheers

animasola

October 17th, 2007, 04:04 PM

Philippines... I firmly believe is matriarchal.

I highly disagree. :)

Catholic (Christian) + Conservative = Patriarchal

Why would liberated women want to be a Maria Clara or a Virgin Mary if they had the freedom?

kiretoce

October 17th, 2007, 04:10 PM

^^ I would have to differ, I believe it's as close to gender equality as it can be.

dancethingy

October 17th, 2007, 10:51 PM

I don't want to steer too far away from the subject at hand, but may i just add how wonderfully China is being tranformed due to breakneck growth

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/series/china/algae05.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/world/asia/14china.html

animasola

October 18th, 2007, 12:47 AM

^^perhaps close to gender equality... but not a matriarchal society as rene had said.

Don't get me wrong, I do support the feminist movement.

kiretoce

October 18th, 2007, 01:24 AM

A line from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding I think best sums up the role of the Filipino woman....

"The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants."

:rofl:

amigo32

October 18th, 2007, 08:03 AM

akala ko pintura.

icarusrising

October 18th, 2007, 09:59 AM

The Philippines has a large percentage of women in the population who work outside the homes. Filipinas have therefore become providers themselves. If gender isn't a stumbling block for vertical mobility at the workplace, then there would be cases where women would surpass the earnings (and social standings) of the men. There may be many cases where the women become the main or even sole bread winners. With economic power, I believe, comes greater authority in the home. The mothers become more sought-after in the decision-making in direct relation to her perceived economic contributions to the household.

I believe, Filipino women have always been strong. Whether in the past or in these modern times that would be true. Even when these islands were under a Spanish (and patriarchal) sun, we saw the likes of Teodora Alonzo, Gabriela Silang, Teresa Magbanua and Melchora Aquino.

Ex!lE

October 19th, 2007, 02:08 AM

Friday, October 19, 2007

DA: More foreign investors keen on RP biofuels
(http://http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/19/yehey/business/20071019bus4.html)

The Department of Agriculture said Thursday that more investors plan to build biofuels facilities in all over the Philippines.

In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said an increasing number of investors are disclosing plans to set up biofuel plants in the country either through straight purchases, lease arrangements, contract growing contracts or joint ventures.

The investors eye the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern and Central Min-danao and Davao region.

Yap also said the agency expects that the growing global demand for crops-based alternative clean fuels will increase the profitability of small stakeholders, further boosting the Philippine farm sector, and reduce the country’s dependence on imported energy sources.

Through the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp., the agency has committed to promote the biofuels sector by generating awareness on the use of agricultural feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel production.

Yap said the agency is now in the process of identifying for private sector investments more than 400,000 hectares of land to plant crops that will be used as feedstock for biofuels production.

About 90,000 hectares are located in the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle; 10,000 hectares in Central Philippines; and 300,000 in Agribusiness Mindanao, he added.
--Chino S. Leyco

Wind Shear

October 19th, 2007, 02:38 AM

^^perhaps close to gender equality... but not a matriarchal society as rene had said.

Don't get me wrong, I do support the feminist movement.

Let's say... Equal opportunity. :)

crappypants

October 19th, 2007, 04:07 AM

^^ why the German exports continue to soar despite the strong euros?

because our exporters are either crybabies or foreign nationals.
instead of improving the quality of their products they always rely on a weak peso to shore up orders. Just look at the packaging of some of our export products compared with their asian counterparts , ours are inferior and look cheap. Maybe they need to improve their technology to to reduce costs and not always pushing for a weak peso. how sad it would be if we were to go abroad and realize our 100 pesos cannot even buy shit.

3cr

October 19th, 2007, 06:36 AM

Gov’t ups asset sale backstop
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW101907/content.php?id=001

THE GOVERNMENT HAS IDENTIFIED P80 billion worth of assets as up for disposition next year, preparing to compensate for any slips in tax collection that would threaten its balanced budget goal.

Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves, briefing reporters on the government’s fiscal situationer, on Wednesday said the following were being eyed for sale in 2008:

holdings in San Miguel Corporation;
holdings in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco);
holdings in Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC);
Food Terminal Inc.;
the New Bilibid Prison property; and
the Fujimi property in Japan.
Mr. Teves said these should fetch around P80 billion, larger than the P30 billion programmed from privatization in 2008.

The government’s stakes in San Miguel and Meralco are estimated to be worth some P50 billion and P8 billion, respectively, while the Fujimi property is said to likely fetch P3 billion.

Officials are still determining how much the state owns in PNOC-EC, while appraisals for the Food Terminal and the Bilibid are being updated.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, in an interview, said the P30 billion programmed from state asset sales next year — equivalent to 2.4% of the P1.236 trillion in total revenues required in 2008 — took into account expected proceeds from the sale of state holdings in Meralco and PNOC-EC, and the Fujimi property.

The Finance department was also compiling a list of other assets for disposition, he said, not only to generate additional revenues but also to improve services by transferring them to the private sector.

These assets exclude those for disposition by the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the Private Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., which follow their own privatization programs.

Mr. Teves has said that should tax collection become problematic again next year, the government would resort to state asset sales to plug revenue gaps.

What is important, he stressed, is coming come up with the funds to finance the government’s programs and still hit the balanced budget goal for 2008.

The focus on improving tax collections, Mr. Teves stressed, remained.

The government has gone on a asset sale spree this year to offset shortfalls incurred in the first semester by the bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs.

It programmed P25.6 billion in privatization proceeds this year, equivalent to 2.3% of this year’s P1.119-trillion total revenue requirement, but has accumulated around P44 billion through the auction of the old Iloilo airport and holdings in Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp., Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) and the Philippine National Bank.

The sale of its remaining 40% share in PNOC-EDC, scheduled to be completed before yearend, is expected to fetch P32-36 billion.

The government must produce P75.5 billion from privatization under the Finance department’s "medium case scenario," which projects a P37.7-billion shortfall by the tax bureau and a P12.1-billion deficiency by the Customs bureau by yearend.

Under the "worst case scenario" where the tax bureau’s shortfall is projected to bloat to P45 billion, and to P15 billion in the case of the Customs bureau, asset sales should generate P85.7 billion.

The deficit is assumed to settle at P33 billion in the medium case scenario and at P63 billion, this year’s ceiling, in the worst case scenario.

Fiscal data as of September showed the tax and Customs bureau’s shortfall at P45 billion and P12 billion, respectively.

Lilian B. Hefti, tax bureau chief, has stressed that her target was to contain her agency’s tax collection gap at P38.6 billion by yearend, the same figure notched at the end of the first semester by her predecessor.

Napoleon L. Morales, Customs bureau chief, has said he would try to deliver his agency’s full-year target by December.

Critics have warned against state asset sales as a revenue-generation tactic as gains from such are unsustainable.

The House think tank, the Congressional Planning and Budget Department (CPBD), in a recent study added its voice by pointing out the need for the tax and Customs bureaus to rev up performance. Otherwise, the government would miss its balanced budget target next year.

"To finance the President’s social payback agenda and balance the budget by 2008, the Executive must go back to basics — increase tax collections," the CPBD said this month.

"Proceeds from privatization may help improve the fiscal situation but it is, at best, a short-lived measure as sale of assets is a one-off deal."

3cr

October 20th, 2007, 09:32 AM

RP needs policy reforms to attract FDIs
By Ted P. Torres
Saturday, October 20, 2007
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2007101965

The Philippines must swiftly initiate policy reforms, including a review of existing laws, if it is to catch up with the rest of the region in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs), a UN-funded report said.

Jovi Dacanay, a professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP) also advised further liberalization of the services sector, particularly the transport and ports sector.

“The Philippines needs more investment-friendly policies to create a healthy and conducive investment climate,” she said during the launch of the World Investment Report (WIR) 2007 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Dacanay is a consultant of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission (UNESCO) and the main presentor of WIR 2007.

She pointed out that studies conducted by both the UNCTAD and the UAP have identified the existence of laws in the country that contradict each other in terms of investments. It includes regulations affecting the mining, ports, transportation, foreign ownership and other regulations that impact on foreign investments.

However, she said the reviews have to be on sectoral level to make them more specific.

FDIs infused by transnational corporations (TNCs) in the Philippines have been increasing steadily, although slower than other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

FDI inward inflows rose from $1.8 billion in 2005 to $2.3 billion last year. FDI inward stocks or direct equity rose to $17.1 billion last year from $14.78 billion in 2005.

However, FDI outward inflows have consistently been shrinking from $579 billion in 2004 to just $103 billion in 2006, thus implying the inability of local industries to compete with its regional counterparts.

FDI stocks or equity inward flows expanded from $12.8 billion in 2000 to $14.78 billion in 2005 and reached a high of $17.1 billion last year.

Dacanay pointed out that local companies have also been active participants in the global trend of cross-border merger and acquisitions (M&As).

From a mere $155 million in stock outward investments, these rose to $1.5 billion in 2000 and $2.1 billion last year.

Examples of outwards investments include San Miguel Corp.’s acquisition of National Foods of Australia and investments in international port development and operation by the International Container Terminal and Services Inc.

The UNCTAD WIR 2007 report stated that the rise in global FDIs and in international production reflected strong economic performance, partly driven by increasing corporate profits worldwide, and resulting higher stock prices that raised the value of cross-border M&As.

“M&As continued to account for a high share of FDI flows, but greenfield investments, the new establishment of affiliates in a foreign country, also increased, especially in developing and transition economies,” the UNESCO consultant added.

dancethingy

October 20th, 2007, 07:42 PM

because our exporters are either crybabies or foreign nationals.
instead of improving the quality of their products they always rely on a weak peso to shore up orders. Just look at the packaging of some of our export products compared with their asian counterparts , ours are inferior and look cheap. Maybe they need to improve their technology to to reduce costs and not always pushing for a weak peso. how sad it would be if we were to go abroad and realize our 100 pesos cannot even buy shit.

^^ One of the many good things that can come out of a strong peso is that it will force the export industry to up the ante in terms of quality. Im grateful for foreign nationals that export from our country, but being foreign nationals, its very much possible they don't have national interests in mind. Filipino nationals who export from our country though should be obliged to do their best in improving quality in packaging and product because they represent the country. Other countries will form their opinions of us by the quality of our exports, It is important we put our best foot forward.

dancethingy

October 20th, 2007, 08:24 PM

This following article is from the NYT and its in regard to the presidential elections in 2009 and Economic policy.

Im posting this article because it shows something that we as country do not have. We as a country do not have media that reports policy positions, we do not have a national debate on any kind of policy, and we do not have outlets that allow people access on congressmen and women's policy.

Why can't we have policy discussions like this

2009 Is Looking a Lot Like 1993
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By TOM REDBURN
Published: October 20, 2007
Dejà vu all over again?

For many Democrats, the coming election promises not just the hope of a presidential victory, but the realistic prospect of entering 2009 in control of both Congress and the White House in the same way when Bill Clinton assumed office in 1993.

That was a long time ago, when the economy was in a far different condition than it is today. But in some ways the early debate among Democratic economic policy mavens is already breaking along similar lines.

“The last time Democrats really had a vibrant debate about what kind of economic policy we should have was in 1993,” said Andrei Cherney, founder and co-editor of “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.” “But now the question is whether the right answer in 1993 is still the right answer for 2009. And that’s an issue we can’t wait until 2009 to confront.”

In 1993, within the Clinton administration, Robert E. Rubin, then the White House domestic policy coordinator, led a camp that argued that the highest priority, even as the economy was still struggling to gain traction, should be to cut the deficit by raising taxes and keeping spending under control. On the other side was a group led by Robert Reich, who, as Labor Secretary, pushed for an aggressive domestic spending program to spur the economy built around public investment in infrastructure and jobs programs.

Mr. Rubin won that debate, helping usher in a record-long economic expansion led by private investment in new technologies that lasted through the entire decade. But at the same time the higher taxes in the package, even though they mostly fell on the wealthy, and the fiasco associated with failing to pass the administration’s universal health care program, contributed to the Democrats’ losing control of Congress in the election of 1994.

You could hear strong echoes of that clash of ideas at an evening forum last week at The New School in Greenwich Village, sponsored by The New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in collaboration with Mr. Cherney’s journal, which was created to stimulate just such policy debates within the Democratic Party.

Bernard Schwartz, a long-time Democratic contributor who retired as chief executive of Loral Space & Communications several years ago, took on the Reich role, pressing the case for a big commitment to public investment in everything from bridges to broadband, from clean energy to clean water.

“We’ve let our infrastructure deteriorate even as international competition has gotten so much greater,” Mr. Schwartz said in an interview after the forum. “That’s a dangerous combination.”

Mr. Schwartz laid out his case in an article in the most recent issue of “Democracy,” written with Sherle Schwenninger, contending that it is time for Democrats to stop worrying so much about the budget deficit.

“Contrary to the opinion of the deficit hawks,” Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Schwenninger wrote, “the United States can comfortably afford a robust public-investment program without first reducing the deficit.”

Mirroring Mr. Reich’s argument from a decade and a half ago, they add that a big public investment program “is also a proven way to stimulate private investment and job creation and, at the same time, distribute more widely the capital and skills for wealth creation, thus achieving a fairer and more balanced society with higher living standards for all Americans.”

At the forum, two prominent Democrats, both former senators, suggested that an active domestic spending program to repair the nation’s aging infrastructure would be, in their view, not just good economics but good politics, too.

Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska governor and senator who is now president of The New School, noted that his constituents were always concerned that their tax dollars would be wasted. “But by investing in infrastructure,” he said in an interview, “we can put money into something where the tangible benefits are clearly visible.”

And Bill Bradley, the former New Jersey senator who is now a managing director at the investment banking firm Allen & Company, suggested that Democrats cannot simply define their economic role as dealing with the budget deficits “deliberately created for political reasons” by Republicans. Instead, they must be identified as the party that not only works to improve infrastructure but also actively tries to improve the nation’s troubled education, health care and pension systems.

“In 1993, we had a much different economy than the one today,” Mr. Bradley said. “Now the choice is between continuing Republican tax cuts and making long-delayed public investments. That’s an argument we can win.”

Still, not everybody was ready to jump on Mr. Schwartz’s bandwagon. “It’s a false choice to say we have to choose between greater public investment and cutting the deficit,” said Gene Sperling, who was a key adviser to President Clinton and is closely involved with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign. “The question for us is to find the right balance.”

Mr. Sperling argued that Democrats will not succeed in power unless they clearly demonstrate to voters that they are prepared to pay for additional domestic spending in a responsible way.

“As progressives, we’re the ones who believe in government,” he said. “But there’s no free lunch. The public won’t buy our program unless they are convinced that we care about fiscal discipline, too.”

Askal82

October 20th, 2007, 08:34 PM

dancethingy

October 21st, 2007, 07:16 AM

^^ Simple, because most of them don't know why they are running in that position for as long as their ultimate objective is to fatten up their pockets after the election. Policy-making having business with the national interest is out of their vocabulary. Running in a public office opens up opportunities who wants to be filthy rich and the media is also making more money highlighting scandals in the government (which is disappointingly becoming a norm) than cover economic issues affecting the public.

Tama ka askal, khit nmn mga ibang forumers dito di mahilig magdiscuss ng policy. Mga conspiracy theories ang usong topic lagi.

If any of you read the policy report from the NYTimes, you can bring to light the economic policy that this recent administration has followed the past couple of years. The administration for the past couple of years has paid plenty of attention on deficits and fiscal discipline by keeping spending under control (this was the policy chosen by Clinton during his first term) and raising taxes. I think the administration can take a lot of credit for the success of this policy. The deficit has been decreasing yearly. It is only the underperforming BIR and customs that has marred the fight against deficits. Reform will eventually bring the BIR and Customs on the right path, but this isn't going to happen over night. Corruption is deeply rooted in these government agencies and it will take a while to weed it out.

With the deficit coming undercontrol, i believe the government is now pursuing a policy of increased public investment, take for example the northrail and southrail developments. In my opinion the amount of public investment now isn't as big as it should be, but as the deficit closes and finances improve, public investments should rise simultaneously.

There is a policy in place, you cannot deny that. Its just that the media is disinterested in reporting it. Hell, they don't even bother to ask questions about it. The media's perception of news nowadays is rumour oriented.

Mercato

October 21st, 2007, 07:56 AM

Askal82

October 21st, 2007, 07:11 PM

^^ Yeah Mercato, personality makes up even for a person running for public office has an IQ of a stone and it's sad that the electorates have the same IQ as well (except Inday). Education of electorates and the justice system are one of the essential components to maintain and safeguard the democracy on which our society depends on like a firm foundation in order to work for every one of us. Past people powers and coup d'etats reminded us that this foundation becomes progressively weak thus, making us more vulnerable to civil unrests in the future.

dancethingy

October 21st, 2007, 08:00 PM

We should keep this discussion on policy. Come election time, there must be a way for us to compare policies between candidates. Say what you may about Arroyo's administration, but you cannot deny that her administration's economic policy has worked wonderfully thus far. Our next president should maintain this policy and approach it in a much better and more transparent way than this administration has.

death327

October 21st, 2007, 08:56 PM

GMA is an Economics major. She should know the technicalities behind economic policies. In my opinion, she is busy in balancing the economic scorecard of our country and I like her for that. She would rather spend her time thinking about our economic stability, than spending time in some political conspiracies.

crappypants

October 21st, 2007, 10:18 PM

dancethingy is so sensible and right on.
for first in decades we were able and might be able to achieve full year above 7% growth and once again in jeopardy of being undermined because of dirty politicks.
There's alot of money circulating in PHil. govt. right now and everybody wants to get a piece of the pie. You think anyone of these personalities who want to replace GMA are less greedier? bwaha ha. What was the motive of devenecia's son in the first place ? Even if all his revelations are true self interest and greed was also his main motivation.

dancethingy

October 22nd, 2007, 06:05 AM

death327

October 22nd, 2007, 06:06 AM

Religion is the opium of the society. ;)

Askal82

October 22nd, 2007, 07:25 AM

^^ and science is the cure? :lol:

3cr

October 22nd, 2007, 10:23 AM

RP tech dreams tied to education
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW102207/content.php?id=004

THE DREAM of the Philippines hosting another Silicon Valley will remain far-fetched unless the country focuses on a most basic issue — education.

BanataoThis was the challenge raised by technopreneur Diosdado "Dado" Banatao, one of the more successful Filipino engineers to have made it in the California technology center.

"You cannot do what we do in Silicon Valley here right now — not yet," Mr. Banatao told BusinessWorld last week.

"It is a long process of development that has to be done here [in the Philippines]. One of the first things that we have to do is to upgrade our technology expertise.

"It starts with the very basic foundation — how we train our engineers."

Mr. Banatao is an alumnus of the Mapua Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

After working his way up the corporate ladder in Silicon Valley, Mr. Banatao decided to go on his own and set up three companies.

As an engineer, Mr. Banatao has invented breakthroughs such as the 10-Mbit Ethernet media access control (MAC) and transceiver chip used in today’s personal computers.

Mr. Banatao has been flying in and out of Manila these past few years trying to infect the local community with the Silicon Valley mindset.

"A lot of my efforts in promoting entrepreneurships is promoting the idea of training properly," he said.

Building an information technology industry in the Philippines, he said does not rest on a handful of Filipinos obtaining their Ph.D.s from the Valley.

"There must be massive effort to train our engineers to be in the same level [of] other countries," he added.

"Keep in mind that one of my conclusions is that the issue we have of not being able to compete in the global economy starts with education."

The benchmark of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is 3.4 Ph.D. engineers for every 10,000 people. The Philippines, however, only has 1.08 Ph.Ds per 10,000. In contrast, Japan is producing more than 50 Ph.D.s per 10,000 while Singapore is producing 50 Ph.Ds per 10,000.

Which is why Mr. Banatao is playing philanthropist to some of the Philippines’ top engineering schools like the University of the Philippines which was a recent receipient a $500,000 pledge. The state university’s College of Engineering has for the past eight years been supported by the Banatao Fellowship at the University of California in Berkeley.

Mr. Banatao, whose net worth has not been publicized, is also challenging other Filipino businessmen to be philanthropists and to invest in technology start-ups.

He urged local businessmen to shun the "traditional" thinking that they should only be concerned about money-making ventures. Instead, they should be prepared to venture into high-risk technology and not call centers, for example.

Investing in "a real technology company," he said, would be in their best interests.

"Whether they know it or not, it is their future," Mr. Banatao said. "They have to invest in their own future and that is technology — whether they like it or not."

Mr. Banatao was in Manila recently to attend the last day of a technology boot camp where prospective local technopreneurs tried to pitch their business plans to venture capitalists.

Mr. Banatao said once the industry sees a critical mass of engineers from local universities, companies could be prompted to invest some more. This, he urged, should be invested in research and development (R&D).

"Once the industry recognizes that we have the pool of engineers that are working towards real competitive products engineers will now have the competence to do create more products. That’s the cycle that we have in Silicon Valley," he explained.

In a speech last March at the commencement exercises of Ateneo de Manila University where he was conferred an honorary degree, Mr. Banatao urged private educational institutions to reinvest their monies for graduate degree programs and research facilities.

For public educational institutions, he urged private individuals and alumni to support them through gifting and endowments.

At the conclusion of last week’s boot camp, he urged prospective technopreneurs to plow back their profits to R&D to make more technologies which can be their edge.

3cr

October 22nd, 2007, 10:27 AM

American firms push for freer ASEAN trade;
RP-US trade deal still far away
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW102207/content.php?id=055

A DELEGATION of American companies wants the Philippines to focus on its commitments toward freeing up trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), considering it would take years for the country to seal a free trade deal with the United States, it biggest trading partner.

A free trade deal will be beneficial to both the US and the Philippines, US-ASEAN Business Council President Matthew P. Daley said, but an agreement may only be reached after the US presidential elections in 2008.

"I will caution that because of the nature of the American political calendar and time to negotiate, it will not be possible to do in the Bush administration. In the next summer, we will be completely concerned in our own political process," he told reporters.

In the meantime, Manila and Washington should begin educating the public on the benefits of a free trade deal.

Mr. Daley said such a deal should be a "mutually beneficial outcome."

"[It] is not a simple task. I think our free trade deal with Singapore is 800 single-spaced pages. It does not even have an agricultural sector. It takes a couple of three years to work through all the issues. The US and Philippines are democracies; [and] if there is no public support for the agreement, it is going to fail," he said.

The US-ASEAN Business Council is in the Philippines from Oct. 17 to 19 for its yearly business mission, partly to help attract investments.

ASEAN leaders have agreed to fast-track the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community from the original target date of 2020 to 2015. The 10-nation bloc has identified 12 sectors as priorities for integration, in which and has advanced the removal of tariffs and other trade barriers.

Liam Benham, Ford Asia-Pacific and Africa vice-president for government affairs, said ASEAN still needs to address numerous non-tariff barriers such as complicated tax systems, aside from scrapping import duties.

"It is fine to go to zero tariff in ASEAN by 2010 but as long as there are non-tariff barriers that prevent trade, we are not going to get the competitiveness, economies of scale, and critical mass we require in the auto industry," Mr. Benham said.

"We want to be building 100,000 to 200,000 cars in one year from the same plant but we are not yet doing that in the Philippines. That is a combination of very weak domestic market. Smuggling is part of that picture. Also, we can’t export as much we like to," he added.

Two-way trade between the US and the Philippines amounted to $17.3 billion last year. The US remains the country’s largest trading partner and investor with more than $6.5 billion in total foreign direct investments.

Mr. Daley said ASEAN faces an "increasing challenge" in securing foreign direct investments with the competition from India and China.

"The ASEAN share of investments over the last five years to 10 years has been going down while that of China and India have gone up. One challenge is to accelerate the integration of ASEAN in tangible practical ways... ASEAN together is a larger export market for the US than China is. Someday, that is going to change. Today, it is important to remember ASEAN is an important market," he added.

Mr. Daley said translating principles into specific policies is going to be "critical," particularly in areas such as intellectual property theft and smuggling.

Smuggling poses a problem for the Philippines not only in used cars but also in oil, Messrs. Daley and Benham said.

Mr. Benham said smuggling must be addressed if the Philippines wants a formal economy and more investments. "There has to be proper enforcement to prevent smuggling from happening," he added.

As the Philippines has substantially higher electricity and energy costs, Mr. Benham said this creates a "competitive disadvantage" for the country.

The Philippines, Mr. Benham said, has to develop an effective biofuels strategy.

"Once the oil price spikes, it is clear the Philippines has to do with its natural resources," he said.

dancethingy

October 22nd, 2007, 11:20 AM

^^ Mr. Benham brought up some real good points about which sectors in our economy needs improvement.

In regards with energy, its been said before and many times over, there has to be a set policy on how we can reduce the cost of energy. Right now congress doesn't seem to be too focused on this issue, its preoccupied with more sensational things.

The good thing is we have a bio-fuel law in effect today. It sets the blueprint for developing alternative sources of energy. We need to be more aggressive on this issue because oil prices are never going to go down. The middle east has become too greedy with their oil.

As for smuggling, mr benham speaks as if we're the only country in asia that smuggles. Anyway, smuggling is deeply rooted in this country, as with anything that's deeply rooted, it will take time and courage to uproot.

In regards to any free-trade agreements we go into with the United States, i don't want anything as bad as NAFTA.

heathcliff

October 22nd, 2007, 11:35 AM

^^ Thank you, this is why i find all of these accussations against Arroyo to be highly suspect. Why would a president who has demonstrated an impressive perception of what needs to be done to improve the Philippine economy allow such wreckless activities that may negatively affect economic policy. Sometimes, we just have to be practical and think rationally. Thinking rationall and practically has nothing to do with being pro or anti-arroyo. We cannot jump the gun on the account of rumours and scandals that are far from being sufficiently investigated.

Now, so that i don't sound like a Hawk for Arroyo, the most flawed part of her economic policy is her policy on population control/family planning, which in my opinion runs parallel to that of the church's policy of GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY.

After Arroyo's stint in malacanang, i want to know her true feeling towards the church. I think the church has been more of a destablizing factor than she's willing to admit at the moment.

I also think GMA should have been more aggressive in pushing for family planning; it's also my opinion that this is the most flawed part of her economic policy. But then tackling that issue when she is still taking the flak for other unpopular reforms like the EVAT would IMO be taking it one step too far, from a political viewpoint. She has to choose her battles in order to at least push through some of her intended reforms.

dancethingy

October 22nd, 2007, 11:55 AM

^^ very true heathcliff. You can't take on too many controversial issues all at once, that would be foolish. I don't think Arroyo will be able to touch the family planning topic for the rest of her time in office. Let's leave that topic the next president.

kikodj

October 22nd, 2007, 07:36 PM

maybe because all of the issue are left unsolved... naipon tuloy...

death327

October 23rd, 2007, 02:50 AM

^^ and science is the cure? :lol:

No. Science is the cheesecake of society. Yummy and fulfilling.

Eriq

October 23rd, 2007, 06:36 AM

^^ and science is the cure? :lol:

Yes.

3cr

October 23rd, 2007, 08:44 AM

P7.8B microfinancing tides over the poor
but not creating ‘wealth’
BY MAX ESTAYO
Malaya
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct23/busi2.htm

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Nestor Espenilla said microfinance lending is booming but the loans have "little wealth" effect on beneficiaries.

These loans help tide over the poor’s small business, sustaining livelihood but are not generating "wealth".

"Microfinance lending tend to be concentrated in small-time trading activities and enterprises like sari-sari stores. These activities have economic value to clients but generate little wealth overall," Espenilla said at the launch of microfinance literacy program yesterday.

To date, banks have extended a total of P7.8 billion in microfinance loans to the including small entrepreneurs.

The loans cater to over 800,000 clients, Espenilla said, with the number of banks participating in microfinance lending expanding to 224.

But, Espenilla said, the microfinance service "only allows the client to sustain the business but does not always provide the opportunity for greater value-added and wider business opportunities."

In addition, Espenilla said microentpreneurs are "ill prepared to handle the growth of their businesses."

"This is evident from being unable to service a larger demand to as simple as not having the necessary record keeping," Espenilla said.

Espenilla said this is where financial literacy and the need to avail of business development services come into play.

"Financial literacy is essential in providing information, knowledge and skills on financial matters that will help in critical financial decision making," Espenilla said.

"It helps individuals evaluate their options and identify those that best suit their needs and circumstances," he said.

Basic knowledge and basic management skills, Espenilla added, will help microentrepreneurs manage their small businesses, seize economic opportunities and expand them.

Moreover, financial literacy, Espenilla said, is critical in protecting clients from possible damage or danger to their finances." It will help them understand how to prevent becoming involved in transactions that are financially destructive, how to avoid becoming victims of fraud and how to exercise their consumer protection rights," he said.

Espenilla said as of June this year, microfinance institutions are reaching out to some three million clients, or poor borrowers availing of loans as small as P5, 000 and as big as P150, 000.

To date, banks, Espenilla said, have drawn nearly P2 billion in savings from its 800,000 clients.

"Whether in the form of a small loan, an opportunity to save securely, a mechanism to receive remittances and a way to insure against emergencies, microfinance may be said to have made a tremendous difference in the lives of our entrepreneurial poor," he said.

3cr

October 24th, 2007, 06:31 AM

Deal with Singapore firm to build world’s biggest biofuel refinery
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW102407/content.php?id=052

THE GOVERNMENT is close to forging a deal with a Singapore-based firm to build the largest biodiesel refinery in the world, a senior official said yesterday.

Peter Anthony A. Abaya, president of state-owned PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp (PNOC-AFC), said his company wants to sign an agreement with Natural Resource Group in December to build a biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 500,000 tons.

"They are [so] very confident in the Philippines and what PNOC does that they are willing to build the largest biodiesel refinery in the world and that speaks a lot," Mr. Abaya told Reuters without giving the cost or exact location for the refinery.

"They could have done it in Indonesia but they wanted it here so they know we are doing something right with jathropa."

The Philippines, almost entirely dependent on imported oil, wants biofuels to offset rising oil costs.

Jathropa is a drought-resistant perennial bush or small tree that analysts consider one of the most promising sources of biofuels. It can be planted on land with low irrigation and does not compete with food crops such as corn or rice.

Mr. Abaya said the Philippines wanted to develop 700,000 hectares for jathropa in four years as it expected it to be one of the world’s major sources of alternative fuels.

The government is courting foreign investment to boost local biofuel production and has received $5 billion worth of investment proposals from more than 40 firms this year, which include Malaysia’s Biogreen Energy Sdn. Bhd., Norway’s Norfuels, Korea’s Korea Technology Industry Co. Ltd. and Ecosolution.

Jathropa

Many other companies are considering investing in biofuels in the Philippines, Mr. Abaya said.

"The majority would want to get into jathropa plantations. They want control of the oil and some want refineries."

He said the investment proposals would require 4 million hectares of land but given the country’s modest program, "we will prioritize certain investors and modestly pursue the plantation as we are not going to rapidly expand."

Manila implemented a law in May requiring refiners to blend biofuels produced from local crops such as sugar and coconuts with gasoline and diesel to cut the country’s $6-billion plus annual import bill.

Record palm oil prices and coconut oil prices however are turning buyer interest to jathropa, Mr. Abaya said.

"Palm oil and coconut oil are very expensive right now but jathropa is way, way, way cheaper and you can produce at half the cost of coconut oil."

"Where do you go but to those who can produce jathropa competitively?" Mr. Abaya said. "I am not saying we are the best but I know we have that competitive and comparative advantage to other countries."

Mr. Abaya said PNOC-AFC will attempt to blend jathropa-based biodiesel with regular fuel for testing in vehicles next month.

"Our aim is to get commercial amounts of biofuels and get it into the stream, into transport fuels so we are going to test a range of blends in the fourth quarter," Mr. Abaya said.

"We will put it in vehicles with higher blends, we intend to do that and prove that it works."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has endorsed the planting of jathropa plant in idle lands.

Jathropa, known locally as tuba-tuba, produces oil that performs as good as diesel and the plant can be planted even in hostile terrain and the most inhospitable soil. Planting jathropa and extracting oil from the seeds of these plants could give a farmer P200,000 in annual income for every hectare of land.

Local demand for jathropa biodiesel has been pegged at 78 million liters annually, with the implementation of Biofuels Act of 2006 which requires diesel fuels sold in the country to contain a 1% blend of locally sourced biodiesel.

3cr

October 24th, 2007, 06:37 AM

Business to spell out key tasks
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW102407/content.php?id=001

BUSINESS LEADERS will discuss with government officials measures to improve the country’s competitiveness, as well as legislation that will make it easier to do business in the country, during the 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo to be held at the Manila Hotel from today to Friday.

Cesar B. Bautista, National Competitiveness Council (NCC) co-chairman, said he hopes participants will be able to identify concrete steps in crucial fields like human resource and office management, financing small enterprises, improving government transactions, infrastructure build-up, and achieving energy sufficiency.

The council will also present a scorecard of the country’s global competitiveness during the summit. "We will present to businesses the progress in every area and the actions that we intend to pursue," Mr. Bautista said in a phone interview yesterday. "We are very well moving, but we still have a lot to improve [in]."

Mr. Bautista said the council will present "30 to 40" concrete measures to discuss, but refused to elaborate.

Early this year, the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) released the 2007 World Competitiveness Yearbook, where the Philippines ranked poorly among the 55 economies surveyed. The report was based on hard and opinion survey data on economies, taking into account economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

This year, the Philippines’ ranking dropped to 45th place from 42nd spot last year, scoring 47.163 points out of a hundred.

The country was at par with Romania (44th from 49th last year) and the Ukraine (46th, but not covered previously), and was outdone by its Asian neighbors Singapore (2nd from 3rd), Hong Kong (3rd from 2nd), China (15th from 18th), Taiwan (18th from 17th), Malaysia (23rd from 22nd), Japan (24th from 16th), India (which retained its 27th place), Thailand (33rd from 29th).

The Philippines was still ahead of Indonesia (54th from 52nd), while Vietnam was not part of the economies surveyed.

The business community has long been raising concerns over poor infrastructure, low foreign investment relative to those of neighbors, including Vietnam, as well as government inefficiency, which were seen as factors that led to the country’s poor ranking.

"We hope that the businessmen and the leaders would apply in their [respective] places the proposals we will present. These are not short-term proposals," Mr. Bautista said.

Donald G. Dee, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI) and special envoy for International Trade and Negotiations, said businessmen now want to talk about the role of the private sector in government procurement, in the light of a recent Palace directive establishing a procurement task force in the wake of the National Broadband Network bribery scandal.

"While most of the infrastructure projects are public-private sector partnerships [PPP], we want to ask the role of business in the procurement body since we are monitoring the projects," he said in a separate phone interview.

PPP involves schemes like build-operate-transfer contracts, leases, divestitures, concessions, and service contracts that will intensify infrastructure buildup despite lack of state funding.

Last month, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formed two teams to monitor the procurement activities of government agencies and the progress of infrastructure projects.

The Procurement Transparency Group, which will be under Government Procurement Policy Board, will monitor biddings and report irregularities to the Office of the Ombudsman. The group will be headed by the Department of Budget and Management and will have representatives from the Departments of Justice, Interior and Local Government, the National Economic and Development Authority and civil society groups.

On the other hand, the Pro-Performance Infrastructure Monitoring Group is tasked to examine contract terms and ensure that timetables are followed. It consists of representatives from the government, private sector and non-government organizations.

Philippine Business Conference and Exposition Conference Chairman Francis Chua said the conference will tackle issues — like the need for better transparency — that will arise as government increasingly turns to the private sector to bridge the gap between cost of infrastructure and meager public funds.

"While encouraged by business opportunities from public-private partnership in bridging the infrastructure deficit, companies need to evaluate the policy and regulatory framework before they invest in or lend funds for long-term projects," a statement quoted Mr. Chua as saying.

Jonathan Choi Koon Shum, incoming president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong, is expected to talk on the role of trade chambers in managing these partnerships.

"More private investors will gain confidence to engage in PPP by learning from model PPP transactions and understanding partnership contracts based on clear and supportive legislative and policy frameworks that worked in other countries," Mr. Chua said.

Apart from this, businessmen in the conference are also expected to present their legislative wish list that will help ease the conduct of business in the country, Mr. Dee said.

He said they will talk about the need for both chambers of Congress to approve priority bills like the credit information bureau bill, amendments to the custom brokers law, cheaper medicine bill, amendments to procurement law to hasten the procurement process, and renewable energy bill.

"We will be looking for commitments from Congress and we will make a follow-up about these bills," Mr. Dee said.

Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto Lim, who plans to attend the conference, said he wants the conference to tackle the problems on infrastructure as well as promotion of good governance and transparency.

Among those invited for the event are President Arroyo, Vice-President Noli de Castro, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Speaker Jose C. de Venecia, Jr., Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, and Senior Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing.

PCCI said at least 1,000 local and foreign delegates are expected to attend the conference.

The business community will submit to the President its recommendations and resolutions to help improve policies which, in turn, will provide a stable environment for sustained growth.

The PCCI and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines will also recognize companies with model workplaces, human resources policies, and excellence in ecology and economy.

Mercato

October 24th, 2007, 11:35 AM

American firms push for freer ASEAN trade;
RP-US trade deal still far away
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW102207/content.php?id=055

"We want to be building 100,000 to 200,000 cars in one year from the same plant but we are not yet doing that in the Philippines. That is a combination of very weak domestic market.

:ohno:

I do not believe the building of 100,000 to 200,000 cars for the purpose of flooding the domestic market is going to be good for the country in the long term. Our country is archipelagic by nature; unlike the vast expanses of the United States. Another downside to this car addiction is the increase in greenhouse gases.

Furthermore, it will burn deep holes into the pockets of Filipino consumers who will forever be dependent on private transport when most of our rich Asian neighbours are leaning toward mass transport. Cheaper public transport for the masses should be the thrust of government, not pandering to the US automotive industry.

What the country sorely needs instead is a vast expanse of railways, both heavy duty and light rail networks linking north to south. Along with this railway network is a system of boats, superferries, supercats (in the tradition of the Cebu Bohol link or the Hongkong-Macau link). A crebible mass transport system of buses and trains like the Octopus network of Hongkong and the EZ link system of Singapore. Cars are absolutely not a solution at all for the masses.

Plans are underway to build a huge train system linking 7 land based ASEAN members. It forms a huge ring circling Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and then forming a tail toward Malaysia and Singapore. Japan has the vast network of Shinkansen or Bullet trains whilst China has signed up with Germany and currently operating the Mag-Lev train in Shanghai. On matters of public transport, it is wise for us to emulate the Asians this time.

Mercato

October 24th, 2007, 11:39 AM

American firms push for freer ASEAN trade;
RP-US trade deal still far away
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW102207/content.php?id=055
Mr. Daley said translating principles into specific policies is going to be "critical," particularly in areas such as intellectual property theft and smuggling.

Smuggling poses a problem for the Philippines not only in used cars but also in oil, Messrs. Daley and Benham said.

Mr. Benham said smuggling must be addressed if the Philippines wants a formal economy and more investments. "There has to be proper enforcement to prevent smuggling from happening," he added.

As the Philippines has substantially higher electricity and energy costs, Mr. Benham said this creates a "competitive disadvantage" for the country.

The Philippines, Mr. Benham said, has to develop an effective biofuels strategy.

"Once the oil price spikes, it is clear the Philippines has to do with its natural resources," he said.

Having a strong & credible police and defence forces is another stabiliser for the economy. There is nothing that scares big business away more than a very unstable business environment (prone to coups, strikes, lawlessness & violence). Our rich Asian neighbours do maintain low profile but credible constabularies that ensures the peace and public safety at all times. A credible police force that can prevent intellectual property theft & smuggling.

Brazil is the biggest producer of soya, sugar and maize for use in biofuels. Our own sugar industry in Negros & coconut industry in Southern Tagalog & Bicol should take the cue. Brazil even has a certain percentage of its cars running on ethanol. That Singapore biofuel deal seems promising, as well as that Jathropa plant.

For other renewable sources of energy, the European Union has long been at the forefront of solar and wind power. We can learn from the expertise of Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Spain on giant windmill technology or more efficient solar panels.

Which reminds me of these strange websites in the Philippines. I once tried several times to contact Shell Renewables and BP Renewables for help in Solar or Wind technology in the Philippines. Sure, they had impressive looking Philippine addresses on their websites but it all led to a dead end. What a lot of horsecr*p these Oil companies put the public to.

dancethingy

October 24th, 2007, 04:29 PM

I agree wholeheartedly. Mass rail transit is the answer for the country's transportation woes and i think we've begun to address that with northrail, southrail, mrt7, and mrt3-lrt1 link.

:ohno:

I do not believe the building of 100,000 to 200,000 cars for the purpose of flooding the domestic market is going to be good for the country in the long term. Our country is archipelagic by nature; unlike the vast expanses of the United States. Another downside to this car addiction is the increase in greenhouse gases.

Furthermore, it will burn deep holes into the pockets of Filipino consumers who will forever be dependent on private transport when most of our rich Asian neighbours are leaning toward mass transport. Cheaper public transport for the masses should be the thrust of government, not pandering to the US automotive industry.

What the country sorely needs instead is a vast expanse of railways, both heavy duty and light rail networks linking north to south. Along with this railway network is a system of boats, superferries, supercats (in the tradition of the Cebu Bohol link or the Hongkong-Macau link). A crebible mass transport system of buses and trains like the Octopus network of Hongkong and the EZ link system of Singapore. Cars are absolutely not a solution at all for the masses.

Plans are underway to build a huge train system linking 7 land based ASEAN members. It forms a huge ring circling Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and then forming a tail toward Malaysia and Singapore. Japan has the vast network of Shinkansen or Bullet trains whilst China has signed up with Germany and currently operating the Mag-Lev train in Shanghai. On matters of public transport, it is wise for us to emulate the Asians this time.

dancethingy

October 24th, 2007, 04:32 PM

This is great news. This addresses some of our energy problems. So Singapore has plans to build the world' largest biofuel refinery in the Philippines. The question is, would the output of this refinery be available to the Filipino people or for consumption only in Singapore and elsewhere? If that's the case, then bullshit.

Deal with Singapore firm to build world’s biggest biofuel refinery
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW102407/content.php?id=052

THE GOVERNMENT is close to forging a deal with a Singapore-based firm to build the largest biodiesel refinery in the world, a senior official said yesterday.

Peter Anthony A. Abaya, president of state-owned PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp (PNOC-AFC), said his company wants to sign an agreement with Natural Resource Group in December to build a biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 500,000 tons.

"They are [so] very confident in the Philippines and what PNOC does that they are willing to build the largest biodiesel refinery in the world and that speaks a lot," Mr. Abaya told Reuters without giving the cost or exact location for the refinery.

"They could have done it in Indonesia but they wanted it here so they know we are doing something right with jathropa."

The Philippines, almost entirely dependent on imported oil, wants biofuels to offset rising oil costs.

Jathropa is a drought-resistant perennial bush or small tree that analysts consider one of the most promising sources of biofuels. It can be planted on land with low irrigation and does not compete with food crops such as corn or rice.

Mr. Abaya said the Philippines wanted to develop 700,000 hectares for jathropa in four years as it expected it to be one of the world’s major sources of alternative fuels.

The government is courting foreign investment to boost local biofuel production and has received $5 billion worth of investment proposals from more than 40 firms this year, which include Malaysia’s Biogreen Energy Sdn. Bhd., Norway’s Norfuels, Korea’s Korea Technology Industry Co. Ltd. and Ecosolution.

Jathropa

Many other companies are considering investing in biofuels in the Philippines, Mr. Abaya said.

"The majority would want to get into jathropa plantations. They want control of the oil and some want refineries."

bariQ

October 24th, 2007, 11:26 PM

I agree wholeheartedly. Mass rail transit is the answer for the country's transportation woes and i think we've begun to address that with northrail, southrail, mrt7, and mrt3-lrt1 link.

but thats just one part of the phils... howbout the rest of the philippines? are we forgotten again???

clearly there is poor distribution of projects in our country. its like we are beefing up MM and its surroundings just to show a face to the world that we are world class. wait till they see the rest

Wind Shear

October 25th, 2007, 02:12 AM

^^ Don't worry. Mindanao and Cebu are in proposals for railway projects.

bariQ

October 25th, 2007, 07:21 AM

i hope that :D

3cr

October 25th, 2007, 08:04 AM

3cr

October 25th, 2007, 08:18 AM

Gov’t, media tie up to promote intellectual property rights
By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=96699

MANILA, Philippines -- In an effort to promote intellectual property rights (IPR) and encourage scientists and engineers to develop more technology innovations, science journalists have tied up with the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHIL) to conduct seminars for science reporters and other media groups.

The IPOPHIL and the Philippine Science Journalists (PsciJourn) conducted the first media IPR Forum at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology building at the University of the Philippines Diliman last October 25.

The whole-day affair focused on the various aspects of intellectual property rights, and the differences and values of trademarks, copyright and patents.

In an interview with INQUIRER.NET, IPOHIL director general Adrian Cristobal, Jr. said the partnership would be the first time the agency will directly deal with the media in promoting intellectual property rights and protection.

Cristobal said he intends to work with other media groups, especially business writers, to give them a better understanding of the county’s intellectual property system.

He explained that there is a need for inventors, researchers, engineers and scientists to innovate and create new products that may bolster both the intellectual capacity and economic development of the country.

“It’s the media who will give us the leverage to tell inventors and engineers what to do,” Cristobal said.

PsciJourn president Angelo Palmones said that while the IP system is an important subject in media coverage, very few journalists actually cover or even understand it.

“That’s why we’re here; to make them understand it themselves and impart knowledge to the people who listen or read them,” he said.

Palmones said among the group’s plans is the holding of workshops with educational institutions that have broadcast media or journalism courses, to expose the younger generation of journalists to the IP system and related concepts.

Mercato

October 25th, 2007, 12:17 PM

Go for ‘First-World’ status by 2027: MVP
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/25/yehey/top_stories/20071025top5.html

With the Philippines’ economy improving, the government should introduce policies aimed at taking the country to First-World status by 2027, a leading businessman said Wednesday.

To achieve this, the country must invest heavily in education, Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of the country’s biggest telecoms company Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., told a business conference in Manila.

The Philippines spends just 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product on education against an international benchmark of 6 percent.

Pangilinan said although the economy had enjoyed remarkable growth, “we shouldn’t be content with [this] ... but instead seize this timely advantage to raise our growth trajectory and achieve First-World status by 2027.”

He added that greater investment in education was crucial to improve manpower skills and develop “our resource-based industries, principally tourism and mining.”

I am wondering out loud. “Tis not passing judgment on the Arroyo administration; but an astute observation of all Philippine administrations. Kung ang international benchmark ay 6%, at tinitipid nila ng husto ang educacion, saan nga ba naman dinadala ng gobierno ang 3.5%? For the building of grand mansions of the generals in Alabang and Fort Bonifacio? To line the pockets of crooked politicians and their sleazy pork barrels? Can someone tell us how much the government is spending on other things as compared to education?

Another grandiose hypocrisy, all that cliché about the youth being the hope of tomorrow. E, ang tomorrow nila tinitipid ng tinitipid ng husto.

The gentleman Pangilinan was actually correct in making that statement about First World status being doable over the next 20 years only. It really is doable. But the requirement is that government has to stay focused on the important things in life and not fritter away its advantages on secondary things. Step 1 toward that goal should be to put Education at the top of the government’s priorities.

Pangilinan said the country’s reliance on overseas workers’ remittances and outsourcing was not enough and would hurt the economy in the long term by making the peso too strong and causing local production to stagnate, making exports less competitive.

There is too much emphasis on outsourcing to the detriment of other vital things like local production. The country cannot go to extremes like going overboard with the OFW phenomena and then forget about manufacturing and agriculture.

He called for developing the country’s infrastructure to catch up with the rest of Asia and urged more investment in agriculture on where the majority of Filipino workers are dependent.

Infrastructure begins with a vast land and water transportation network. By network I do not mean being confined to Metro Manila & its environs alone. That is being too myopic. I mean a network linking Laoag-Baguio-Tuguegarao all the way down to Zamboanga-Davao-GenSan. Heavy trains that can carry freight and cargo, as well as passengers, like how they do it in Europe. Take for instance the SLEX, the South Luzon Expressway. How millions are wasted just for road repair annually because all the heavy container trucks and vans traverse it daily from Manila to Calabarzon? The bearing strength of the highway simply cannot cope with the wear and tear no matter how much the upgrade costs. With heavy duty trains, there is only minimal maintenance required for the SLEX. Added benefits for manufacturers and big business is that they can keep good schedules with logistics and delivery of finished products.

I’ve often wondered since way back in college why the Philippines is so allergic to train systems since after WWII? Light railways are a good start but not enough. Manila had its trains from Tutuban thence going down parallel along the modern SLEX toward Binan and Calamba. It is still there but in a skeletal state. Cebu had its trains in the Barracks area but has long since vanished. Cebu must revive its heavy duty train system linking Bantayan to Oslob.

This heavy addiction to cars, jeepneys and tricycles has got to change in favour of trains & buses. The transportation culture or mindset is so illogical, inefficient and hostile to the environment and public health.

Upgrade for the airports would also be another vital investment.

:)

Rence

October 25th, 2007, 04:42 PM

BSP intervenes as peso hits fresh 7-year high vs dollar

By Enrico dela Cruz
Thomson Financial
Last updated 07:12pm (Mla time) 10/25/2007

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BSP intervenes as peso hits fresh 7-year high vs dollar
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(UPDATE 3) Airbus superjumbo makes first commercial flight
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Close this MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE2) The peso climbed to a fresh seven-year high Thursday before the Philippine central bank, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), intervened to cap the currency's rise against the US dollar.

Expectations that the Federal Reserve will again cut key interest rates next week to stabilize its troubled financial sector and keep the US economy from slipping into a recession also weighed on the dollar.

The peso briefly hit a high of 44.03 to the dollar before reversing direction. The dollar opened at 44.17 and traded as low as 44.18.

The pair closed at 44.05 Wednesday.

"A globally weak dollar and expectations for another rate cut by the Fed when they meet next week is supporting the appreciating peso trend," Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. said in a note.

"However, the central bank's dollar buying intervention at around P44.05 is keeping peso bulls at bay."

Central bank officials were not immediately available for comment.

"All the negative news seemed to have been priced in and the market is now focused again on the positive expectations for the peso," a Manila-based trader said.

"The central bank, however, was seen in the market at various levels in its bid to slow the peso's rise."

The peso has risen 11 percent against the dollar so far this year. It is widely expected to gain more ground before the year ends as Filipinos working abroad send home more money for the Christmas holidays.

Foreign exchange strategists at UBS are expecting the peso to climb to 43.50 to the dollar within the next three months.

Originally posted at 04:08 pm

Rence

October 25th, 2007, 04:43 PM

Businessmen remain upbeat on economy
Link:
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=96598
By Daxim Lucas
Inquirer
Last updated 03:52am (Mla time) 10/25/2007

Most Read Other Most Read Stories x
Business
BSP intervenes as peso hits fresh 7-year high vs dollar
Citigroup sees P42.50:$1
Businessmen remain upbeat on economy
RP should have '1st world status' by 2027--business leader
Lobby dovey
Philippine peso, yuan rise in twitchy markets
(UPDATE 3) Airbus superjumbo makes first commercial flight
Shell CNG stations start operations
A banker friend suggests investing in euro bonds. Should I?
Honda plans low-cost hybrid in 2009
Shares close flat on PLDT retreat, upcoming Fed meeting
GMA Network 3-qtr profit up 17% at P1.8B
Business Most Read RSS
Close this MANILA, Philippines--The business community remains upbeat about the Philippines’ prospects amid the challenges posed by globalization and the controversies in the political arena, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Wednesday.

The optimism is being fueled to a significant degree by the partnership between the public and private sectors that is essential to sustaining the country’s rapid economic growth, the PCCI said.

“Our emphasis is really on this public-private partnership which we need for us to be competitive,” PCCI president Samie Lim said. He made his comments on the sidelines of the organization’s 33rd Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila, which runs until Friday.

Lim said the PCCI had been laying the groundwork for stronger public-private partnerships for the past five years and the organization’s thrust was beginning to pay off.

“We now have success stories which we could hold up as examples for other businesses to emulate,” he said.

Wednesday's sessions focused on the country’s re-emergence as a preferred destination for foreign businesses after years of being considered an investment backwater.

Other focal points of the conference will be the challenges and opportunities in major infrastructure projects of the government to sustain economic growth, create more jobs and disperse the effects of economic growth to the rural areas.

Among the guest speakers at the event was US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, who noted that the rapid economic growth in recent years has put the country back on the radar screen of foreign investors.

Kenney pointed out that the Philippines' progress was aided by it ability to leverage its advantages in the fields of tourism, natural resources and its people, which she described as “the country’s greatest resource.”

The US envoy stressed that, to be able to progress further, the local business community must also move to protect the environment.

The business community must also “keep investing in people” especially in training the country’s future workforce.

“The Filipino is a great competitive advantage,” she said.

Finally, Kenney urged the business community to “invest in peace” especially in Mindanao, which makes up a third of the country’s landmass and provides an even higher percentage of the country’s agricultural output.

Thursday’s sessions will feature House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Senator Francis Pangilinan, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairman Ephraim Genuino and Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing.

crappypants

October 25th, 2007, 05:01 PM

I am wondering out loud. “Tis not passing judgment on the Arroyo administration; but an astute observation of all Philippine administrations. Kung ang international benchmark ay 6%, at tinitipid nila ng husto ang educacion, saan nga ba naman dinadala ng gobierno ang 3.5%? For the building of grand mansions of the generals in Alabang and Fort Bonifacio? To line the pockets of crooked politicians and their sleazy pork barrels? Can someone tell us how much the government is spending on other things as compared to education?

Another grandiose hypocrisy, all that cliché about the youth being the hope of tomorrow. E, ang tomorrow nila tinitipid ng tinitipid ng husto.

The gentleman Pangilinan was actually correct in making that statement about First World status being doable over the next 20 years only. It really is doable. But the requirement is that government has to stay focused on the important things in life and not fritter away its advantages on secondary things. Step 1 toward that goal should be to put Education at the top of the government’s priorities.

There is too much emphasis on outsourcing to the detriment of other vital things like local production. The country cannot go to extremes like going overboard with the OFW phenomena and then forget about manufacturing and agriculture.

Infrastructure begins with a vast land and water transportation network. By network I do not mean being confined to Metro Manila & its environs alone. That is being too myopic. I mean a network linking Laoag-Baguio-Tuguegarao all the way down to Zamboanga-Davao-GenSan. Heavy trains that can carry freight and cargo, as well as passengers, like how they do it in Europe. Take for instance the SLEX, the South Luzon Expressway. How millions are wasted just for road repair annually because all the heavy container trucks and vans traverse it daily from Manila to Calabarzon? The bearing strength of the highway simply cannot cope with the wear and tear no matter how much the upgrade costs. With heavy duty trains, there is only minimal maintenance required for the SLEX. Added benefits for manufacturers and big business is that they can keep good schedules with logistics and delivery of finished products.

I’ve often wondered since way back in college why the Philippines is so allergic to train systems since after WWII? Light railways are a good start but not enough. Manila had its trains from Tutuban thence going down parallel along the modern SLEX toward Binan and Calamba. It is still there but in a skeletal state. Cebu had its trains in the Barracks area but has long since vanished. Cebu must revive its heavy duty train system linking Bantayan to Oslob.

This heavy addiction to cars, jeepneys and tricycles has got to change in favour of trains & buses. The transportation culture or mindset is so illogical, inefficient and hostile to the environment and public health.

Upgrade for the airports would also be another vital investment.

:)

these are all valid observations Mercato.
Twenty years is enough to turn a country around to near developed status.
that's how long other countries managed to pull it off.
unfortunately everything in this country is done for the sake of political accomadation and not public interests.
two decades have passed, two people power and all we managed is to double our population ,what more if other countries didn't accept overseas workers.

Rence

October 25th, 2007, 05:07 PM

PLDT sees P34-B net income this year
By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) expects to register a core net income of at least P34 billion for the whole of 2007, with wireless subsidiaries Smart Communications Inc. and Pilipino Telephone Inc. projected to hit a combined subscriber base of 29 to 30 million by yearend.

In an interview, PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said that core income this year will definitely be in excess of last year. “But it would be difficult to project our reported net income because of the exceptionals such as foreign exchange gain,” he pointed out.

PLDT earlier registered a consolidated reported net income of P17 billion during the first six months of 2007, up 11 percent compared to P15.3 billion in the same period in 2006, on account of foreign exchange translation and derivative gains, lower depreciation charges, and higher provision for income tax.

Group core profits, before exceptionals, rose 13 percent to P17.2 billion during the January to June 2007 period from P13.2 billion during the first half of last year. Income before tax increased 40 percent to P26 billion while provision for income tax went up by 192 percent to P5.7 billion as effective rate went up to 34 percent.

Pangilinan also revealed that PLDT’s broadband business has been growing exceptionally and much higher than anticipated. “Even our expenditures on wireless GSM have been higher than anticipated because there is a more robust cellular subscriber take-up. We originally designed our budget with a forecast of around 26 million by end of 2007 from about 24 million as of end of 2006. Now, I believe we should be between 29 to 30 million,” he said.

Also yesterday, he disclosed that PLDT’s debt balance will go down to $1 billion by next year. With the company’s huge cash balance, Pangilinan said PLDT now has to plow this back either in terms of increased shareholder return or additional investments.

PLDT’s consolidated earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the first six months of 2007 went up to P41.81 billion, four percent higher than last year’s P40.1 billion while EBITDA margin was at 62 percent of service revenues.

Service revenues increased by 11 percent to P67 billion despite a nine percent appreciation of the peso which negatively impacted revenue growth by almost four percent, as 38 percent of PLDT’s consolidated revenues were linked to the US dollar. Officials emphasized that had the peso-dollar exchange rate been stable, service revenues would have grown by over 14 percent or a further P2.3 billion.

Consolidated free cash flow was at P24.4 billion after incurring capital expenditure of P10 billion. Company officials said capex is expected to increase to P27 billion this year due to higher than expected take up of cellular and wireless broadband subscribers and the continued rollout of the next generation network (NGN).

An interim dividend of P60 per share and a special dividend of P40 per share were declared, bringing total dividend payout of 2006 net earnings to 85 percent.

Mercato

October 25th, 2007, 05:48 PM

@crappypants,

Tutoo, kung basahin natin ang post ni Rence, the fact that the exchange rate is rising against the dollar despite ourselves is a strong indicator that it is doable. If govt stays focused I have no doubt it can be done. It is true that our neighbours had done it before. Only 20 years or just one generation, but all our neighbours are not exactly US style democracies. All our rich neighbours are autocratic or at least has substantial government intervention in the economy. At face value, they are functioning democracies but their governments are no-nonsense and immerse themselves in the economy. Take for instance Japan, it has the powerful METI (formerly MITI) that overseas or optimises various aspects of their industries in coordination with the zaibatsus. Taiwan has long been an autocratic country under the Kuomintang Party. S. Korea also has its chaebols under several autocratic presidents. Ditto for Singapore. China and Vietnam have socialist systems. Thailand is a kingdom. We are the only US style democracy (apart from the US) in Asia. The US system seems to be working… but only in the US, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating an autocratic form of government but if Filipinos are truly proud of their democratic traditions then by jove prove to the world that the system works. Because if it doesn’t work, the laws of cause and effect takes over.

Naalala ko dati ang observation mo (at ng iba pang forumers) about business and tourism journals, magazines, newspapers atbp na nababasa mo sa mga paglalakbay mo dito. Tutoo lahat yun, palagi tayong ini-ignore ng mga kapitbansa natin na para bang invisible tayo, ay ewan na lang pero sa wari ko’y ang pag-eestima nila sa atin ay base sa performance sa economia; yung ASEAN “brotherhood” palabok lang yan. Ganun lang talaga magisip ang mga kapwa “Asian” natin, walang personalan trabajo lang.

About Gloria, I admit having had early misgivings about her administration esp after Hello Garci but I also remember her being a classmate of Clinton (“It’s the economy, stupid…” his famous line). Despite all the negative reputation of our country in the past, newspapers here had begun printing bright reports here and there about our country (sa wakas). She seems to be good at being the economist that she is; sige ipipikit ko na lang ang mga mata ko about her corrupt husband and son as long as di sila makialam.

The whole point of my long post is this – our rich neighbours pulled off economic miracle after economic miracle in 20 years average time because their governments remained focused on the job. Did you know that during the first 7-8 years of Marcos and even a few years after Martial Law, we had a strong potential to take off back then? Halos kasabayan lang ni Macoy si Lee Kuan Yew; but whilst LKY stayed the course, kumaliwa si Macoy and Meldy, buwakanenang yan. Sayang na sayang naloko ang bansa. So just keep your fingers crossed that this administration and the next ones do stay focused on the economy above their own interests and then we’ll see in 20years.

:)

crappypants

October 25th, 2007, 05:58 PM

I'm not keeping my fingers crossed anymore. I am not paying attention anymore.
I am resigned to us being the perpetual basket case of Asia and soon to be the whole world second only to wartorn countries.
if our country manages to pull it off to progress i'm sure it will be only by chance and some divine intervention. There is really no house cleaning .all the dirt is just continously hidden around.
Goodluck to the cheerleaders out there. I'm through whatching this saga only to be disappointed at the end.

amigo32

October 26th, 2007, 08:59 AM

don't lose hope.

tidal wave lang naman yan, ripples lang yan, hehehe meron pang mas malaking problema. j/k

dancethingy

October 26th, 2007, 09:17 PM

You know, once a country takes off economically, the speed of change accelarates and that is why i think we are capable of great positive change in maybe even less than 20 years.

American democracy wasn't as rosy as it is today, well it ain't even rosy today given the state America is in right now. There were and there are still plenty of imperfections in American Democracy. What's great about American Democracy is that it evolves. Change may be slow, but the end result more than most of the time makes up for it. Let us not forget that it was only 70s when America had separate washrooms for blacks and whites. It was a glaring imperfection in American democracy.

Im not saying we should develope our democracy much the same way the United States did. I think we can do it faster and better. We must have patience. I know everyone's patience is running thin nowadays, but we are on the cusp of doing what we failed to do in the 70s, we have a chance now to take our economy to a new level.

@crappypants,

Tutoo, kung basahin natin ang post ni Rence, the fact that the exchange rate is rising against the dollar despite ourselves is a strong indicator that it is doable. If govt stays focused I have no doubt it can be done. It is true that our neighbours had done it before. Only 20 years or just one generation, but all our neighbours are not exactly US style democracies. All our rich neighbours are autocratic or at least has substantial government intervention in the economy. At face value, they are functioning democracies but their governments are no-nonsense and immerse themselves in the economy. Take for instance Japan, it has the powerful METI (formerly MITI) that overseas or optimises various aspects of their industries in coordination with the zaibatsus. Taiwan has long been an autocratic country under the Kuomintang Party. S. Korea also has its chaebols under several autocratic presidents. Ditto for Singapore. China and Vietnam have socialist systems. Thailand is a kingdom. We are the only US style democracy (apart from the US) in Asia. The US system seems to be working… but only in the US, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating an autocratic form of government but if Filipinos are truly proud of their democratic traditions then by jove prove to the world that the system works. Because if it doesn’t work, the laws of cause and effect takes over.

Naalala ko dati ang observation mo (at ng iba pang forumers) about business and tourism journals, magazines, newspapers atbp na nababasa mo sa mga paglalakbay mo dito. Tutoo lahat yun, palagi tayong ini-ignore ng mga kapitbansa natin na para bang invisible tayo, ay ewan na lang pero sa wari ko’y ang pag-eestima nila sa atin ay base sa performance sa economia; yung ASEAN “brotherhood” palabok lang yan. Ganun lang talaga magisip ang mga kapwa “Asian” natin, walang personalan trabajo lang.

About Gloria, I admit having had early misgivings about her administration esp after Hello Garci but I also remember her being a classmate of Clinton (“It’s the economy, stupid…” his famous line). Despite all the negative reputation of our country in the past, newspapers here had begun printing bright reports here and there about our country (sa wakas). She seems to be good at being the economist that she is; sige ipipikit ko na lang ang mga mata ko about her corrupt husband and son as long as di sila makialam.

The whole point of my long post is this – our rich neighbours pulled off economic miracle after economic miracle in 20 years average time because their governments remained focused on the job. Did you know that during the first 7-8 years of Marcos and even a few years after Martial Law, we had a strong potential to take off back then? Halos kasabayan lang ni Macoy si Lee Kuan Yew; but whilst LKY stayed the course, kumaliwa si Macoy and Meldy, buwakanenang yan. Sayang na sayang naloko ang bansa. So just keep your fingers crossed that this administration and the next ones do stay focused on the economy above their own interests and then we’ll see in 20years.

:)

Naku, kaw naman, wag naman masyadong negative and wag masyado magalit po. I know why you are angry, and i am upset as well. Though i think it should have never been done, it had to be done in a political sense. It's never going to be a perfect world out there, pragmatism is the name of the game. Don't lose hope please.

I'm not keeping my fingers crossed anymore. I am not paying attention anymore.
I am resigned to us being the perpetual basket case of Asia and soon to be the whole world second only to wartorn countries.
if our country manages to pull it off to progress i'm sure it will be only by chance and some divine intervention. There is really no house cleaning .all the dirt is just continously hidden around.
Goodluck to the cheerleaders out there. I'm through whatching this saga only to be disappointed at the end.

Ex!lE

October 27th, 2007, 03:47 AM

Index climbs on strong mining, oil-related issues (http://http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2007102613)

Saturday, October 27, 2007
Share prices closed higher yesterday led by mining and oil-related companies following a jump in commodity prices, while telecom stocks retreated after recent gains.

Investors were cautious ahead of a three-day weekend. In contrast, major Asian markets posted solid gains on upbeat corporate earnings and expectations that the Federal Reserve will again cut its key rate when it meets next week.

President Arroyo’s decision late Thursday to pardon convicted former leader Joseph Estrada earned cheers and jeers, but most investors took on a wait-and-see stance.

“Investors are still gauging the nation’s sentiment following the presidential pardon for Estrada,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director at fund manager First Grade Holdings.

At the close, the composite index was up 17.10 points or 0.5 percent at 3,784.88, after moving between 3,769.31 and 3,787.24.

It fell 0.9 percent from last week.

Philippine markets will be closed on Monday for village elections nationwide. Trading will resume on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the market will be closed again on Thursday and Friday for the All Saints Day and All Souls Day holidays.

The all-share index advanced 8.20 points or 0.4 percent to 2,348.53. There were 69 advancers and 44 decliners, while 55 stocks were steady.

A total of 3.7 billion shares worth P4.5 billion changed hands. President Arroyo’s decision disappointed investors who want the government to seriously tackle the problem of corruption, Del Castillo said.

“Hopefully the decision will not erase gains in the economy and affect investor confidence,” he said.

Despite continued economic growth under her leadership, Mrs. Arroyo remains deeply unpopular as allegations of corruption and human rights violations hound her administration, in addition to accusations that she cheated in the 2004 presidential elections.

“While (the Estrada pardon) will always remain an emotional issue for some, we believe that the market as a whole will treat it as it has treated recent political issues — with indifference,” said Francisco Liboro, president of PCCI Securities. “We see investors sticking to the main issues of corporate earnings and economic growth.”

Profit-taking hit index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and rival Globe Telecom Inc. PLDT was down P5 or 0.2 percent at P3,070, while Globe retreated P15 or 0.9 percent to P1,720. — Technistock

waketrex

October 27th, 2007, 06:39 AM

^^ Don't worry. Mindanao and Cebu are in proposals for railway projects.

British Firm Eager To Build Southern Philippines Railway (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008963197)

Davao City, Philippines (AHN) - A British firm has expressed interest in building a railway system in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.

Mindanao Times quoted an official of the MCC Capital Projects Inc. as saying that the London-based infrastructure developer is open to a joint venture with the local government in conducting the feasibility study and possibly the construction of the Mindanao Railway System.

MCC Capital Projects chief executive officer Faisal Kasim told this to the leader of a Mindanao business group during a business-matching conference held in Davao City on Tuesday. But Kasim said nothing is final yet.

Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, had proposed to Kasim that MCC Capital Projects build the railway according to the government's build-operate-transfer policy. The policy provides that a developer shoulders the cost of constructing an infrastructure, operates it for a long-term period and then turn it over to the government after recouping its investment.

The Department of Trade and Industry supports a joint venture and will hold a meeting with local government units about forming a partnership corporation with the British company.

Meanwhile, MCC Capital Projects engineers will survey the project next month.

The proposed Mindanao railway is 892 miles (1,436 kilometers) long and will connect the cities in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines.

Additional stories:
Mindanao railway concept revived (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=96465)
Davao: BIMP-iCon saves Mindanao railway (8:20 p.m.) (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/10/24/davao.bimp.icon.saves.mindanao.railway.(8.20.p.m.).html)

3cr

October 27th, 2007, 09:19 AM

Twenty years is enough to turn a country around to near developed status.
that's how long other countries managed to pull it off.
unfortunately everything in this country is done for the sake of political accomadation and not public interests.
two decades have passed, two people power and all we managed is to double our population ,what more if other countries didn't accept overseas workers.

^^ 1st world status will be hard to achieve at the rate we're going...:ohno::ohno::ohno:

Corruption a drag on competitiveness: PCCI
BY GENIVI FACTAO & ALBERT CASTRO
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct27/busi2.htm

Business leaders yesterday said the government is not doing enough to promote the country’s competitiveness.

Businessmen said the slow flow of foreign direct investments in the country can be traced to corruption in governance which also hurts the country’s competitiveness.

American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines president John Forbes said that volume of foreign direct investments coming into the Philippines pales in comparison to FDIs in other countries.

"There’s plenty of money flowing in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is not capturing enough," noting that the $2.3 billion FDI captured by the Philippines is "only less than a third" of FDIs in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Forbes said under the current investment atmosphere the Philippines gets only $6.7 billion, a fraction of the country’s potential of over $36 billion.

"Much, much more has to be done," said Forbes.

Forbes said the Philippines needs to revitalize its capital investments, pouring funds into infrastructure and basic services and address issues of corruption that is hounding the government, if it wants to achieve its industrialization dream.

"You have to put infrastructure in place and invest in education. So far the education budget has not increased enough," said Forbes.

He also stressed that corruption "is the biggest stumbling block" of the government.

"Corruption has to end as part of the plan. That’s good governance. BOT (projects) can be done. But line agencies are not interested because it would involve transparency," he said.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce president Donald G. Dee meanwhile said government officials has to recognize the urgent need to address corruption and initiate efforts to "address the problem from the top."

"There is no corruption in the bottom if the top is clean. The change will come from you (the government) and we will follow," Dee said.

Dee in particular scored the lack of resolutions in a number of congressional inquiries both the House and the Senate had initiated and stressed that it has only become a venue for grandstanding as well as the continued rambling between the legislative and the executive branch of the government.

"We are seek and tired of all this political noises... Unfortunately, we see a Senate that does investigation in aid of legislation…but in the end nothing is achieved, no new legislation comes out…sometimes the inquiry becomes in aid of grandstanding," he said.

Ambassador Cesar Bautista, co-chair for the private sector in the Philippine Business Conference, said there was little improvement in the economy.

In 1999 to 2004, the percent of foreign direct invest in relation to GDP was only 1.4 percent and the GDP growth average was only 4.3 percent.

He said that project financing outside the government and the involvement of legislators and judiciary were among the priority challenges of the country.

To lift business, he said active improvement on infrastructure is one solution.

Atty. Miguel Varela said the orientation of judiciary through courses on economic issues should be worked for by the Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial academy.

""Let’s encourage arbitration or alternative dispute resolution as a vehicle for expeditious settlement of business issues", Varela said.

For legislation, Francis Chua, gave emphasis on the lobbying for the support of the creation of an adhoc unified committee on competitiveness from both chambers of congress.

Ambassador Donald Dee also called for the amendment of the constitution and to have a new election law.

"There is a need to restructure the economic provision so that business will move ahead," Dee said.

3cr

October 27th, 2007, 10:20 AM

Joint vision for moral revolution in
society being finalized – JdV
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20071027106961.html

Calling it a "blue print for the future" beyond disagreement conflict, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday efforts are on track to finalize President Arroyo’s and the House leader’s "joint vision" to launch a moral revolution in society.

Similarly, an action program is also in the works to propel the country from its Third World status to a First World society.

De Venecia said a working committee of seven senior members — two from the Cabinet and four from the House of Representatives — has begun informal discussions to establish the framework for the joint vision and an action program that sets a time frame for undertaking dramatic and urgent measures to cleanse government and give the country a new beginning.

"This is our last chance — our last hope, and also a new beginning," de Venecia told the country’s top businessmen in a keynote speech at the convention of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

De Venecia said he is confident that all efforts by the legislative and executive remain firmly focused on the how to achieve the President’s and the Speaker’s joint vision as the country consolidates its economic gains with a no-nonsense program to cleanse government and society of corruption and the economy of its cronyism and inefficiency.

The working panel already held its first informal meeting and will devote the next few days to completing the major document, he said.

Those named to the panel from the Cabinet are acting Executive Secretary Ignacio Bunye and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez and the Lakas CMD Deputy Secretary General Diosdado Macapagal Jr., and from the House of Representatives are Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong and Eric Singson, Majority Leader Arthur Defensor, and senior Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr.

De Venecia also named to the panel the House Deputy Secretary General for Information Noel Albano and political consultant Johnny Gatbonton.

De Venecia said he has consulted with several eminent religious and business personalities who expressed support for his proposal, as the country struggles to stamp out corruption in government amid a series of major controversies that have rocked the administration.

Among those committing their support were Rep. Benny Abante, a prominent Baptist bishop, and 28 other Baptist bishops and pastors; and several prominent Filipino businessmen among them the new PCCI president, Sammy Lim, and the PCCI Chairman, Donald Dee.

Similar commitments came from Francis Chua, immediate past president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce, Mike Varela of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, and Sergio Ortiz Luis of the Philippine Exporters Federation.

De Venecia vowed to mobilize the political parties for "maximum consultation" in his capacity as chairman of the Standing Committee of the Philippine Political Parties. De Venecia is also chairman of the Standing Committee of the ICAPP (International Conference of Asian Political Parties) composed of more than 80 ruling and opposition parties from all over Asia.

The Speaker had earlier sent an eight-page letter appeal to President Arroyo, asking the Chief Executive to use the immense powers of the Presidency and an intelligent selfless leadership to "turn this imminent danger into an opportunity to create a new beginning for our country and to instill a renew sense of hope among our people."

3cr

October 28th, 2007, 11:56 AM

Another blunder...:ohno::ohno::ohno:

Incineration: Solution or threat?
The battle against medical waste disposal

By Sheryl Anne G. Quito, Senior Reporter
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/28/yehey/top_stories/20071028top1.html

(First of three parts)

In 1995, the Department of Health, through a P504-million loan extended by Bank Austria, acquired 26 incinerators to help improve the management of medical wastes in hospitals that the department controls in the country.

The medical waste incinerators touted as products of latest technology were considered the safest and comparatively cheaper solutions to hospital sanitation the Austrian government vouched for. Eight years later, in 2003, all 26 incinerators were made obsolete because of the health and environmental hazards posed by the burning equipment, as mandated by the incineration ban of the Clean Air Act of 1999.

With the ban on incinerators, the government had no choice but to dispose of infectious hospital wastes together with regular trash in dumps and landfills. The mountains of garbage generated in the country everyday may have become a natural sight. People might have accepted that the situation, being an almost normal fixture, is as natural as the other tourist attractions that the government promotes. Like the use of incinerators, dumping hospital waste in waste disposal sites also poses hazardous effects on human health and the environment.

Hospital wastes are a form of solid wastes that pose grave threats not only to human health but also to the now fragile environment. Not many, however, know how these are disposed of. Records of the National Academy of Science and Technology show that the country’s hospitals generate about 6,750 tons of medical wastes a year (47 tons a day). Of this total, it is estimated that about 27 tons or 56 percent are considered infectious and/or potentially infectious. Hospital or medical wastes, as they are collectively called, includes wastes generated by hospitals, clinics and health-care establishments like: sharp objects (syringes, needles); pathological wastes (human and/or animal tissues, organs, fetuses); and materials that have been in contact with patients with infectious diseases (tubings and filters, laboratory coats). The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Environment Management Bureau (EMB), categorizes hospital wastes as hazardous wastes requiring proper treatment and disposal to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

If high technology incinerators and conventional waste disposal practices are no match to proper hospital waste management, what then should the government do to address this growing concern?

Zero pollution?

Incineration is a waste treatment technology that involves the combustion of organic materials and/or substances. Using incinerators, medical wastes are converted into ash, flue gases, particulates and heat, which can in turn be used to generate electricity. But no matter how technologically advanced incinerators are, local and international environmental groups are ceaselessly pushing an anti-incinerator campaign because of the threats of the devices to public health and the environment.

Incineration used to be the treatment method of choice for medical wastes for two specific reasons. First, incineration has always been thought to be the best method of eliminating any infectious organisms that are present in medical wastes. Second, incineration has been economical for hospitals because it substantially reduces the volume to be disposed of in a landfill. The world, however, has also learned that incineration is a leading source of highly toxic dioxin, mercury, lead and other dangerous air pollutants that threaten human health and the environment. So, where do we go from here?

As a waste-disposal technology, incineration has been around for about 500,000 years—an interesting spin-off of man’s discovery of fire. For years, incineration appeared to be the best way to turn hazardous wastes into air emissions, smaller piles of ash and sometimes energy. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls high-temperature incineration the best available technology for disposing of most hazardous wastes. Refuse is also burned in incinerators. Incineration is more expensive but a safer method of disposal than landfills. Modern incinerators are designed to destroy at least 99.9 percent of the organic wastes materials they handle. Numerous thermal processes recover energy from solid wastes. But incineration has drawbacks. When hazardous wastes go into an incinerator, they come out as potentially harmful air emissions; they don’t just vanish into thin air.

Stan Cannon, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Technology Council, formerly the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, however, says, “Hazardous waste incineration can be very safe. We’re probably the most regulated industry in the world, and the industry is very willing to work with EPA to hammer out the best, toughest standards the equipment can achieve.”

“If an incinerator is designed well and run efficiently, it should be no problem,” says William Suk, chief of the Chemical Exposures and Molecular Biology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). “The problem is they’re not designed that well, not run that efficiently, and they present a problem.” In fact, Suk shares that the concerns over the health effects of dioxin and furan emissions have been significantly lessened by advances in emission control designs and very stringent new governmental regulations that have resulted in large reductions in the amount of dioxins and furan emissions.

In the same way, studies conducted by the NIEHS showed that incineration of medical waste and sewage sludge produces an end product ash that is sterile and nonhazardous. The bottom ash residue remaining after combustion has been shown to be a nonhazardous solid waste that can be safely disposed of in a landfill or possibly reused.

To be continued...

____________________________________

The cost of clean air

Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/28/yehey/top_stories/20071028top2.html

The Philippine government has been losing around $2 million annually since 2002 and will stand to lose more until 2014 if it continues to pay for the 26 discarded incinerators that were supposed to be used to dispose of the country’s hospital wastes. Environmental groups and advocates against debt servicing called on both the Philippine and Austrian governments to annul this “toxic” debt amounting to P503,647,200. The Ecological Waste Coalition of the Philippines (EcoWaste), Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the loan, worth half a billion pesos of incinerators for 26 public hospitals to “help” in the proper disposal of medical wastes, was illegitimate and a waste of money.

The loan, contracted by the Department of Finance in 1997 with Bank Austria, was aimed to finance a project to establish waste disposal facilities for hospitals run by the Department of Health (DOH). Incinerators called the Multizon, manufactured by Liechtenstein-based Hoval, were the main component of the loan. These were supplied to the DOH by Austrian firm VAMED. The Clean Air Act passed in 1999, however, imposed a ban on incinerators effective 2003.

Payments to the Hoval loan this year already constitute one-fourth of the health department’s budget for infrastructure, and are almost equal to what it will spend for both local health programs and the prevention of emerging diseases. (See table above)

“Is it not gut-wrenching to be paying for these incinerators when we know that the Department of Health is short of funds for nonburn treatment technologies for decontaminating infectious or pathological wastes that will not endanger hospital staff and host community with dioxin and other harmful emissions?” asked Manny Calonzo, secretary of EcoWaste Coalition.

The incinerators, which Greenpeace Southeast Asia claimed were substandard and did not meet the emission levels guaranteed by the supplier, had all been retired in 2003, when the incineration ban promulgated by the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 (CAA) took effect and when the DOH failed in its attempt to exempt them from the ban. They were part of the DOH’s project dubbed “The Austrian Project for the Establishment of Waste Disposal Facilities and Upgrading of the Medical Equipment Standard in DOH Hospitals.”

Health Care Without Harm, on the other hand, declared: “As part of Austrian Official Development Assistance (ODA), the project’s purpose had the lofty goal of helping Philippine hospitals safely dispose of medical wastes. But instead of helping, the ODA just exacerbated the problem. In the joint Department of Health (DOH)-World Health Organization (WHO) emission test conducted on one of the incinerators, the dioxin emission was a whopping 870 times over the limit set by the CAA. Now, we not only have a medical waste problem, we have an illegitimate debt that needs to be paid.”

3cr

October 28th, 2007, 11:58 AM

Incineration: Solution or threat?
The battle against medical waste disposal

By Sheryl Anne G. Quito, Senior Reporter
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/28/yehey/top_stories/20071028top1.html

(First of three parts)

In 1995, the Department of Health, through a P504-million loan extended by Bank Austria, acquired 26 incinerators to help improve the management of medical wastes in hospitals that the department controls in the country.

The medical waste incinerators touted as products of latest technology were considered the safest and comparatively cheaper solutions to hospital sanitation the Austrian government vouched for. Eight years later, in 2003, all 26 incinerators were made obsolete because of the health and environmental hazards posed by the burning equipment, as mandated by the incineration ban of the Clean Air Act of 1999.

With the ban on incinerators, the government had no choice but to dispose of infectious hospital wastes together with regular trash in dumps and landfills. The mountains of garbage generated in the country everyday may have become a natural sight. People might have accepted that the situation, being an almost normal fixture, is as natural as the other tourist attractions that the government promotes. Like the use of incinerators, dumping hospital waste in waste disposal sites also poses hazardous effects on human health and the environment.

Hospital wastes are a form of solid wastes that pose grave threats not only to human health but also to the now fragile environment. Not many, however, know how these are disposed of. Records of the National Academy of Science and Technology show that the country’s hospitals generate about 6,750 tons of medical wastes a year (47 tons a day). Of this total, it is estimated that about 27 tons or 56 percent are considered infectious and/or potentially infectious. Hospital or medical wastes, as they are collectively called, includes wastes generated by hospitals, clinics and health-care establishments like: sharp objects (syringes, needles); pathological wastes (human and/or animal tissues, organs, fetuses); and materials that have been in contact with patients with infectious diseases (tubings and filters, laboratory coats). The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Environment Management Bureau (EMB), categorizes hospital wastes as hazardous wastes requiring proper treatment and disposal to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

If high technology incinerators and conventional waste disposal practices are no match to proper hospital waste management, what then should the government do to address this growing concern?

Zero pollution?

Incineration is a waste treatment technology that involves the combustion of organic materials and/or substances. Using incinerators, medical wastes are converted into ash, flue gases, particulates and heat, which can in turn be used to generate electricity. But no matter how technologically advanced incinerators are, local and international environmental groups are ceaselessly pushing an anti-incinerator campaign because of the threats of the devices to public health and the environment.

Incineration used to be the treatment method of choice for medical wastes for two specific reasons. First, incineration has always been thought to be the best method of eliminating any infectious organisms that are present in medical wastes. Second, incineration has been economical for hospitals because it substantially reduces the volume to be disposed of in a landfill. The world, however, has also learned that incineration is a leading source of highly toxic dioxin, mercury, lead and other dangerous air pollutants that threaten human health and the environment. So, where do we go from here?

As a waste-disposal technology, incineration has been around for about 500,000 years—an interesting spin-off of man’s discovery of fire. For years, incineration appeared to be the best way to turn hazardous wastes into air emissions, smaller piles of ash and sometimes energy. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls high-temperature incineration the best available technology for disposing of most hazardous wastes. Refuse is also burned in incinerators. Incineration is more expensive but a safer method of disposal than landfills. Modern incinerators are designed to destroy at least 99.9 percent of the organic wastes materials they handle. Numerous thermal processes recover energy from solid wastes. But incineration has drawbacks. When hazardous wastes go into an incinerator, they come out as potentially harmful air emissions; they don’t just vanish into thin air.

Stan Cannon, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Technology Council, formerly the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, however, says, “Hazardous waste incineration can be very safe. We’re probably the most regulated industry in the world, and the industry is very willing to work with EPA to hammer out the best, toughest standards the equipment can achieve.”

“If an incinerator is designed well and run efficiently, it should be no problem,” says William Suk, chief of the Chemical Exposures and Molecular Biology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). “The problem is they’re not designed that well, not run that efficiently, and they present a problem.” In fact, Suk shares that the concerns over the health effects of dioxin and furan emissions have been significantly lessened by advances in emission control designs and very stringent new governmental regulations that have resulted in large reductions in the amount of dioxins and furan emissions.

In the same way, studies conducted by the NIEHS showed that incineration of medical waste and sewage sludge produces an end product ash that is sterile and nonhazardous. The bottom ash residue remaining after combustion has been shown to be a nonhazardous solid waste that can be safely disposed of in a landfill or possibly reused.

To be continued...

____________________________________

The cost of clean air

Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/28/yehey/top_stories/20071028top2.html

The Philippine government has been losing around $2 million annually since 2002 and will stand to lose more until 2014 if it continues to pay for the 26 discarded incinerators that were supposed to be used to dispose of the country’s hospital wastes. Environmental groups and advocates against debt servicing called on both the Philippine and Austrian governments to annul this “toxic” debt amounting to P503,647,200. The Ecological Waste Coalition of the Philippines (EcoWaste), Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the loan, worth half a billion pesos of incinerators for 26 public hospitals to “help” in the proper disposal of medical wastes, was illegitimate and a waste of money.

The loan, contracted by the Department of Finance in 1997 with Bank Austria, was aimed to finance a project to establish waste disposal facilities for hospitals run by the Department of Health (DOH). Incinerators called the Multizon, manufactured by Liechtenstein-based Hoval, were the main component of the loan. These were supplied to the DOH by Austrian firm VAMED. The Clean Air Act passed in 1999, however, imposed a ban on incinerators effective 2003.

Payments to the Hoval loan this year already constitute one-fourth of the health department’s budget for infrastructure, and are almost equal to what it will spend for both local health programs and the prevention of emerging diseases. (See table above)

“Is it not gut-wrenching to be paying for these incinerators when we know that the Department of Health is short of funds for nonburn treatment technologies for decontaminating infectious or pathological wastes that will not endanger hospital staff and host community with dioxin and other harmful emissions?” asked Manny Calonzo, secretary of EcoWaste Coalition.

The incinerators, which Greenpeace Southeast Asia claimed were substandard and did not meet the emission levels guaranteed by the supplier, had all been retired in 2003, when the incineration ban promulgated by the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 (CAA) took effect and when the DOH failed in its attempt to exempt them from the ban. They were part of the DOH’s project dubbed “The Austrian Project for the Establishment of Waste Disposal Facilities and Upgrading of the Medical Equipment Standard in DOH Hospitals.”

Health Care Without Harm, on the other hand, declared: “As part of Austrian Official Development Assistance (ODA), the project’s purpose had the lofty goal of helping Philippine hospitals safely dispose of medical wastes. But instead of helping, the ODA just exacerbated the problem. In the joint Department of Health (DOH)-World Health Organization (WHO) emission test conducted on one of the incinerators, the dioxin emission was a whopping 870 times over the limit set by the CAA. Now, we not only have a medical waste problem, we have an illegitimate debt that needs to be paid.”

Rence

October 28th, 2007, 04:29 PM

RP ranked 4th in dollar remittances

By Cynthia Balana
Inquirer
Last updated 04:41am (Mla time) 10/28/2007

Close this MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines ranked fourth among developing countries in terms of global remittance flows in 2006, according to a study released in Washington DC.

India received the most in remittances with $24.5 billion; followed by Mexico, $24.2 billion; China, $21 billion; the Philippines and Russia, $13.7 billion.

The study, released at the Oct. 19 International Forum on Remittances in Washington DC, was conducted by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Migrant workers sent home more than $300 billion to their families in developing countries in 2006, the study said.

Asia was the top destination of remittances in 2006 with more than $114 billion, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean ($68 billion), Eastern Europe ($51 billion), Africa ($39 billion) and the Near East ($29 billion).

The remittances were generated by some 150 million migrants who send money home regularly, typically between $100 and $300 at a time, and mostly from industrialized nations in North America, Europe and Asia.

“This figure, which is a conservative estimate, shows that the seemingly small sums sent home by migrant workers, when added together, dwarf official development assistance,” said IFAD’s assistant president Kevin Cleaver.

Donor nations provided almost $104 billion in aid to developing countries last year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Donald F. Terry, general manager of the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund, pointed out that migrant remittances also surpassed foreign direct investment in developing countries, which last year totaled around $167 billion, according to the Institute of International Finance .

Cleaver and Terry presented the study, “Sending money home: Worldwide remittances to developing countries,” and a map produced by IFAD, the first one to show remittances on a worldwide basis and to highlight the rural share of these flows.

3cr

October 29th, 2007, 07:03 AM

Politics seen curbing growth momentum
HSBC economist says RP fiscal reforms in peril
By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=97293

MANILA, Philippines--THE POLITICAL scandals rocking the philippines could curb the government's fiscal reform momentum and dash hopes of any sovereign credit-rating upgrade anytime soon, an economist from British banking giant HSBC has warned.

"Recent political scandals will make it harder for the President to advance a new wave of policy reforms, especially relating to improving the underlying public sector finances," HSBC regional economist Frederic Neumann said in a commentary dated Oct. 22.

Despite disappointing tax revenue growth, the Hong Kong-based Neumann said the government was now closing in on its full-year deficit target of P63 billion. But excluding privatization receipts, he pointed out that the government's fiscal performance was "less impressive," suggesting that more reforms were needed.

Ambitious expenditure plans and sluggish tax collection were likely to keep the budget in deficit for the foreseeable future, Neumann predicted.

The government has made a commitment to wipe out its budget deficits with the help of privatization proceeds by next year. However, credit-rating agencies do not give much weight on nonrecurrent revenues when evaluating sovereign credit.

"There has been no material improvement in tax collections to support sustained increase in spending on infrastructure and social services," Neumann said.

The HSBC economist thus ruled out the possibility of a sovereign credit-rating upgrade for the Philippines "for the foreseeable future."

The Philippines is currently rated at two notches below the much-coveted investment grade by Fitch, three notches below by Standard & Poor's and four notches below by Moody's.

Neumann said the string of political scandals in the country was starting to hurt the Arroyo administration's ability to manage economy.

He said the scandals have "eroded the public goodwill that had been rebuilt as result of faster economic activity and a stronger Philippine peso allowing for easy monetary stance by the central bank."

First, he cited the administration's move to cancel the national broadband project with Chinese firm ZTE Corp. on allegations of bribes being offered to certain officials and local businessmen that failed to win the deal.

Despite the government's backtracking, public pressure has forced the administration to conduct an investigation into the allegations in addition to the Senate conducting its own investigation into the incident, he said.

Neumann also cited perceptions that administration officials had given out money packets to lawmakers at a breakfast meeting with the President on Oct. 10.

He noted that this latest incident had triggered a surprise negative reaction from the Catholic Church, which he described as an institution which has the ability to sway public opinion.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has supported the Senate's plan to formally investigate the allegations of money distribution at the breakfast meeting.

While there was little hard evidence of misconduct or delivering of cash to certain lawmakers, Neumann said the incident has further tarnished President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration as well as the ruling Lakas-CMD image with the public.

"We view the recent political scandals as severely undermining the President's ability to persuade the Congress to pass new policy initiatives to advance structural reforms," Neumann said.

He projected that the opposition-controlled Senate and other special interest groups would be focused on investigating the recent allegations of misconduct and allegations against the government and lawmakers supporting the President.

3cr

October 29th, 2007, 07:09 AM

After ‘moral revolution,’ JDV now seeks full ‘pork’ transparency
By Jess Diaz
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20071029172

After startling friends and foes alike with his call for a “moral revolution,” Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. now wants “full transparency” in the use of pork barrel funds.

“If we can do it, the better. But observing full transparency on the pork barrel by detailing projects would be our contribution to my proposal for a moral revolution by minimizing, if not eradicating, corruption,” he said.

Each senator is entitled to P200 million “pork” or a total of P4.8 billion, while each congressman receives P70 million or P16.8 billion for all the 240 member of Congress.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson doesn’t touch his pork allocation.

In a television interview yesterday, De Venecia said he doesn’t expect to realize immediately his wish for a transparent pork allocation because the House has already approved the proposed P1.227-trillion budget for next year.

He said that if projects funded by taxpayers’ money were listed in detail in the national budget, it would be difficult for lawmakers and other officials to engage in corruption.

“People will know what are their congressmen’s projects, their location, the amount of funds allotted to each project. They can then check on their implementation,” he added.

De Venecia pointed out that at present, pork barrel allocations are in lump sums. The unbridled use of pork barrel funds by some lawmakers is an open secret.

Some corrupt lawmakers were able to build palatial homes in affluent Metro Manila enclaves from kickbacks from contractors of pork barrel-funded projects.

For instance, a corrupt senator pocketing just 10 percent of his funds in the form of commissions can make P120 million in his six-year term. He amasses P240 million if he gets 20 percent.

On the other hand, unscrupulous House members have been found to divert their funds to private foundations headed by their relatives. Some of these lawmakers have cases pending with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Commissions and kickbacks given to senators and congressmen range from a low of 20 percent to a high of 40 percent, sometimes even 50 percent. Commissions are high for purchases of supplies that easily disappear like liquid fertilizer or medicine.

In the case of liquid fertilizer, government auditors discovered that purchases of this farm input were overpriced by as much as 1,800 percent.

Many House members, using their pork barrel funds and additional money given by President Arroyo shortly before the 2004 presidential election, skimmed a large part of the funds by procuring liquid fertilizer through inexistent non-government organizations and foundations.

De Venecia said if congressmen succeed in listing in detail their projects, senators should do the same.

_________________________________________

JDV urges GMA to open up RP economy
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20071028118

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has urged President Arroyo to open up the country’s “regulated” economy and “cleanse it of its cronyism and its inefficiency.”

“Our economy is still less open than those of our neighbors. Not only do state restrictions raise the costs of doing business; they also give unfair advantage to families of influence, who easily transform themselves into monopolists and cartels,” he said in a letter he sent to the President last Oct. 20.

The letter is entitled, “You can still create a new beginning for our nation.” In it, De Venecia suggests solutions to the country’s political and economic problems.

He said economically, the problem is “slow and highly uneven growth.”

To speed up growth, he suggested that Mrs. Arroyo “cut down the commanding influence of oligarchic families, monopolies and cartels in the making of economic policy.”

“Dismantle faulty regulatory policies that constrain the growth of businesses and lose the state between P100 billion and P200 billion in potential income,” he said.

He said the cost of electricity, logistics and telecommunications still eat up as much as 60 percent of the total expenses of an average Philippine company.

“These costs average only 20 percent in neighboring economies,” he stressed.

Another recommendation of the Speaker: “Free the agencies supervising aviation, ports, the maritime industry, telecommunications, and the energy sector from regulatory capture. Stop collusion between regulators and industries, which is so injurious to the public interest.”

In the area of land use, De Venecia said the government should discard its “faulty land administration systems to capture the huge potential economic value of land use.”

In a recent business forum, businessman Manuel Pangilinan made a similar suggestion by calling for a review of the comprehensive agrarian reform program.

The Speaker also suggested that the state “liberalize the trade in sugar and corn to raise the foreign competitiveness of our food processing and poultry and livestock industries, many of which are rural-based.”

De Venecia’s advocacies in the economic sector are apparently the same as those of former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, who was reportedly moved to the Commission on Higher Education because he was pushing hard for the liberalization of many areas of the economy, including port operation.

In his testimony before the Senate on the controversial $329-million contract that the government had awarded to Chinese firm ZTE Corp. for its national broadband network (NBN), Neri revealed that billionaire businessman-port operator Enrique Razon had threatened him if he opened the Manila port business to a competitor.

Razon, who is close to Mrs. Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, has denied he made the threat.

The President has cancelled the ZTE contract because of the controversy it has created.

Insofar as contracts and projects are concerned, De Venecia said the President should put these “beyond the influence of brokers, dealmakers and crony capitalists.”

He said the secrecy with which deals are being made “raises the liability of greater and more lucrative corrupt practices.”

De Venecia’s son Joey lll claims that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and resigned Chairman Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections were the “coach” and “captain ball,” respectively, behind the ZTE-NBN deal. The two have denied the accusation.

Summing up his advocacies, the Speaker told Mrs. Arroyo: “Let us open up the regulated economy that continues to multiply opportunities for earning wealth without effort for people of influence and political entrepreneurs.”

amigo32

October 29th, 2007, 07:17 AM

jdv, madaldal na ngayon, at inuutusan pa ang presidente. may balak yata pumalit.

wheel of steel

October 29th, 2007, 07:32 AM

jdv, madaldal na ngayon, at inuutusan pa ang presidente. may balak yata pumalit.

^^ he he he... di naman nila kasi kayang patalsikin si GMA, nagpapapogi lang naman yan eh!!! he he he... actually mas nasira ang kanyang reputasyon.. Ang daldal kasi ng mag-ama..:bash:

3cr

October 29th, 2007, 07:36 AM

Outsourcing growth to reach 62%
Business World
http://www.itmatters.com.ph/news.php?id=102907a

THE PHILIPPINES is still a "darling" of the worldwide outsourcing industry, but challenges from a new Asia competitor and rising costs lie ahead.

Revenues of the Philippine outsourcing industry, including onshore and offshore services, are expected to grow to $4.1 billion by the end of the year, for a 62% growth rate and a 1.4% global market share, said Canada-based IT research firm XMG, Inc. in a statement released yesterday.

Lauro Vives, XMG founding president and chief analyst, said the Philippines is "the best performing country in 2006/07... The size of the Philippine outsourced ICT [information and communication technologies] services is also growing, but at a much faster rate than the global market. The Philippine industry has far exceeded all analyst expectations."

However, other Asian countries are faring much better or close to the Philippines’ performance and XMG is challenging the local outsourcing industry to also look into these other Asian countries.

India undoubtedly corners the biggest global market share for outsourcing among Asian countries at 11.5%. A far second is China, with 4.4% market share and then the Philippines.

Malaysia is the Philippines’ closest competitor with 1.2% market share, and this is surprising news to the local outsourcing industry. XMG data showed that in 2006, the Philippines and Malaysia were neck and neck with a global market share of 1.02% and 1.04%, respectively.

The XMG study covered the worldwide outsourcing market, including onshore and offshore services for information technology, business process outsourcing and call center, which is expected to finish the year at $297 billion and $450 billion by 2010.

But XMG said there are challenges for both India and the Philippines in 2008, namely the increases in wages in order to retain people and real estate prices. XMG pegged the wage increases in the Philippines at 8%.

The challenges are no secret to the Philippine outsourcing industry, according to an official of the local industry association, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P). In a phone interview, BPA/P chief executive Oscar Sañez said they have anticipated these challenges and included them in their industry road map up to 2010.

An 8% wage inflation is "manageable," said Mr. Sañez, compared to other industries which are experiencing from 9%-10% hike.

He noted that demand for manpower in the industry is still higher compared to supply.

Aware of rising real estate costs in central business districts, Mr. Sañez said the Philippine BPO industry is also developing other sites outside Metro Manila by working with real estate developers, local government units and telecommunication companies.

But Mr. Sañez challenged XMG’s data, since according to their own industry data, China is a close competitor but Malaysia is nowhere near the Philippines.

He said that they have already factored in China, but noted that it has no experience in offshoring.

There are, however, no inputs in their road map about Malaysia and Mr. Sañez expressed doubts if Malaysia can build up the number to supply manpower.

With the help of consultancy firm McKinsey and Co., BPA/P drafted Roadmap 2010, a fact-based and industry-oriented analysis persuading stakeholders in BPO, government and education to capitalize on the improving economy and growing market for offshoring and outsourcing.

According to BPA/P data, the local off-shoring and outsourcing industry increased its revenue by 48% to $3.3 billion in 2006 from $1.5 billion in 2004.

By 2010, revenues are expected to increase to $13 billion as the Philippines aims to corner 10% of the global outsourcing market which is expected to reach $130 billion.

Wake-up call

In reply to Mr. Sañez, Mr. Vives said: "That’s because this country has always been focused on India and China. Hope this is a wake-up call for everyone. Malaysia has been doing offshoring even before the Philippines [as early as late 1990s] through several multinational captive centers."

He added that Malaysians have highly educated professionals for non-voice and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO).

Still Malaysia and the Philippines face greater challenges beyond 2010.

"The Philippines will eventually hit the wall for growth due to lack of qualified manpower, similarly to the way the Malaysians have. The Malaysian country strategy is to focus on building a work force capable of providing higher value services in the areas of KPO and IT services."

Saturation

"We expect a slowdown in the growth of the Philippine industry by 2010 due to the highly saturated labor market for IT, call center and BPO services and the increasing cost," Mr. Vives told BusinessWorld

"By 2010, ’deal clinching’ factors must rise above the cost of labor and skills, but for the ability of a country to provide a sustainable pool of highly qualified workers," he added.

Mr. Sañez said the BPA/P study covered only up to 2010 since industry insiders and stakeholders could not see pass 2010, which could make analyses and results inaccurate owing to the dynamism of the industry.

To survive competition, Mr. Vives, a Canadian-Filipino, said the Philippines should "move up the outsourcing value chain and focus on higher value services in the areas of IT, engineering services and KPO to increase revenue per employee ratio.

"Like chasing a speeding train"

He added that it would be useless to run after India.

"Chasing India is like chasing a speeding bullet" said Mr. Vives.

"When the labor market in the Philippines for offshore and outsourcing services is saturated by 2010, the recipe is to ensure revenue and investment influx per employee into the country is higher through the provisioning of higher value services," he stressed.

Comparing outsourcing locations, Mr. Vives said that one of the key advantages of India — aside from the rich pool of manpower resources — is the availability of locations outside major cities Bangalore and Mumbai.

"India has a number of cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune that can offer the same luster as Bangalore and Mumbai three to four years from now," he noted.

"These cities have the potential to offer the same factor conditions Bangalore presented seven years ago such as sustainable labor pool, infrastructure development, cost advantage and a business environment favorable to attracting further investments," he said.

"XMG research forecasts a negative net supply of manpower by 2008 in key locations within Metro Manila," he warned.

le Reine

October 29th, 2007, 07:37 AM

^^whoah! He used strong words such as oligarchic families, cronyism, etc. Look who's talking?!

3cr

October 29th, 2007, 07:39 AM

Solons pressed on priorities
Business World
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW102907/content.php?id=001

IN THE WAKE OF THE FAILURE of the previous Congress to pass some key economic bills, leaders of three business chambers constantly monitoring legislative performance said over the weekend that the 14th Congress must act faster to help make the country more conducive to business.

Cargo trucks speed through Ayala Bridge as they rush to meet delivery deadlines in this three-minute exposure. The 33rd Philippine Business Conference last week focused on urgent steps to improve the environment for growing economic activities. — Norman P. Aquino "They [congressmen] need to be quicker in passing these bills. Other countries in Asia are quicker in instituting reforms. We need to catch up," said American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. Executive Director Robert M. Sears in a phone interview.

In another interview, Makati Business Club (MBC) Executive Director Albero A. Lim said: "the 13th Congress was really slow if you look at the laws they passed. We are hoping that the 14th Congress would be productive."

"We attend hearings if they asked us to do so. I think they must also do their role," he said.

Mr. Sears joined Miguel B. Varela, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chairman emeritus, in warning that further failure to act on identified legislative priorities would make the country lag even more behind its neighbors in terms of competitiveness and in attracting investments.

"We are confident that these bills have better chances of being passed, since some of the ground work has been done before. But we do not need just optimism. We need results," Mr. Sears said.

During the 33rd Business Conference and Expo held last week, key representatives of the business community urged the legislature to hasten the passage of measures which they said would enhance the competitiveness of the country.

In a presentation, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said it is pushing for the early passage of bills proposing amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), Renewable Energy Act, Energy Efficiency Law, Omnibus Maritime Code, Amendments to Magna Carta for Small and Medium Enterprises, Amendments to the Agri-Agra Law, Review of the SB Corp Charter, and the National Manpower Registry System Act.

The NCC is also seeking a consensus among major business chambers on seven other measures, namely: Build Operate Transfer Law Amendments, Customs Brokers Act Amendment, Financial Sector Taxes Rationalization Act, Fiscal Incentives Rationalization Act, Foreign Investments Restrictions Rationalization Act, Freedom of Access to Information Act, and the National Tourism Policy.

Some of these bills have been filed in the previous Congress but were bypassed either due to lack of quorum or the failure of legislative leaders to place these bills in the agenda.

Among the leftover bills are the Renewable Energy Act, Amendments to Magna Carta for Small and Medium Enterprises, Fiscal Incentives Rationalization Act, and the National Tourism Policy.

Cesar B. Bautista, private sector co-chair of the National Competitiveness Council, outlines key indicators and urgent tasks to upgrade industries’ edge over counterparts in neighboring markets in this photo taken on the second day of the 33rd Philippine Business Conference in the Manila Hotel. — Jonathan L. Cellona Early this year, the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) released its legislative priorities, among them measures included in the NCC’s wish list. These are the EPIRA amendments, Renewable Energy Bill, review of Agri-Agra law, amendments to the Customs Brokerage law, fiscal incentives rationalization act, and tourism policy act.

Some measures in LEDAC’s list were not mentioned by the NCC, but are nevertheless being pushed by some business groups, namely: Simplified Net Income Taxation, Credit Information System, Cheaper Medicines Bill and Personal Equity and Retirement Act.

In a phone interview yesterday, House Majority Floor Leader Arthur Defensor said they will give "high priority" to bills if these are included in the LEDAC agenda. "As long as it is in the legislative agenda and part of the LEDAC, we will give the said bills the highest priority," he said. "But it is too early to anticipate if all bills being proposed will be approved."

Quirino Rep. Junie E. Cua, vice-chairman of the House Trade and Industry committee, said his committee is committed to working on measures that will facilitate and promote business. He said the committee will push for the amendment of the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the government procurement act, and constitutional amendments for provisions like limits to the ownership of land.

PCCI’s Mr. Varela said "political noise" may hinder the passage of these bills and, in turn, the attainment of the competitiveness goals. "The stumbling block is the... political bickering [that] continues to dominate [legislators’ time and efforts]," he said.

During the conference, PCCI Chairman Donald G. Dee said business is "tired of political noise."

For Mr. Sears, solons need more "discipline" in attending sessions — a simple lack of quorum doomed vital measures like the proposed "cheaper medicines" and tourism sector development bills in the last days of the House of Representatives of the 13th Congress.

MBC’s Mr. Lim said inquiries on controversial issues, though not always useless, must not distract lawmakers from the main job for which they were elected in the first place. "Some of them are grandstanding. Sometimes nothing is happening," he noted.

amigo32

October 29th, 2007, 07:46 AM

^^whoah! He used strong words such as oligarchic families, cronyism, etc. Look who's talking?!

:lol::lol::lol:

3cr

October 29th, 2007, 07:52 AM

Traders seek stronger measures vs smugglers
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW102907/content.php?id=004

THE ASSOCIATION of the country’s manufacturers is finalizing its anti-smuggling proposals, hoping its suggestions will be heeded by senators who are now studying ways to strengthen the country’s tariff and customs law.

Jesus L. Arranza, president of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) and chairman of the FPI’s anti-smuggling committee, said the federation is finalizing inputs from members before it presents its proposals in the form of a bill to the Senate ways and means committee.

Topping the FPI’s many proposals, he said, is the conduct of post-entry audits by independent auditors and the elevation of smuggling as a heinous crime that will merit no less than a life sentence.

The FPI also wants seized goods to be shipped back to their countries of origin, donated or sold to the private sector, specifically, to the industry affected by these goods.

It also wants the reference values used by Customs to appraise goods for the computation of duties and taxes to be published, and to allow the private sector to initiate cases against smugglers.

Mr. Arranza explained that the independent auditors are necessary since Customs’ post-entry audit group, hobbled by lack of manpower, can only cover 3% of accredited importers.

"These auditors can hold post-entry audits as long as there is no conflict of interest and they will not be paid for their work," he said.

These auditors, however, will be entitled to a portion of the deficiency duties and taxes they will uncover.

Regarding seized goods, Mr. Arranza said they should be destroyed or shipped back to where they came from if they are of sub-standard quality, or donated to an institution or sold to the private sector if they can still be used.

"The industry affected should be allowed to purchase these goods," he said. "This will answer Customs’ concern about seizing goods and lacking warehouses to store them."

The private sector should also be allowed to initiate cases against smugglers, unlike at present, where only Customs’ legal group can do so, he added.

And to deter smuggling, he said the penalties against it should be increased. "Smuggling should be placed on the same level as plunder, since it is economic sabotage," Mr. Arranza said.

"Nothing less than life sentence will do. Fear will serve as deterrent to smuggling."

The FPI’s deadline for members to submit comments or suggestions is Nov. 6, to give it enough time to prepare its bill before Senator Francis Joseph G. Escudero, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, holds another hearing on Nov. 20.

Several bills seeking to amend Presidential Decree 1464, or the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, have been filed at the Senate.

Mr. Escudero and Senator Manuel "Mar" A. Roxas II are proposing to set up an audit and transparency group in the Bureau of Customs, to be headed by a deputy commissioner, which will audit the bureau’s operations, collection and financial reporting, fiscal and personnel performance, among others. The deputy commissioner for audit and transparency, the two said, should also be empowered to conduct investigations "for the purpose of initiating prosecution of fraud and other graft and corrupt practices."

They also want to establish a "valuation library" that will be open to the public, and to raise the penalties for outright and technical smuggling.

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile is proposing to allow Customs lawyers to exclusively handle criminal or civil customs-related cases, and thus change the present setup where criminal cases are handled by the Justice department and civil cases by the Solicitor General.

He also wants to reward Customs lawyers who are instrumental in recovering revenues for the Customs bureau or are successful in prosecuting cases that lead to the recovery of revenues.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara has removed judicial intervention in the forfeiture and disposition of smuggled goods in his bill, and has designated the Finance secretary, with the assistance of the Customs commissioner, as the sole authority who can order the seizure and sale of smuggled goods.

"Administrative summary proceedings appear to be the most effective vehicle to curb smuggling," he said in the explanatory note to Senate Bill 905.

"Judicial intervention should be invoked only at the level of the Supreme Court, doing away with the present state of the law where even the regional trial courts can stop the sale of forfeited or smuggled property or even allow the posting of bonds for those whose vessels or aircraft were used in smuggling."

Mr. Angara also wants to prohibit importers or consignees of seized goods and the ship or aircraft owners used in the transport of smuggled goods, from participation in auctions.

jgacis

October 29th, 2007, 08:39 PM

^^whoah! He used strong words such as oligarchic families, cronyism, etc. Look who's talking?!

Well at least he is addressing the REAL issues, even if he is part of the problem......

le Reine

October 29th, 2007, 09:37 PM

3cr

October 30th, 2007, 02:05 AM

US slowdown would hit Philippines hard, says bank
By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=97593

The Philippines, with its high dependence on exports, could be among the worst hit among Asia’s developing economies by a looming slowdown in the US economy, French banking giant BNP Paribas said.

In its October global outlook report, BNP Paribas said the expected softening of the US economy this year and next would have a diverse impact on Asian economies, depending on their export reliance in general, and that to the United States in particular.

To analyze the impact of an expected US slowdown on various economies in Asia, BNP Paribas used a simple scoring system that took into account the three key economic growth drivers for developing Asian economies: investment, consumer spending, and net exports.

“Net exports remain, on average, the smallest contributor to Asian GDP [gross domestic product] growth, but Thailand and the Philippines score high at this phase of their cycles and hence remain susceptible to the impact of a US-induced export slowdown,” the report said.

BNP Paribas noted that Thailand was already in the grip of a confidence-induced downturn that may take at least six months or more to reverse.

“For the Philippines, there is an additional negative consideration in that it has one of the highest export dependencies on the US among the Asian economies, more than 22 percent of the total, and is thus, in a sense, twice exposed,” the report said.

India, on the other hand, was seen as fairly well insulated from any export-generated impact, having one of the lowest scores for the export driver.

In a recent report released in Washington DC, the International Monetary Fund has urged emerging Asia to reduce over-reliance on exports and increase exchange rate flexibility to avoid sowing the seeds of a new crisis 10 years after the devastating turmoil that caused an unprecedented currency freefall in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea.

The IMF examined growing concerns that Asia’s export-oriented strategy might build up a new type of crisis, one triggered by shocks to external demand or the bursting of credit and asset bubbles propped up by the large accumulation of foreign reserves needed to sustain competitive exchange rates.

BNP Paribas said the US credit crunch was likely to refocus the attention of Asian banks on their mortgage portfolios whether these assets had been securitized, structured or leveraged. It said three Asian economies with particularly active property markets may feel a contagion effect: Hong Kong, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, Singapore.

The credit crunch in the US, which has spooked global financial markets worldwide, was caused by rising delinquencies among subprime mortgages or housing loans extended to borrowers with blemished credit histories and little equity.

On the other hand, BNP Paribas said the impact on Asian economies of the widening of the spreads of Asian-issued US dollar-denominated debt paper, as well as the widening of spreads in dollar assets in general, was likely to be limited.

“The Philippines and Indonesia have tapped US dollar markets, especially the former, to cover fiscal deficits or infrastructure investment, but both raised funds in January-February this year and hence are unlikely to return to the markets,” the bank said.

3cr

October 30th, 2007, 02:56 AM

GMA assures gov’t will not impose new taxes
Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20071030nat3.html

President Arroyo yesterday assured the public that her government would not impose new taxes to generate more revenues for socio-economic projects.

In a brief speech before some 500 government executives, the country’s donor funding institutions, governors, assessors, treasurers, finance experts, IT experts and computer programmers, Mrs. Arroyo stressed that the country’s economic strength is largely attributed to the various financial and economic reforms, including the Expanded Value Added Tax (e-VAT).

She also noted that the Integrated Taxation System has contributed much to the surge in government’s revenue collection.

“There is no need for new taxes. We have plenty of room to increase revenues by enhancing tax administration,” she said.

Mrs. Arroyo cited the e-VAT Law as the “single biggest act that led to the surge in our economy.”

“In one bold stroke it raised enormous amounts of new revenue. That act also sent an unmistakable signal that we are serious about moving the nation forward,” she said.

But she stressed that her focus on improving the economy, fiscal discipline, a balanced budget and investments in human and physical infrastructure all contributed to the improving economy.

Mrs. Arroyo also said because of the painful tax measures she initiated, revenue collection increased, thus the government would be on track on its target of balancing the budget by 2008 or two years ahead of the earlier target date of 2010.

“Our budget deficit so far is significantly lower than the ceiling. We are on track to achieve our target,” she declared.

“We have demonstrated that we have the ability to keep our budget under control; we have lowered our deficit and raised unprecedented amounts of revenue,” she further said.

Mrs. Arroyo said although the government was short of its revenue collection target during the first half of the year, she expressed optimism for “collections to get back on track” in the second half of the year.

She said the appointment of new Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Lilian Hefti and the more aggressive campaign against tax evasion and corruption have been paying off as shown in the July to September revenue collections already exceeding targets.

“We do not want to, and will not go back to the days of unbridled deficit spending,” she said.

waketrex

October 30th, 2007, 06:31 AM

RP is second-best performing economy in Southeast Asian region (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/10/28/news/rp.is.second.best.performing.economy.in.southeast.asian.region.html)

MALACAÑANG crowed Saturday over reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) named the Philippines as the second-best-performing economy in the Southeast Asian region.

Presidential spokesman and Acting Executive Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the news is “very positive,” considering that the IMF monitors the performance of all economies in the world.

“The IMF said the Philippines is the second-best performing in Asean next to Singapore. This is a very positive news coming as it is from the IMF, which monitors the performance of economies around the world,” he said in an interview on government-run dzRB radio.

He added this shows President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s efforts to set reforms in place are bearing fruit amid opposition to her programs.

Bunye said that with the development, Arroyo will focus even more on the economy, particularly on how the government can let ordinary Filipinos feel the benefits.

“With this development, she will focus more on the economy and bring benefits to the ordinary Filipino,” he said.

He noted that the government achieved savings last year amounting to P30 billion.

Of this, some P20 billion was earmarked for education and P5 billion for health. The rest went to other social services and infrastructure.

flymordecai

October 30th, 2007, 12:03 PM

BSP sees Q3 GDP at 7% yr/yr

Reuters

The Philippine economy likely grew about 7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, mainly due to robust consumption and higher capital spending by the government, a senior central bank official said on Tuesday.

But Diwa Guinigundo, central bank deputy governor, also told reporters the government still needs to assess the impact of the slowdown in the U.S. economy on the country's exports.

The government is to announce third quarter growth figures at the end of November.

Rence

October 30th, 2007, 02:20 PM

Peso hits 7-year high in choppy Asia
Reuters
Last updated 07:04pm (Mla time) 10/30/2007

SINGAPORE -- The Philippine peso hit a seven-year high on Tuesday, as investors piled into the high-yielding currency in anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut this week and further cuts in the coming months.

The peso rose as far as 43.95 per dollar, up a quarter of a percent from Monday's close to its strongest level since July 2000, despite choppy trading in most other Asian currencies.

That brought its cumulative gains since Sept. 18, when the Fed cut its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, to nearly 5.0 percent.

"I think it's due to expectations of further flows -- remittance inflows and equity flows," said a trader in Manila.

"Dollar/peso looks heavy around 44.00," said Markus Ammann of HVB in Hong Kong. "They are back from a long weekend, and I would expect BSP (central bank) to slow down peso demand."

The Philippine markets were closed on Monday for regional elections.

The peso has gained about 11.5 percent against the dollar so far this year, making it Asia's second-best performer after the Indian rupee which has risen about 12.3 percent.

But the Indonesian rupiah another high-yielder, fell as far as 9,115 per dollar, down almost a third of a percent from late Asian trade on Monday.

The Malaysian ringgit fell as far as 3.3493 per dollar, also down 0.3 percent.

The Thai baht attempted to test the 34-per-dollar level, but was kept away from the psychologically important level by suspected dollar-buying by the central bank, traders said.

A trader in Bangkok said he expected, however, the baht to pierce the 34 barrier soon because demand for the Thai currency remained strong.

"A lot of exporters are selling the dollar," he said.

A bigger US rate cut than the quarter-point priced in by markets would give the whole region a boost by knocking the dollar lower, another trader said.

"Now we will wait and see if the Fed will cut interest rates by more than 0.25 percentage points to surprise markets and push the dollar lower across the aboard."

The Federal Reserve is seen trimming its key interest rate to 4.5 percent on Wednesday, while expectations are building for another cut in December to help shield the world's biggest economy from the damage of the housing sector downturn.

hiiamdib

October 30th, 2007, 08:00 PM

when will the Q3 growth of GDP be released??

hiiamdib

October 30th, 2007, 08:18 PM

bariQ

October 31st, 2007, 02:48 AM

waketrex

October 31st, 2007, 03:54 AM

wow ha! totoo bato? :D

kase nai nabasa ako sa magasin na malalampasan tayo ng ibang mga bansa... sorry nakalmiutan ko na kung anong magasin yun.

but this is great news :cheers:

That's what always seem mainstream RP media want to show...

two other articles:
more detail
http://biz.balita.ph/html/article.php?story=20071027135459662

IMF upgrades Philippine growth outlook (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=95146)

zeejay

October 31st, 2007, 07:15 AM

Very positive nga ang balitang ito para sa bansa natin. In fairness, makatotohanan nga na ang Pilipinas ay maganda ang performance ng ekonomiya. Maybe it was not expected too that the Philippine economy will rank as second best performing economy in Asia. At least the International Monetary Fund was able to recognize the come back of the Philippine economy. Well, I hope politicking stops so that economic growth would be continuous in the years to come.

3cr

October 31st, 2007, 08:44 AM

Foreign experts: No bomb in blast
By Marvin Sy
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2007103089

Foreign experts who helped police investigators in the Glorietta 2 explosion two weeks ago have ruled out the possibility of a terror attack, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said yesterday.

Razon said the foreign investigators have furnished him a copy of the report which corroborated the police theory of a gas leak explosion.

The foreign experts who helped the PNP in the investigation of the blast include those from Israel, Australia and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Razon said all of the foreign experts were convinced that an accidental blast took place, pointing out the proximity of lethal gases and the absence of any explosives from the scene.

Razon earlier stressed the blast was caused by a deadly reaction of methane coming into contact with diesel fumes at a poorly ventilated basement of the high-end mall.

Local investigators led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and government occupational safety experts from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also pointed to the poor ventilation in the basement that might have contributed to the gas explosion.

The explosion that rocked the upscale Glorietta 2 shopping mall in Makati City on Oct. 19 left 11 people dead and hundreds injured.

Authorities initially suspected a terror attack but the absence of any traces of explosives and the presence of volatile fumes at the scene led PNP investigators to believe the explosion was accidental.

Razon said the evidence gathered by the foreign investigators pointed to a destroyed portion of the mall indicating an accidental gas explosion took place.

Razon said the PNP is in the process of incorporating the findings of the foreign experts in its final report on the blast.

“It’s almost complete and the evidence gathered so far showed that it heavily tilted towards an industrial accident,” Razon said.

Once the findings are complete, Razon said the PNP will move to file the appropriate charges or assist the victims in filing a class suit against the mall owners.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Geary Barias, the designated spokesman for the police investigating the incident, said they are wrapping up the investigation.

Barias assured that once the police findings become final, the next thing is to pinpoint the culpability of the mall owners.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), the owners and operators of Glorietta, earlier debunked police theories of an accidental blast, insisting that the facility was in order.

ALI spokesman Alfonso Reyes said they will still wait for the official report on the incident before issuing any statements.

“We will wait for the issuance of their official report before making any reaction to whatever their findings are,” Reyes said.

“We are hoping that the PNP will release its report on the blast as soon as possible so that we will be able to evaluate the findings and be able to come up with a response,” he said.

Reyes said ALI will conduct its own investigation.

____________________________________

Gas build-up caused mall blast--Aussie experts’ report
No evidence that bomb caused explosion, it says

By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:14am (Mla time) 11/01/2007
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_id=98106

MANILA, Philippines -- Australian forensic experts have concluded that the blast which killed 11 and injured over a hundred in a mall in Makati City last month was caused by a gas explosion and not by an improvised explosive device.

In its 13-page report, a copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net, the Australian Forensic Police (AFP) however did not say what had led to the blast although it noted that there were several “potential sources” which included the “sewer gas/fumes which can consist of sulphur dioxide, methane, ammonia; diesel fumes.” Australian experts also said that there were no traces of bomb parts.

Aside from the Australian experts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also conducted its own investigation into the explosion at the Glorietta 2 last October 19.

The Australian police ruled out bombing as the cause of the blast because “there was no evidence to suggest that the explosion had been caused and/or initiated by an improvised explosive device.”

The report added that even the FBI forensic team “had not located any evidence to suggest the use of an explosive device at the crime scene.”

At the same time, the Australian police recommended the examination of maintenance records of Glorietta 2, specifically those of the basement, scene of the explosion.

The Philippine National Police refused to make public the report of Australian experts while investigations were ongoing.

The Ayala Land Incorporated, which operates the mall, had wanted to see a copy of the report so that they could comment.

The Australian police, who assisted the local task force in its own investigation, arrived October 20 and left on October 27, according to the official report.

In their seven-day investigation, the Australian experts established that “the gas explosion occurred and originated in the basement.”

This conclusion matched the results of the PNP’s initial investigation.

PNP Chief Avelino Razon and Police Director Geary Barias, National Capital Region Police Office chief, have said that their investigators were close to ruling out a bomb as the source of the explosion.

Barias said there was pressure build-up of diesel fumes and methane gas, emitted by the malfunctioning sewage pump.

Barias also said investigators have not seen any bomb component such as timing device, power source, initiator, switches and container.

And although RDX, an ingredient of bomb component C4, was found from pieces of evidence from the blast site, it was possible that this did not come from a bomb. RDX could be reportedly found in toothpastes or deodorants.

The Australian experts also said that based on their observations, the explosion occurred after a pressure build-up in the basement.

They noted that the lid of the diesel fuel tank, located at the basement, was “lifting upwards…suggesting a pressure build-up within the tank; that the damage penetrated from the inside-out, approximately 15 centimeters wide on the top section of the tank; no apparent strike marks or inward buckling to the tank; but there was insufficient damage to the tank to indicate it as being the source of the explosion.

“It is possible that the ignition source was remote from the area of greatest fuel build-up. From the detailed scene examination, physical evidence, blast damage effects, and background information provided, it appears the explosion has occurred in the basement of Glorietta 2 as a result of an explosive fuel-air mixture being initiated by unknown means,” the report also showed.

To fully determine the cause of the blast, Australian experts also advised its counterparts to: examine the floor area of basement to determine the extent of the damage; engage independent appropriate engineers/experts to examine machinery including septic pump, exhaust system, diesel tank, control panel switches and pumps; examine CCTV footage; examine maintenance records of Glorietta 2; ensure that all relevant witness statements would be collected and evaluated for significant information; examine post-mortem reports, including location of deceased, among others.

On Wednesday, authorities were also supposed to recover the submersible pump in the basement. Barias said police could not enter the basement unless it had been declared safe.

As soon as investigators have established conclusively that the explosion was an accident, charges of negligence resulting to multiple homicide and serious physical injuries are likely to be charged against the tenants and/or owner of the origin of explosion, local authorities have said.

heathcliff

October 31st, 2007, 09:07 AM

That's what always seem mainstream RP media want to show...

two other articles:
more detail
http://biz.balita.ph/html/article.php?story=20071027135459662

IMF upgrades Philippine growth outlook (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=95146)

True. There will always be those who, for whatever purpose, will portray a negative image of the Philippines and its prospects. CNN and other international media usually portrays our country as a haven for terrorists (which is far from the truth). Our local media is no better. And yet their big bosses are the ones who are making a killing from the upsurge of our economic prospects.

jgacis

October 31st, 2007, 11:48 AM

^^which is conspicuous since he is suggesting to the President to “cut down the commanding influence of oligarchic families, monopolies and cartels in the making of economic policy.” Is he suggesting to eliminate or at least decrease his and his collueagues' influence in the country? And who would be that stupid enough to believe that he would give in just like that? GMA herself is an oligarch same with her opponents. Talk is cheap. He better do something to prove his point, besides he is the Speaker of the HoR, which in obviously the bastion of Philippine oligarchy. I hate hypocrites, that's all. Why not pass the anti-dynasty bill in Congress? Huh! Who would really believe that it will fly, anyway?

I see your point.

But at least what he says has some truth to it, regardless whether he is a hypocrite or not.

Who would believe he would give in like that? I myself wouldn't care if he did or not... you are right, talk is cheap. Afterall, this is the Philippines, di ba?

But like what I said, he does have some truth to what he says, and the important part is to keep spreading the word out. Who knows, maybe someday somebody will wake up and start listening...

le Reine

October 31st, 2007, 12:41 PM

^^Yes. I also know your point. But spreading the word out has already been done decades or even centuries ago. Everybody knows that the oligarch is in control of the system. Since primary until tertiary education, we were taught only one thing in our history: the wealthy people or the oligarchs, from the land owners of the Spanish era and American occupation to the industrial and business magnates after independence up to the present are very much in control of the political and economic power of this country. We are very much aware of that. And there could be no other set of people in this country who would know about that than the poor people themselves especially those who suffered under the hacienda system (i.e. Luisita in Tarlac or in Negros Island). Communist insurgency would not be rampant in the provinces if they're not aware of this situation nor even the Islamic rebellion in the south. These are all interconnected and everyone knows that.

Unfortunately though, Filipinos are resilient to a fault. I don't know why aren't a single one is trying to make the initiative to do what they think is right. Corruption is becoming more of a way of life than a mere isolated case. Most people are apathetic and the government doesn't seem to care too. That's why I'm saying that talk is cheap. JDV and his cohorts might sing his mantra all the time but no one would bother listening anymore because they already know what he's going to say. What we need are solutions not mere talk. Although I admit that finding solutions are way more difficult. I've tried looking for some solutions but everytime I would "apply" it through various scenarios I end up making more problems. It is hard. I know it's hard. That's why I'm only pinning my hopes on the rising economy for people might get the oppurtunity to be better off. So once they have more than enough for themselves and their families, I believe they would not let their nation rot into hell in the hands of these politicians. But again, there are problems with these assumptions because we are not sure if economics goes first before having a healthy politics (i.e. East Asia) or politics first to have a healthy economy(i.e. Western Europe and US).

This is funny. I just realized that we will not end if we're going to continue to debate. Hehe... I guess the problem of the nation is too complex for the two of us to solve. *wink* But that was one healthy discussion though (in my own standards. hehehe...).

Mercato

October 31st, 2007, 04:25 PM

^^^^ :) Both of you had raised valid points. The message of the messenger is good albeit the messenger himself, J de V, is not exactly a paragon of virtue himself. As corrupt as the rest of the lot, but didn’t they say it takes a thief to catch a thief?

There was an article in the Straits Times sometime before Christmas last year on why natural resource rich, labour rich and large countries like India, Indonesia & the Philippines remain perennially “poor” by Asian standards. In the case of our country, the verdict was that the economy was controlled only by 100 or so families, or the oligarchs. Every political and economic decision is centred around the protection of the oligarchy, that’s to sum it up neatly. Arroyo, Estrada, Ramos & Aquino all belong to the jolly old club of the oligarchs. Don’t any one of us lose sight of that.

Another sticking out point for us is that we are the only free wheeling democracy in Asia patterned after the United States. Look around us. All our Asian Tiger economy neighbours are authoritarian, Thailand is a kingdom, China is communist, Vietnam is socialist, etc etc. US style democracy happens to work only in the US. Corruption does exist in Malaysia (corruption is checkmated by Bhumiputera & Shariah Law), in Hongkong & Macau (even worse there because corruption is tied with the Triads) but the system is so effective that any corruption is checkmated by something else. Look at the systems of our neighbours as additional food for thought. If Gloria wants to change to a parliamentary form, or better yet, a federal form of government (patterned after Germany), I think it might be better than a near anarchical presidential form of government.

Crappypants was right. Di puedeng patsamba tsamba ang economia at kelangan talagang clear cut ang economic policies of govt... :D

odyssey

October 31st, 2007, 07:14 PM

SMUGGLERS – The economic saboteurs
Philippine Star Article

Economic saboteurs
TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez
Thursday, November 1, 2007
With the Christmas season just around the corner, legitimate importers are once again concerned about smuggled goods flooding the country and seriously undercutting their business. Smuggling is one of the worst kinds of economic sabotage against this country, with almost P200 billion lost in revenues every year. All kinds of products are smuggled – from plastic resins, onions, meat, chicken, toys, sugar to clothing to oil. Many of these products are killing businesses of local manufacturers who are forced to compete with the dirt-cheap prices of these smuggled goods especially those coming from China.
But more than outright smuggling, what’s really costing losses for businessmen and government is technical smuggling, where goods are simply misclassified, mis-declared, under-evaluated or under-declared. Customs bonded warehouses (CBWs) are also being used as fronts by these technical smugglers since these bonded warehouses are allowed to receive dutiable raw materials directly from the ports without having to pass through Customs inspection. These CBWs are granted almost tax-free accommodation as long as raw materials stocked inside are used only for the manufacture of certain products for export, not for local consumption.
Unfortunately, the raw materials being stocked in these warehouses are used for the manufacture of products sold to local consumers – which spells huge losses both for legitimate businessmen and the government considering that CBW operators are only charged P250 per container van as long as they adhere to Customs rules and regulations. Worse, some of these CBWs are reportedly non-existent, with import and export transactions passing undeterred through these bogus CBWs. Of course, that goes without saying that these smugglers are able to get away with the collusion of corrupt customs officials especially those deployed in major ports in the country like Manila, Subic and Batangas.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the country has a lot of long, irregular coastlines and many isolated islands that give smugglers potential landing sites and storage areas. Worse, these are being used for smuggling of firearms and illegal drugs by terrorists who make use of fishing boats, cargo ships and other passenger vessels. Drugs is especially a concern even for the international community especially in light of the fact that the 2006 US International Narcotics Control Strategy Report tagged the Philippines as a “drug smuggler’s paradise.”
It looks like Presidential Anti-smuggling Group (PASG) chief Bebot Villar has his hands full going after these economic saboteurs. Just recently, hog farmers wrote Villar appealing for more vigilance in keeping out mis-declared – and tainted, we might add – meat and poultry products that are expected to flood the market as the holiday season nears. What’s especially worrisome is that these products – which may not even have the necessary quarantine clearances – could be carrying foot and mouth disease and the avian flu virus.
I’ve been told the PASG chief has been getting death threats, but then again, this probably goes with the territory considering the billions that these economic saboteurs are stealing from the government in terms of unpaid dues and taxes. It’s only been five months since the creation of the PASG but they’ve apprehended close to 800 container vans in various ports and have conducted successful operations resulting in the seizure of products (resin, white onions, used clothing and even raw materials used in the production of shabu) amounting to hundreds of millions. Let’s hope the PASG will be able to resist pressure from certain influential people, and sustain the work of curbing smuggling activities in the country.

crappypants

October 31st, 2007, 08:23 PM

jgacis

October 31st, 2007, 08:49 PM

SamwiseGamgee

November 1st, 2007, 06:35 AM

Timely (http://philstar.com/index.php?Opinion&p=49&type=2&sec=25&aid=20071031107)

FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Imagine if world crude prices are at their current $90/barrel and our currency remained at P55:$1 or worse.

Imagine what domestic pump prices for oil products would be. Imagine the inflationary impact of those pump prices. Imagine the turbulence in our streets due to high inflation, worthless peso wages, spiraling deficits forcing government to cut back on social spending and economic investments.

Imagine how lame our economy would be if the peso was hobbled by weak confidence. Investors would not dare convert their hard currencies into pesos for fear of losing out in the exchange rate before their investments could produce profits. This was what happened for decades as the peso consistently eroded. Investors came in for quick, speculative activities and pulled out before the peso lost any more value. The economy was starved for long-term investments...

... Things are beginning to change. I have met many young Filipinos who are trading stocks online. At the coffee shops, they trade notes on the new projects of listed firms. They are, thank heavens, less interested in the antics of our politicians.

This has to be said: the peso today is at the P43:$1 and not, as Lucio Tan predicted a few years back, at P100:$1 because we have greatly improved our fiscal management. Our appetite for borrowing is diminishing and our discipline for raising the required revenues is improving.

This did not happen by a stroke of luck. It required acts of great political courage by the administration to achieve an acceptable level of fiscal discipline. That set the timely condition of economic stability that is now the basis of our robust economic performance.

Remember that even when under great political siege in 2005, the administration bit the bullet and imposed the expanded VAT. Mindless agitators were rallying in the streets against tax reform.

Had they gotten their way, had the administration lacked the political will to do what was right, the peso would indeed be at P100:$1 today and there would be riots in our streets.

3cr

November 1st, 2007, 07:03 AM

GMA to critics: Wait for 2010
By Paolo Romero and Marvin Sy
Thursday, November 1, 2007
PhilStar
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=480563

President Arroyo called yesterday on groups seeking her ouster to wait until her term ends in 2010 instead of destabilizing the government.

In a statement, Mrs. Arroyo said the Constitution clearly sets the next election in 2010.

“Let us not be distracted by the impatient few who believe that they are above the rule of law, and thus entitled to undermine the sacrifices and hard work of our people,” she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said the successful outcome of Monday’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections underscores the people’s firm commitment to democracy.

“That message should not be ignored by groups who are out to destroy the gains of a strong economy through extra-constitutional means,” she said.

Mrs. Arroyo also called for unity and an end to political discord.

In her All Saints’ Day message, Mrs. Arroyo said political discord stands in the way of progress, and that the nation must heal past wounds and join hands in confronting future challenges.

“During this day of remembrance and prayer, let us set aside a few minutes to pray as a family and light a candle for peace and unity to reign in our country,” she said.

On the other hand, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday he expects Chief Justice Reynato Puno to reject the invitation to head a junta that would take over the government.

“I can only say, from where I sit, I think prudence dictates the Chief Justice thumb it down if indeed there’s an offer for him,” he said, adding that Puno was aware that he may not be exercising propriety by saying “yes.”

Meanwhile, Ermita said he doubts whether the new impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo that the opposition plans to file before the House of Representatives next week would prosper.

“They (opposition) know the rules on the filing of impeachment,” he said.

“I think what they want is to catch attention and be talked about by the public. They know there is already an initiated complaint before the (House) committee on justice.”

Ermita said according to House leaders, the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Roel Pulido has already been acted upon and therefore initiated.

Once an impeachment complaint has been initiated, no other impeachment complaint will be recognized by the House for the next 12 months.

Ermita said the Genuine Opposition (GO) has started talks with Pulido for the possible filing of a consolidated impeachment complaint after criticizing the lawyer for allegedly acting on behalf of Malacañang.

Pulido confirmed that he was talking to members of GO on how to strengthen the impeachment case in time for the resumption of session at the House on Nov. 5.

Earlier, Mrs. Arroyo said the administration’s economic reforms are paying off and “also sent an unmistakable signal that we are serious” about moving the nation forward.

“Our complete focus on the economy, fiscal discipline, a balanced budget and the need for long overdue human and physical infrastructure improvements help round out our economic gains,” she said.

“Our efforts are paying off in a strong peso, low inflation, a robust stock market, rapid inflows of foreign investment and over six million new jobs created in the last six years. Our unemployment rate is the lowest in a generation. So is our poverty rate.”

Three anti-Arroyo Catholic bishops and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, along with the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya, have called for the installation of a “transition government” to be headed by Puno.

The latest criticisms hurled against Mrs. Arroyo were based on her decision to grant executive clemency to ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Civil society groups, religious leaders and some administration allies are up in arms over that decision.

Estrada was granted pardon in the spirit of national unity and reconciliation and was true to the policy of Mrs. Arroyo to “heal the wounds” of EDSA, Malacañang said.

Ex!lE

November 2nd, 2007, 02:14 AM

RP ranking in global economic survey improves (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/02/yehey/business/20071102bus3.html)

By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter

THE Philippines’ ranking as a competitive economy climbed four notches over last year, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report said.

In its Global Competitiveness Index 2007-2008, WEF said the Philippines ranked 71st with an index of 3.9 among 131 countries surveyed. The country placed 75th in WEF’s 2006-2007 report.

In its Business Competitiveness Index, WEF said the country placed 66th. The Philippines also ranked 73rd in terms of sophistication of company operations and strategy, and 46th in terms of quality of the national business environment.

The Global Competitiveness Index is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries around the world at all stages of development.

These pillars include institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries.

Despite the improvement in ranking, the Philippines still lagged behind its neighbors like Malaysia, which placed 21st; Thailand, 28th; Indonesia, 54th; and Vietnam, 68th.

“Economic policy, especially at the microeconomic level, needs to set priorities that reflect the most important constraints to competitiveness in each country. The [report] enables countries to move beyond abstract theoretical policy debates and identify the specific tasks ahead of them,” Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School professor, and co-director of the report said.

“In an uncertain global financial environment it is more important than ever for countries to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development,” he added.

Porter said many countries have achieved progress by opening up to the world economy, stabilizing macroeconomic policies and removing internal barriers to competition.

“Our findings reveal the need to build underlying microeconomic competitiveness to translate these gains into sustained prosperity. If improvements in the business environment and company sophistication fail to materialize and they often require significant shifts in company and country nations expose themselves to declining competitiveness and are vulnerable to economic and social risks,” he said.

The WEF is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, WEF is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.

Raven83

November 2nd, 2007, 03:44 AM

^^ Oh yes very true many kids are doing online trading today and I myself is not stopping preaching about its rewards to my college and highschool friends. Making the economy work is not just a job of our president but is everbody's labor...

hiiamdib

November 2nd, 2007, 06:16 AM

^^ rejoice about this? probably. But it is really a reminder that there is a lot to improve.

3cr

November 2nd, 2007, 08:05 AM

Makati, Ayala Land could face charges
By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/02/yehey/top_stories/20071102top3.html

The Makati City Hall is in the police line of fire over the Glorietta 2 mall explosion.

Metro Manila police chief Geary Barias said Thursday that they will look into the city government’s possible lapses in granting permits to the mall owner, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI).

Barias earlier said “negligence” on ALI’s part was to blame for the October 19 blast that killed 11 and wounded more than 100.

Barias said Makati City Hall and Ayala Land could face criminal charges if investigation proved they were both negligent.

“Who is at fault here? We want to take a closer look at the contract [of the mall owner that the city government had approved],” Barias said. “We also want to see if city hall followed proper inspection procedures before granting the needed permits.”

He added foreign forensics experts supported the local police’s theory that a gas leak at the basement of the mall had caused the explosion.

Barias said the National Bureau of Investigation may lead the review of documents and permits granted to Ayala Land.

“We are now studying the permits and contracts covering mall operations as well as the contract between Ayala Land and its tenants to find out possible areas where negligence was committed,” Barias said in a statement.

Earlier, Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to fully disclose the findings of foreign experts on the blast.

A similar request was made by Ayala Land. Binay said there should be “transparency” in the investigations.

He said police officials “opened their mouths too soon” on the blast investigation, adding they may have prejudged the matter.

The mayor noted the supposed lack of direct communication between the city government and the PNP chief, Director General Avelino Razon Jr.

Makati will still push for an independent probe of the deadly explosion and city officials will discuss the plan with business leaders on November 7 during the Makati Business Development Council meeting.

Binay said the council is expected to back the call for an independent inquiry.

________________________________

PNP findings show electrical malfunction caused Glorietta blast
By Rhodina Villanueva
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20071103123

Police said yesterday they are on the verge of concluding that an accident indeed caused the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.

This, even as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday revealed plans to solicit the assistance of experts from three department agencies in an effort to deepen their investigation into the Oct. 19 explosion.

A recent inspection conducted by the Multi-Agency Investigative Task Force showed that an electrical fuse in switchboards that holds one of several centrifugal pumps at the basement of the Glorietta 2 mall, which also serve as a source of energy for the establishment’s operation, caused the ignition.

Members of the Task Force observed that instead of replacing the busted fuse with a new one, a jumper cable that was not properly insulated was attached to it.

National Capital Regional Police Office Director Geary Barias said, “What they have right now will most probably trickle down to a point that a gas explosion occurred in the area and cost the lives of a number of people.”

Eleven people were killed and more than a hundred were injured in the incident.

Barias said they have already forwarded the results of the recent probe to the NBI and the Anti-Arson Task Force that will be responsible for the announcement of the final report on the matter.

Members of the Task Force recovered a centrifugal motor pump in the mall’s basement late Friday afternoon.

Barias said it would take three more days to retrieve three submersible pumps and other materials relevant to the probe. The submersible pump reportedly contributed to the buildup of methane gas.

An electrician, who was sought by the police to examine the latest discovery at the site, said that the fuse blew up but instead of seeking a replacement a jumper cable was just attached to it.

“The problem here is that the jumper left no existing ‘safety mechanism’ unlike if they replaced it with a new one. In the event of an overloading of electric current, the system will just automatically shut down,” he explained.

The source said the jumper resulted in sparks that led to the explosion.

He said the types of fuse used can only accommodate a maximum of 60 amperes, and that the blast could have resulted because the current reached more than the required amperes.

Probe welcomed

Barias expressed confidence that investigations to be conducted by independent bodies on the Glorietta blast will yield the same findings as the police and foreign experts.

In an interview at the weekly program “Para Sa Iyo Bayan” of Vice President Noli de Castro, Barias said that an investigation by the mall owners and the city government is welcome.

“I’m very confident that if there will be other investigations by independent bodies, they will yield the same result as the FBI, Australian and Israeli experts,” Barias said.

“Our findings and report will be separate from the foreign experts’ report but we can cite their findings. Ours is purely from the bomb data center, Anti-Arson Task Force of the DILG, PNP and the NBI,” he added.

Charges will be filed

Chief Superintendent Luizo Ticman, director of the Southern Police District and head of the Multi-Agency Investigative Task Force, said that the PNP is now studying laws on negligence in preparation for the filing of charges against those responsible for the explosion.

He said police were also studying building codes to see if the mall administrators or tenants had violated any of these regulations.

Barias said that if indeed a gas explosion caused the accident, then appropriate charges would have to be filed against those who were responsible for it.

“But we have to check first who is in charge of the maintenance and management of the basement,” Barias added.

Charges of negligence resulting in multiple homicide and serious physical injuries will be filed in court against those who will be found responsible.

Head Agent Romulo Asis, of the NBI-Anti-Terrorism Division (ATD), said he would be sending letters to Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza and Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro on Monday.

“From the DPWH, we would be requesting their mechanical and sanitary engineers to determine if the sewage treatment facility was properly installed. We would also be asking the scientists from the DOST to testify if methane was evident and explain the ramifications of the methane gas,” said Asis.

The Inter-Agency Arson Task Force (IAATF) turned over to the NBI evidence recovered from the blast scene in Glorietta 2 last Friday afternoon. They were placed inside 10 boxes.

The NBI-ATD now has in its safekeeping the control panel for the submersible pumps number 1 and 2; manual train for switch, circuit breaker, motor control panel for pumps number 3 and 4, motor control for diesel pumps, fluorescent lamp, two convenient outlets, water pump (transfer pump motor) for electrical matters; and a water pump (transfer pump motor) for mechanical matters.

“These boxes would be examined sometime next week in the presence of representatives from the Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Philippine National Police (PNP), NBI and from other units in order to preserve the integrity of the evidence. We don’t want any speculations that the pieces of evidence were contaminated,” Asis added.

Members of the Multi-Agency Task Force went back to the blast site yesterday in an attempt to retrieve other evidence.

When asked when they would conclude their investigation, Asis said they could not afford to hasten the pace since the basement of the mall is already unstable and they have to consider the safety of the investigators.

The NBI official added that they would be working in dangerous conditions.

The team that went to the blast site was composed of representatives from the ALI, the private contractor, Makati Rescue Team, Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP), NBI and the PNP.

3cr

November 2nd, 2007, 08:35 AM

Yearend forex reserves seen at $31B
By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=98264

MANILA, Philippines -- The central bank, Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), expects the country’s foreign exchange reserves surging to $31 billion by the end of the year, given strong inflows expected in the fourth quarter, a BSP official said.

The official also said the central bank would review its projections on the gross international reserves (GIR) and the balance of payments (BOP) this November in time for annual policy discussions with a visiting mission from the International Monetary Fund.

“We’ll see if we can retain or revise [the projections] in connection with the forthcoming IMF meetings,” the official said.

The two-week review with a Washington-based IMF mission as a member of the Washington-based multilateral institution is scheduled on Nov. 29 to Dec. 11.

The official estimated that the GIR level, which has breached the BSP’s full-year forecast of $30 billion as of end-August, could rise further to the $31 billion by year’s end.

The fourth quarter is historically a strong season for cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

There will still be outflows because of debt repayments “and the government will also buy dollars from the central bank for its debt servicing,” the BSP official said.

The official said a yearend GIR level of $31 billion would still represent a significant buildup from the end-2006 level of about $27 billion.

The GIR is a key indicator of a country’s ability to cover the foreign exchange requirements of the economy, consisting of the BSP’s gross foreign currency holdings, gold reserves, foreign investments and Special Drawing Rights from the International Monetary Fund.

In terms of reserve adequacy, the current GIR level can cover 5.5 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 5.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.1 times based on residual maturity.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of a year or less plus principal payments on medium- and long-term loans falling due within the next 12 months.

The country’s strong foreign reserve build-up since the start of the year has been supported by remittances from OFWs, foreign direct investment and portfolio investments. These inflows have allowed the BSP to become a heavy buyer of dollars at the Philippine Dealing System.

Building up its GIR is also one way of curbing the peso’s appreciation against the dollar in view of a bearish trend for the greenback.

3cr

November 3rd, 2007, 07:48 AM

GMA pushes renewable energy measure
By DONNABELLE L. GATDULA
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=97934

To underscore the need to increase energy independence, President Arroyo is pushing for the speedy passage of the Renewable Energy Bill.

The chief executive made the call in her speech during the recent inauguration of Shell group’s compressed natural gas (CNG) pilot project which is also considered as part of the government’s program to promote the use of renewable energy sources, not only in power but also in the transport sector.

"Two years from now, all fossil gasoline fuel actually sold and distributed by every oil company in the Philippines shall contain a minimum of five percent bio-ethanol blend. And now, especially that we have this pilot on natural gas, we call on Congress to pass urgent legislation on the development and promotion of renewable energy sources with a Renewable Energy Bill," Arroyo said.

In a similar note, Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes, during the recently-concluded National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation in Legazpi City in Albay, said the initiative to mitigate climate change could also hinge on the ability of the country to utilize more renewable energy sources.

"The passage of a renewable energy bill in Congress would be a strategic impetus to raise the share of renewable energy sources to 20 percent of the overall portfolio," he said.

The REB, currently pending in Congress, aims to accelerate the development of the country’s vast reserves of renewable energy such as geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass by providing, among others, attractive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage clean energy projects and mechanisms to ensure the priority use of power generated from these resources.

Under the 13th Congress, which ended in June 2007, the RE bill was passed in third reading by the House of Representatives but only reached committee level approval at the Senate, despite having been certified as urgent by Malacañang in February 2007.

In the recently-opened 14th Congress, 16 versions of the RE bill have been filed. The RE bill has been included among 28 priority bills agreed upon by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) in a meeting in Malacañang last Aug. 7.

__________________________

RP to receive $ 75-M ADB loan this month
By MARVYN N. BENANING
http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN20071104107677.html

The Philippine government will get the second tranche of the $ 150-million microfinance development loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) this month, barely two weeks after the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and other agencies launched a campaign to educate the country’s four million poor households about microfinance.

According to NAPC Secretary Domingo Panganiban, the ADB loan is designed to reduce poverty among Filipinos by widening the access of the poor to customer-friendly credit.

The NAPC recently launched the Philippine Microfinance Literacy Campaign (PMLC) as a key component of the Philippine Microfinance Development Program (MDP), a government effort targeting poor families nationwide to engage in small businesses and agricultural endeavors to improve their incomes and wean them away from the pangs of hunger and misery.

The first tranche of the loan, around $ 75 million, was disbursed in November 2005.

The loan agreement between the government and the ADB stipulates a package of policy reforms that include better consumer protection for microfinance borrowers and increased financial literacy among the country’s poor communities.

NAPC Assistant Secretary Dolores de Quiros Castillo said there is a need to help more poor Filipinos understand their financial options and recognize how to effectively use microfinance services to their advantage.

Instead of microfinance products helping the poor out of poverty, the lack of knowledge on financial options could make the poor more susceptible to debt trap and low savings, Castillo said.

Financial literacy can enlighten the poor on the products and policies of microfinance institutions, how to calculate and compare costs, how to determine their cash flow, select what they can afford, and prioritize what they really need, Castillo added.

Also present at the launching held at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Manila were BSP Deputy Gov. Nestor Espenilla, Undersecretary Gil Beltran of the Department of Finance, Eiichi Sasaki of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Edmon Sison of Uplift Philippines, and Antonina C. Ti of the Patamba Network of Informal Workers.

More than three million poor Filipinos have secured loans amounting to around R74 billion through the government’s partner microfinance institutions over the past three years.

Around 31 percent of the country’s active microfinance clients are small farmers, 24 percent are poor fisherfolk, another 28 percent are informal workers, while 15 percent belong to the urban poor.

The Filipino youth and indigenous folk comprise the remainder.

3cr

November 4th, 2007, 09:24 AM

Ramos urges 3 ex-Presidents’ reunion meeting with GMA
By ROY C. SINFUEGO
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20071104107706.html

Former President Fidel V. Ramos yesterday urged a reunion of three former presidents of the Republic – Corazon C.Aquino, himself, and Joseph Estrada – to meet with President Arroyo, so that they can collectively draw up a strategic plan for the future of the country.

Ramos said it was time to set aside "mga alitan" (differences) among the political leaders and focus on what is good for the country so that it can steadily move forward and regain its international credibility.

"Let us no longer focus on former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Let us now focus on what is best for the country. Our next generation must be assured of a better future than the present generation," Ramos said.

Ramos stressed that like "kuya and ate" (elder brother and sister), the four of them should set aside time for a reunion since "this is the only option for the four of us to talk."

"This move is my own initiative, and our reunion will be attended only by former Presidents Corazon C. Aquino, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and President Arroyo, and a tape recorder. No one else must be allowed to join," Ramos said.

Ramos also cited the United Nations millenium reports saying that the Philippines is lagging behind the fast- moving economies of other Asian countries.

"Now is the time for President Arroyo, and the three former presidents to meet and dialogue on how to build a better Philippine future together," he said.

papi_chulo

November 4th, 2007, 01:46 PM

finally!

amigo32

November 4th, 2007, 03:55 PM

great move:)

hiiamdib

November 4th, 2007, 08:38 PM

le Reine

November 4th, 2007, 10:56 PM

goodness, perhaps we should also give them knives so they could kill each other eh?

icarusrising

November 5th, 2007, 04:01 AM

goodness, perhaps we should also give them knives so they could kill each other eh?

Knives to cut the cake with...:) Yun nga lang baka mag-away pa kung kanino yung me icing...

kyle@1008

November 5th, 2007, 04:05 AM

if they're going to do that,.. we'll need live coverage,... it's been so long since philippine television showed quality programing,....no wait better yet, let's lock em in the big brother house...

death327

November 5th, 2007, 05:01 AM

^^ Give them a chance. Who knows they might discuss something productive for the country. Remember each one of them has expertise, si Fidel military and elite group of society, si Gloria Economic and Business and Class B masses, si Erap, the Class C and D Masses. They can come up with something good for all of us.

But i hope they won't end up fighting over the icing.

kyle@1008

November 5th, 2007, 05:13 AM

if they come up with something good for the country,....

I wouldn't mind if they fight over the icing,...they can have an orgy for all I care...

icarusrising

November 5th, 2007, 06:41 AM

Maxxclip

November 5th, 2007, 08:22 AM

Our next president must have an immunity from erapidemic, gloriatic acid, fidelarism, and coryptonic stone.

heathcliff

November 5th, 2007, 09:36 AM

what a disappointment GMA turned out to be. She is no different than the rest of them. She'll do as she please since she only has two years left she's confident no one will boot her out. I hope she gets impeached and ERap takes her place so he can fatten up his muslim youth foundation into ten billion pesos. This country is being ran by devils . No right or wrong , the populace is a reflection of its leaders, nothing but hypocrites and con artists.
Pardoning ERap after spending six priviledged years in house arrest for amassing billions of pesos in real and not imaginary accounts, some punishment. Those Muslim youth beneficiaries must be so lucky.
What a slap in the face of descent hardworking Filipinos around the world .
GMA's decision can only mean one thing. The descent hardworking Filipinos who can delineate between right and wrong are in the minority. She is just like ERap who thinks she can pander to the masses by keeping them poor and ignorant. After all she said she made her decision to appease the masses. Gma has bigger skeletons in her closet.
I don't think this country will achieve any real progress in decades to come . it is a morally bankrupt society where everything is just swept under the rug.

What GMA did isn't unique. Former U.S. president Nixon was also pardoned by President Gerald Ford even before the institution of criminal charges. Other high ranking officials in many different countries were also pardoned after spending just a short time in detention. Although Erap spent the last six years in his Tanay resthouse, technically he was still in detention. It was through no fault of GMA's that he stayed in his resthouse since it was the Sandiganbayan's decision to permit him to remain there.

The grant of pardon is within the absolute discretion of the president. I do not agree with it because of Erap's lack of remorse, but the Constitution does not consult the sentiments of the people in granting this exclusive prerogative to the chief executive. Moreover, pardon does not depend on the degree of remorse on the part of the convict but on the tendency of the president herself to be clement. Otherwise, the law would have required the convict to be completely penitent before the pardon is granted. But it does not.

heathcliff

November 5th, 2007, 09:56 AM

Seriously, beyond the "expertise" they can provide. Such a gathering plays on the powers of symbolism. The coming together of these national leaders past and present would already have potency in itself. I hope it pushes through. I am weary of political derailing.

That's true. It is more symbolism than anything else. It in effect tells the different political factions that as their leaders have "reconciled" with PGMA, so they should also stop trying to destabilize her administration. National reconciliation is not tantamount to denying the guilt of Erap for plunder. That has already been proven in a court of law. True moral reconciliation is impracticable in the world of politics.

Ramos himself has been foremost in opposing the grant of pardon for Erap. But he is also a shrewd politician who understands the need for diplomacy so that the nation can move forward and gain political stability.

3cr

November 5th, 2007, 10:43 AM

I think this is a good symbolic gesture to show unity provided the ex-presidents won't be holding gift bags when they leave Malacanang! Joke, Joke, Joke! Hehehe... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ramos urges 3 ex-Presidents’ reunion meeting with GMA
By ROY C. SINFUEGO
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20071104107706.html

Former President Fidel V. Ramos yesterday urged a reunion of three former presidents of the Republic – Corazon C.Aquino, himself, and Joseph Estrada – to meet with President Arroyo, so that they can collectively draw up a strategic plan for the future of the country.

Ramos said it was time to set aside "mga alitan" (differences) among the political leaders and focus on what is good for the country so that it can steadily move forward and regain its international credibility.

"Let us no longer focus on former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Let us now focus on what is best for the country. Our next generation must be assured of a better future than the present generation," Ramos said.

Ramos stressed that like "kuya and ate" (elder brother and sister), the four of them should set aside time for a reunion since "this is the only option for the four of us to talk."

"This move is my own initiative, and our reunion will be attended only by former Presidents Corazon C. Aquino, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and President Arroyo, and a tape recorder. No one else must be allowed to join," Ramos said.

Ramos also cited the United Nations millenium reports saying that the Philippines is lagging behind the fast- moving economies of other Asian countries.

"Now is the time for President Arroyo, and the three former presidents to meet and dialogue on how to build a better Philippine future together," he said.

3cr

November 5th, 2007, 10:43 AM

Clark targeting threefold rise in investments
Business World
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW110507/content.php?id=051

CLARK DEVELOPMENT Corp., or CDC, is targeting investments of about P10 billion next year due to additional big-ticket projects in the business process outsourcing (BPO), tourism, real estate and manufacturing industries.

CDC President and Chief Executive Officer Levy P. Laus said in a recent interview that he expects combined investments in the free port and special economic zone to increase about threefold next year from the P3 billion expected this year. "We should be getting additional major investments in the coming months, particularly in the tourism industry as well as techno-industrial and real estate," he said.

Mr. Laus said prospective investors are also eyeing projects in the BPO and manufacturing sectors, while those locators already operating in the free port and economic zone are continuously expanding hotels, villas, call centers, and putting up additional industrial parks.

"We’re optimistic about prospects of new investors coming in. These investors have already submitted development plans, but we cannot name them yet. We should be able to announce by yearend," he said.

To date, investments in Clark have reached P2 billion. Since 1999, investments in the former US air base have hit P25.5 billion. These businesses, in turn, have generated 52,000 jobs. Mr. Laus said he expects investments to reach P3 billion by end-2007.

In an earlier interview, Mr. Laus had said the government had put on hold the establishment of a sprawling central business district in Clark.

The project, which could have been the first major business district in Central Luzon, was "shelved" temporarily to give way to an expansion of a 2,200-hectare aviation complex being operated by the firm’s subsidiary, Clark International Airport Corp.

Clark Freeport earlier obtained high ratings on its readiness to support information and communication technology investments, according to a scorecard drawn by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology.

The scorecard said the presence of advanced telecommunication facilities, power and transport infrastructure, real estate value, vendor support, local government unit and community support, incentives, quality of life, as well as the availability of skilled manpower to support industries are necessary to ensure sustainability and profitability of investments.

3cr

November 5th, 2007, 11:04 AM

Ayala Land rejects gas blast theory
Business World
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW110507/content.php?id=003

A POLICE THEORY that a gas buildup led to an October 19 mall blast that killed 11 people is "highly unlikely," property firm Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) yesterday said, citing initial findings of its own commissioned investigation.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) last week ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack as the primary cause for the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall, raising the issue of negligence on ALI’s part.

In a press conference, ALI president and chief executive officer Jaime Ayala said local and foreign experts it tapped had ruled that a gas buildup was not the likely blast cause as microorganisms would need about eight to 10 days in an undisturbed condition to generate a sufficient quantity of methane.

The listed property developer said it had commissioned Dr. Stephen Etheridge, a waste-water and biogas production specialist, and Burgoynes, an international consulting firm on forensic investigations of fires, explosions and engineering failures, to conduct an investigation of the blast.

"Our analysis at this point in time, together with what our foreign experts have told us, makes it seem that it is highly unlikely that there would have been sufficient methane to cause this kind of blast. At the same time, that the diesel tank itself is not the primary source of this kind of damage," Mr. Ayala said.

The PNP had also said that a diesel tank in the mall’s basement may have been a contributing factor to the explosion.

ALI said its probers’ findings showed that the conditions for the production of methane in substantial quantities were not present since the length of time for wastewater to accumulate in the sump pits was not enough.

Mr. Ayala noted that the company has two sump pits that were discharged three to four times daily.

"It is unlikely that biogas was present in the basement since personnel working in the basement did not smell hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs and causes nausea and eye and skin irritation," he said.

Mr. Ayala also said the diesel fuel was also unlikely to have caused the severe damage to the mall.

"The diesel fuel in the day tank has been tested by a major oil company in their laboratory and the flash point (the temperature at which sufficient vapor from a liquid is formed for combustion to occur) result was found to be normal at 76 degrees Celsius and within specification. Furthermore, no evidence was found to indicate any contamination with a volatile liquid," he said.

But despite its own investigations, the company urged authorities to look into every angle on what really happened.

Mr. Ayala said the company had yet to receive a copy of the PNP’s findings, and said the firm had yet to release a new estimate on the damage arising from incident and its impact on ALI’s bottom line.

The firm initially said the blast had caused P100 million in damage to the mall.

Mr. Ayala noted, however, that mall operations would have minimal effect on net income as it contributed only 17% to total earnings.

_______________________________

Reconsider terror angle
Ayala Land presents study, saying negligence did not cause the blast
By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/05/yehey/top_stories/20071105top1.html

Ayala Land Inc. went on the offensive Sunday debunking the police theory that blame the Glorietta 2 mall explosion on negligence.

In a related development, the Philippine National Police denied it was pinning down Ayala Land. The police has yet to release a report on the October 19 blast that killed 11 people and injured 112 others.

In its press conference Sunday, Ayala Land claimed it is highly improbable that methane and biogas could have triggered the explosion.

Jaime Ayala, Ayala Land chief executive officer and president, showed a video that supports their argument. Plus, Ayala presented the results of a study conducted by Dr. Stephen Ethridge, a British specialist on wastewater and effluent treatment, and by Burgoynes, an international consulting firm specializing in the forensic investigation of fires, explosion and engineering.

The accumulation of biogas in the basement, which is where the blast is believed to have originated, was not feasible as it was 20 percent less dense than air, the study reported. It is less likely for a gas lighter than air to have vented through the open stairwell and out to the open loading dock, the study added.

Ayala said the basement is well-ventilated, contrary to police statements.

Ayala said the experts concluded that microorganism takes about eight to 10 days to grow and generate enough biogas to cause such a massive explosion. “The length of time that wastewater stayed in the basement sump pits was not sufficient for this process to take place, as the water in the pits was discharged several times a day,” Ayala quoted Ethridge.

Plus, the study said the gas must be undisturbed, but Ayala said in a typical day, five people work in the basement.

He said three maintenance people worked in the mall’s basement for about three hours just a day before the blast, and none of them reported smelling hydrogen sulfide, which emits odors similar to rotten eggs and can cause headaches, nausea, throat and eye irritations and even eye injury in high concentration.

“Hydrogen sulfide, a toxic chemical, would have been present even with small amounts of biogas,” Ayala said.

He said there were no “reports or observations by maintenance personnel of any irregularity to the diesel tank,” noting that the diesel fuel tank was last used in June.

Earlier reports said the explosion might have originated at the fuel tank used to store diesel for emergency purposes during power outages.

On the other hand, Ayala ruled out the possibility of an accident or negligence to cause such an explosion, saying that they are quite confident that they followed proper procedures in the maintenance of their equipment.

Ayala was reacting to a police statement that the explosion can be blamed on “negligence,” but it did not specify by whom—by the mall owner or by Makati City government, which conducts inspections for public safety.

Ayala said, “What we can rule out is it is highly unlikely that it was caused by methane or diesel. We don’t think negligence is relevant to those factors since for negligence to be considered it has to be connected to an incident.”

“At this point we don’t want to add additional hypotheses or speculation to the investigation. That’s for the authorities to consider as they pursue their investigation to look at all angles.”

No finger-pointing

Meanwhile, National Capital Region Police Office Chief Supt. Geary Barias dismissed assumptions that they were trying to pin down Ayala Land in their probe.

“We have no reason to pin down the Ayalas,” Barias said. “We have not said that the blame lie with them or for anyone else since the investigation is still ongoing.”

“We’re not blaming anybody here especially Ayala who since day one was very cooperative and helpful to us,” Barias said. “We are continuing our coordination with them.”

But Barias said the post-blast investigation showed a preponderance of evidence pointing to an accident as the cause of the blast.

Authorities are trying to recover the submersible pump that the police claimed would back up their theory of a gas explosion as the likely cause of the blast.

Barias said his men are set to recover additional items in the mall’s basement, adding that it might take three more days for them to complete the retrieval operation.

A fuse, a blackened electric socket and a partly burned centrifugal pump motor were among the items police recovered from the basement late Friday afternoon.

Earlier, police claimed that an electrician, whom authorities did not identify due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the fuse blew up but instead of seeking a replacement, a jumper cable was attached to it leaving no safety mechanism in the event of a systems overload.

Barias said they are investigating that lead and said the recovered items are being subjected to chemical analysis.

He said police should be able to present a consolidated report in one or two weeks.