Not So Good News

[IslandSon.PH]

Wushu group gives up on hosting Asian junior event

By Josef T. Ramos, Correspondent

THE Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) will no longer host the Asian Junior Wushu Championship supposedly scheduled for May because of funding problems.

Julian Camacho, president of WFP, told The Manila Times Thursday that they already decided to cancel the hosting of the said event after the association failed to raise the required budget amounting P5 million to P8 million.

“We will need P5 million to P8 million to host the tournament because there will be more than 30 countries and 500 wushu artists [who are] going to compete there,” said Camacho, also the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) treasurer. “We just need to postpone it.”

The association failed to get the support of different companies for sponsorship after the two groups in WFP—the Camacho group and Edwin Pimentel group—got involved in a leadership dispute last year.

Both parties finally settled their differences after they agreed to clear up their by-laws first before holding an election. The POC recognized Camacho as wushu president after declaring a “status quo.”

Even the group of Edwin Pimentel, wushu’s former secretary-general, failed to get sponsors for the event.

“I met Edwin and asked him if they have raised the money. But they told me they have yet to get the fund-raising going and since we have no time, we decided to cancel the event,” said Camacho.

He also said they already informed the Asian Wushu Federation that they would no longer host the event and they are hoping WFP will not be sanctioned.

Wushu, Camacho said, will now focus on the training of athletes for the coming 2009 Laos Southeast Asian Games in December.

Wushu has a great potential for the country to get medals in international competitions as evidenced by the gold medal won by Willy Wang in the Beijing Olympics. Benjie Rivera and Mary Jane Estimar also took home bronze medals in Beijing.

However, since Wushu was categorized as a demonstration sports in Beijing, the medals won by participating athletes did not count in the official medal tally.

[venntro]

RP mining industry hit by financial crisis

Agence France-Presse | 03/06/2009 11:35 AM


Mining companies in the Philippines are cutting staff, putting some projects on hold and scrambling for cash as the global crisis financial drags down commodities prices, industry officials say.

The economic slowdown could not have come at a worse time for the resource-rich southeast Asian country, which had been trying to rebuild the mining industry after a similar downturn in the 1970s.

But the government has scaled down its investment target for the industry this year to about $800 million, down from the original $1 billion but still above last year's $650-million inflow.

"I expect a little downgrading (of investments) but we are still optimistic," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza said earlier this year.

Foreign-funded projects have been among the most high-profile casualties.

To preserve cash, Australian miner OceanaGold Corp. has put on hold its Didipio copper-gold project, which was among the biggest Philippines mining projects set to start production this year. No new schedule has been announced.

Berong Nickel Corp., a unit of London-based Toledo Mining Corp., suspended production and cut 600 jobs at its mine on the western island of Palawan last month amid depressed metals prices and plunging demand from China.

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., Toledo's local partner in Berong, does not see production resuming until the second half, but said shipments from its stockpiles to BHP Billiton of Australia should resume in April.

Karsten Fuelster, a mining division business development official for the World Bank's investment arm International Finance Corp., said the global financial crisis is leading to "substantial short-term demand destruction," while new capital expenditures and debt-funded acquisitions would be delayed.

While the mining industry in Asia has "strong fundamentals," he told an industry conference here last month that with growth easing in key markets China and India, prices for metals apart from gold are expected to fall.

Fund raising will become "nearly impossible for non-producing companies," and "many will not survive," Fuelster said.

Projects will get delayed and exploration curtailed, while "funding difficulties will get worse" before they get better, he warned.

Among the Filipino mining outfits, the priority is to shore up their capital bases. Philex Mining Corp., Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., and Manila Mining Co. all announced plans this month to ask shareholders to raise their authorised capital by 60 percent, 100 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

With gold prices testing levels around $1,000 per ounce and copper prices sinking, Philex, the largest Philippine mining firm, has become "more a gold mine than a copper mine," its chief executive Walter Brown said recently.

With declining demand in the housing and automobile sectors in the US and Europe, gold now accounts for 72 percent of the value of the company's concentrate shipments, and copper only 28 percent, Brown said.

Philex is now only drilling and developing gold properties and copper deposits with gold values higher than the copper in the ore, he said, adding: "Typically, these gold/copper prices take at least three years to develop."

Philippine mineral exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier to $2.31 billion in calendar year 2008.

Director of the government's Mines and Geosciences Bureau Horacio Ramos said the falling prices might lead to even lower 2009 shipments.

The bureau estimates the Philippines has 83 billion tons of mineral ore deposits, including more than 14 billion tons of metallic ore and more than 69 billion tons of non-metallic ore.

The country's estimated gold ore reserve of four billion tons is the world's third largest, its 7.9 billion tons of copper the fourth largest and the 815.3 million tons of nickel ore the fifth biggest in the world, it says.

[RonnieR]

Rapper-actor Francis Magalona succumbs to cancer

By Dino Maragay Updated March 06, 2009 01:28 PM


Multi-awarded Filipino rap icon Francis Magalona passed away at The Medical City hospital in Mandaluyong around noon today. He was 44.

This was announced by actor Vic Sotto in the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga, where Magalona used to be one of the hosts.

Magalona, considered as a major pillar of rap music in the country, was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2008. He is survived by his wife Pia Arroyo

[venntro]

Philippines slips five notches in global tourism survey
03/04/2009 | 06:25 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines slipped five notches in the latest tourism competitiveness ranking released by a Switzerland-based group.

The Philippines placed 86th among 133 countries surveyed, sliding from its 81st spot last year, the World Economic Forum said, citing its third annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report.

In the Asian region, the Philippines ranked 16th just behind Indonesia despite its natural resources.

Although the Philippines secured high rankings for the number of World Heritage natural sites (23rd), total known species (40th), excellent price competitiveness (16th), few visa requirements for foreign visitors (third), and comparatively open air service agreements (28th), it was weak in areas of safety and security (113th), health and hygiene levels (87th), and transport, tourism, and ICT infrastructure that require upgrading.

WEF gave high ratings to the Philippines in price competitiveness owing to overall low costs such as hotel prices, low ticket taxes, and airport charges.

“There are also some aspects of the policy rules and regulations regime that are conducive to the development of the sector, such as few visa requirements for foreign visitors and bilateral Air Service Agreements that are assessed as comparatively open," WEF said. “Other areas – such as the protection of property rights, rules related to foreign investment, and the difficulty of starting a business in the country – remain a challenge."

Switzerland had the most attractive environment for developing the travel and tourism industry, followed by other European nations Austria, and Germany, respectively.

France, Canada, Spain, Sweden, the United States, Australia and Singapore completed the top 10 in the category.

[venntro]

Ships idle in Philippine port as global trade slows

Reuters | 03/09/2009 7:36 AM


SUBIC BAY, Philippines - It's 11 a.m. on a weekday but huge, bulky cargo ships scattered in this Philippine port are quiet and nearly deserted, save for a handful of workers repainting chipped handrails on some vessels.

About 22 ships -- mostly empty cargo vessels -- have anchored in this former U.S. naval base northwest of Manila, some as long as three months running. It's cheaper than most other ports in the region to park a ship and most crews are dominated by Filipinos so it's a popular choice.

Before August, when the global economic crisis started to stymie trade, cargo ships rarely stayed in Subic for more than a week. At any one time there were no more than 10 ships at the port.

"We don't usually get ships docked for a prolonged period," said Armand Arreza, administrator at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. "We would usually get a few ships which would be on lay up, but never to the extent that we have about 22 ships and for a prolonged period of time."

Lay ups refer to the temporary shutdown of cargo ships during periods of surplus and depressed freight rates.

Since September, Subic Bay management has been swamped with e-mails and calls from owners seeking to dock their cargo ships at the port to cut costs following the collapse in shipping charges as global trade fell to multi-year lows.

About 12 other ships have left Subic Bay since the end of 2008 to pick up cargo around Asia, waiting two weeks to three months to get a client. But for the remaining 22 ships, the wait continues.

"There is no cargo," said the captain of a European-owned container vessel docked at the bay since December who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to talk to the media.

"This ship is a feeder vessel. And it depends mostly on mother vessels. Since there are no mother ships bringing cargo from US and Europe, smaller container vessels like this are affected," said the 54-year old Filipino captain.

Shipping rates fall

Average shipping rates slumped beginning August 2008 and hit a six-year low of $15,000 per day in November. That represented a 67 percent to 70 percent drop from highs of $45,000-$50,000 per day in June 2008, based on an internal publication of a European container ship firm in January.

Freight rates for dry bulk ships have plummeted from the highs hit during the commodities bull run last year.

Rates for capesize vessels -- the largest that can ferry iron ore, coal and grains -- on the key route between Brazil and China have fallen to $21 a tonne, down from above $100 a tonne in June last year, according to Reuters data.

The International Monetary Fund, predicting the world economy will stagnate this year overall with the deepening global financial crisis, forecasts world export volumes will contract 2.8 percent.

In Asia, most export-driven countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan have suffered steep double-digit declines in shipments, paralyzing their economies and resulting in region-wide ship lay ups.

Some shipping experts say they don't expect any big improvement in demand in the next six months to a year.

"Nowadays, ships sail just half full or with very little cargo, just so they could recoup their overhead and also protect their customer base," said the European ship captain who has sailed international waters for nearly three decades.

He added the severe downturn in the shipping industry is made worse because banks, which used to extend credit lines and bank guarantees to shippers, have stopped lending, resulting in prolonged lay ups.

His European ship, which can hold 1,440 20-foot containers, has had few voyages since its delivery in mid-2008 by its German shipbuilder when cargo shipping rates fell, forcing its owners to anchor the vessel in Subic and send most of its crew home because revenues cannot even cover overhead expenses.

"The shipping industry is one of the sectors most affected by the present economic situation," retired navy captain Perfecto Pascual, seaport manager at Subic Bay, told Reuters.

"Shipowners are finding ways to save costs from their operations," Pascual said, adding Subic is a favored destination in the region for lay ups because of congestion in more developed seaports in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Long-staying ships

Costs and security are also factors, with Subic Bay management charging discounted all-in fees -- including bay patrols -- of about $10,000 a month for long-staying ships.

To stay competitive, other ports in the region have also introduced discounted fees. The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority has deferred an annual increase in port dues for bunker tankers 16 years and older and gave port dues concessions to various cargo vessels.

The European shipping firm now has four container vessel docked in Subic, with the crew in one ship down to 8 from 18 previously.

Its three other ships sit side by side near the southern end of the bay, hidden in a cove near pristine beaches, with a total of 8 crew from about 48 before their lay up began in December.

More of its ships were likely to come to Subic from around Asia with shipping contracts ending and no new orders coming.

But Subic authorities want to prevent overcrowding in the bay and will only take up to 30 ships at a time, half of its original capacity when it was used at one point as the biggest US naval base outside U.S. territory. The Americans operated a naval base in Subic for about nine decades.

As of March 2, six more ships were expected to arrive in Subic for lay ups, the Subic bay management said.

The authorities also sent some of the vessels, mostly the Japanese car carriers, more than two kilometers away from the shore to appease the 33 hotel operators in Subic Bay who have complained that the ships were becoming eyesores to guests.

In the meantime, the ships' crew, comprised mostly of Filipinos, catch up with relatives in the Philippines by phone from their ship, or spend weekends with their family in and out of Subic.

Others spend their lay up swimming in the beaches of Subic and hitting the bars and restaurants come nightfall.

"I'm loving it. We're in paradise," said Geoffrey Wells, chief engineer of U.K.-based Global Marine, a submarine cable firm, whose Wave Venture ship has been docked in Subic for repairs since early January while waiting for a cable contract.

"We have wonderful weather. Everything is cheap compared to the U.K. So yeah, we're having a good time," he said.

[venntro]

Prostitution worsens in poor areas–study

By Sammy Martin, Reporter

Prostitution dramatically increased in far-flung areas in the country, particularly among women who are heads of their families and those abandoned by their husbands because of extreme poverty, a new study revealed.

The study even cited that women living in remote villages were lured into prostitution with just a tub of freshly caught fish that could feed their hungry families, said the study by the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), a nongovernment organization.

Other women become prostitutes for rice or coffee, the study added.

“The financial crisis has aggravated the condition of impoverished rural women,” the center’s executive director, Jojo Guan, said in a press statement on Monday. “Although they produce food for the country, they cannot cope with the crisis because, to start with, they are landless and have been earning so little.”

“We have been receiving reports that in some parts in Southern Tagalog, women in fishing communities have resorted to provide ‘massage service’ to foreigners in private resorts in exchange for money,” he added.

Testimonies of prostituted women revealed that a “massage” on the beach could earn them P300. But if done inside the room, they are paid P700. But a service could go beyond a “massage.” Allegedly, the women are paid P1,500 to provide sexual favors for the customers. Owners of the private resort where the “services” are conducted, even get a commission, the study claimed.

Husband and wife affair

The women who are forced into prostitution are reportedly being helped by their husbands, former fishermen who are now the ones ferrying tourists to the resorts. The husbands even act as pimps, looking for customers who want to get a “massage” from their wives.

“Rural women are vulnerable to prostitution because of their impoverished situation,” Guan explained. “Farmers and fisherman comprise the poorest sector of our country. And across basic sectors, women and children account for the largest poor population.”

The same study shows that in 2008, despite the implementation of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), women in rural areas remain landless because land inequality remains high and cancellation of titles is rampant.

The conversion of land and seashores to ecotourism and industrial uses has also deprived rural women and their families of access to affordable foods.

GIs boon to business

The Center for Women’s Resources also expressed concern over the possible increase in prostitution when the US and the Philippines conduct the Balikatan military exercises in the Bicol region this summer.

“With the presence of US troops in areas where poverty is high, women are vulnerable to ply the sex trade,” Guan said. “In the past, bars mushroomed in areas near the US bases for the foreign troops’ ‘R & R’ [rest and recreation] and prostitution were rampant.”

“On March 8, women once again commemorate the International Women’s Day,” according to the study. “It is a good time, more than ever, for Filipino women to unite and declare their resistance to all policies that are threatening them to hunger and those that threaten their security, such as the Visiting Forces Agreement.”

[venntro]

RP exports plunge 41% in January
Reuters | 03/10/2009 10:55 AM


MANILA - Philippine exports plunged 41.0 percent year-on-year in January, the biggest annual contraction for any month on record, the government's statistics office said on Tuesday.

It followed a dip of a revised 40.3 percent year-on-year in December as recession took hold in the Philippines' markets in the West.

Shipments of electronics products, the country's main export, contracted 48.4 percent in January from the year ago period after falling 47.6 percent year-on-year in December.

Expectations

The central bank has said it expects exports to contract 6-8 percent this year. Imports are seen contracting 8-10 percent.

The main industry body for electronics and semiconductors had said exports in the sector were likely to fall 8-10 percent in 2009 after falling 8.31 percent in 2008.

The Philippines supplies about 10 percent of the world's semiconductor manufacturing services, including mobile phone chips and micro processors.

Other key exports include garments and accessories, vehicle parts, coconut oil, tropical fruit and wood furniture.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEY POINTS
Jan 2009 Dec 2008 Jan 2008
Exports $2.49 bln $2.67 bln $4.23 bln
yr/yr change (pct) -41.0 -40.3 6.0
Electronics $1.35 bln $1.34 bln $2.61 bln
yr/yr change (pct) -48.4 -47.6 1.6


(Note: Dec 2008 numbers were revised)
- Month-on-month exports in January were down 6.8 percent compared with a 23.9 percent fall in December.
- Exports in the full 2008 year were down 2.86 percent over 2007.
- Electronics made up 54 percent of total export revenues in January.
- Exports to the United States, the country's top export destination in the month, were down 33.6 percent in January from a year earlier, after a 20.8 percent percent fall in December.
- Exports to Japan, the second-biggest market, were 39.7 percent down in January from a year earlier after a 28.5 percent annual fall in December.
- Shipments to Germany, the third-biggest market, were up an annual 7.3 percent in January.

[filcan]

[venntro]

2008 foreign direct investments down 48% to $1.52 billion
By Des Ferriols Updated March 11, 2009 12:00 AM


MANILA, Philippines - Foreign direct investments (FDI) tumbled by nearly 48 percent in 2008, just barely managing to sustain a net inflow of $1.52 billion compared with $2.916 billion in 2007.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that foreign direct investments amounted to only $89 million in December last year, 3.3 percent lower than the previous year and significantly lower than the $232-million inflows recorded in November 2007.

The 2008 figure was 47.9 percent lower than net foreign direct investment inflows recorded in 2007.

The BSP also reported that net equity capital flows amounted to $1.4 billion which was 30.7 percent lower than the $1.324-billion level recorded over the same period in 2007.

The BSP said the “other capital” account recorded a net inflow of $261 million, representing repayment by foreign affiliates abroad of trade credits from residents.

Reinvested earnings, on the other hand, reversed to a net outflow of $91 million because of losses realized by some foreign direct investment businesses in the country in 2008.

The BSP said the US, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands were the major sources of equity capital flows.

The bulk of the inflows, according to the BSP, were channeled to the manufacturing sector, mainly into shipbuilding and repair, auto electronics parts and components and the manufacture of paper, cigarette and other tobacco products.

The BSP said there were also inflows into services, particularly recreational and cultural businesses. Inflows also went into mining and construction projects such as hotel/resort/water spa development, power plant facility, global gateway and logistics hub.

Investments were also recorded going into utilities, real estate, trade and commerce, and financial institutions.

Foreign direct investments are expected to slow down dramatically this year but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has not firmed up its projections, saying that it was still sorting through projects in the pipeline that could either be shelved or continued this year.

On the whole, however, the BSP expects the country’s foreign exchange at $37.5 billion this year, down from the projected level of $39 billion as the growth in remittances grinds to a halt this year due to job losses abroad.

With the down-scaling of the projected reserves, the government also revised its projected balance of payments (BOP) position from $500 million to $700 million, mainly because of lower oil prices.

The country’s gross international reserve (GIR) is the sum of all foreign exchange flowing into the country and the balance of payment (BOP) position is the remaining balance net of all external payments for debt servicing and imports.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said remittances from overseas Filipinos will reach $16.4 billion this year, unchanged from the same level in 2008.

The BSP had earlier projected that remittances would expand by six to nine percent but BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the projection needed to be adjusted as major economies start to contract this year.

“There is a very real danger that the global economy would weaken more and the Philippines has to face this,” Tetangco said. “We might be an island of calm but we are at risk of a negative feedback loop if credit markets freeze up and economic activities grind to a halt.”

[tonight]

10,600 Filipinos at risk of renal disease
By Marjorie Gorospe

MANILA, Philippines—More than 10,600 Filipinos are at risk of contracting renal disease, said a health expert, adding kidney ailment remains the 10th leading cause of death in the country.

Dr. Remedios de Belen Uriarte, program manager of Renal Disease Control Program, said that in every one million Filipinos about 120 have renal diseases.

“So in the Philippines, there is estimated number of 10,644 who can be at risk of renal disease,” she told a forum hosted by the Philippine Society of Nephrology, Inc. and the International Society of Nephrology Thursday, World Kidney Day.

PSNI president Benita Padilla said the major causes of kidney failures are hypertension or high blood pressure and diabetic nephropathy leading to the renal stage, which she said is irreversible.

“Many people have the wrong notion that just because they feel well despite the high blood pressure, they assume they are physically fit when they are really not,” said Padilla.

She said some elderly people think it’s just normal to feel the symptoms of kidney failures because of their age. She stressed that there is a need to maintain the blood pressure or there would be complications in the future.

“If they have diabetes and hypertension, then they are at risk to also having kidney failures and this should be traced as early as possible,” Padilla said.

Treatment could be costly. A dialysis could cost from P2,000 to 3,000.00 per session while a kidney transplant is about P500,000.

Padilla advised the youth to live a healthy lifestyle, as she added that it is better to have a urinalysis once a year to monitor kidney condition.

“It may be inevitable but it can also be prevented.”

[tonight]

Group: RP is major ocean polluter
By Alcuin Papa

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines ranks second in the world for most trash recovered from its oceans, an international conservation group has revealed.

The US-based Ocean Conservancy reported that 1,355,236 items of trash were recovered from the country’s shorelines, ocean surface and underwater during the International Coastal Cleanup conducted by the group in September 2008, which involved nearly 400,000 volunteers around the world.

The results of the cleanup were presented in a report by the group titled “A Rising Tide of Ocean Debris” was released on March 10 and available on the group's website.

Topping the list of trash items were plastic bags (679,957 pieces), paper bags (253,013) and food wrappers (103,226). Also recovered were 38,394 pieces of clothing and shoes, 55,814 tobacco-related items including cigarette butts (34,154), lighters and wrappers, and 11,077 diapers.

The United States topped the list of countries with the most trash recovered, with 3,945,855 items. In third place was Costa Rica with 1,017,621 items.

Ocean Conservancy said it collected 11.4 million pieces of trash from 6,485 sites in 104 countries, including the Philippines.

“We are all connected to the ocean. The disheartening amount of trash afloat in the sea, littering beaches and piling up on the sea floor affects the earth’s life support system, the ocean and all the living things in it," the report said.

"Marine debris is more than a blemish on nature, it is a potential threat to our food supply, to tourism and economic activity, to marine wildlife and ecosystems, and to our personal health. It even relates to the impacts of climate change,” it added.

Because of the study, local waste and pollution watchdog EcoWaste Coalition called on the public to help restore the health of Philippine waters.

On World Consumer Rights Day on Sunday (March 15), the coalition called for more awareness, responsibility and action to save the oceans and waterways, particularly from plastic garbage.

“We urge local and national authorities to fully enforce Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, to stop the dumping of trash in the canals and esteros that eventually find their way into the marine ecosystem,” said Manny Calonzo, EcoWaste Coalition president.

To prevent garbage from entering the marine environment, the coalition urged consumers to adopt basic practices in ecological waste management, including waste prevention, reduction, separation at source, recycling reuse and composting.

In 2006, the group together with Greenpeace conducted a joint discards survey of Manila Bay which showed that 76 percent of the garbage in the bay was made of plastic and 51 percent was plastic bags, Calonzo said.

The coalition also urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and National Solid Waste Management Commission to do something about the trash in the oceans.

[Arciga_01]

Kakahiya naman yan

[tonight]

Jobless rate rises to 7.7% in January
Reuters

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s jobless rate climbed to 7.7 percent in January, the highest since April, data showed on Tuesday, and analysts said it would rise further as the country feels the impact of the financial crisis.

About 275,000 people lost their jobs since October and the latest quarterly report from the statistics office showed unemployment turning higher after falling last year.

It had dropped to 6.8 percent in October from 7.4 percent in July and 8.0 percent in April.

However, analysts said the data is not seasonally adjusted and they believe the actual rate could be understated.

"The actual data is very seasonal so you've always got to take it with a grain of salt," said Nicholas Bibby, regional economist and strategist at Barclays Capital.

"It is slightly up compared with what it was last year. This is understandable given the weakness that we are seeing coming through especially for the electronics sector," he said.

The Philippines’ jobless rate is the second highest among the biggest Southeast Asian economies, behind Indonesia, which reported its latest unemployment rate for August 2008 as 8.4 percent.

The unemployment rate in Thailand at the end of last year was 1.4 percent, below Singapore's 2.6 percent, Malaysia's 3.3 percent and Vietnam's urban reading of 4.65 percent.

In the Philippines, job losses and reduced work hours have been on the rise particularly in the semiconductor and electronics sector, which produce just over half of the country's exports revenues, as global demand shrank.

"Overall, I think the real unemployment rate should be higher than this," said Simon Wong, economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. "I would expect it to move higher for the rest of 2009."

About 210,000 were added to the number of underemployed, those who have jobs but want to work more, an increase of 3.5 percent from October, the government said.

The percentage of underemployed climbed to 18.2 percent of the total employed in January from 17.5 percent in October.

The government says that about a third of the 90-million population is poor, calculated as families of five living on less than the equivalent of $3 a day.

Of the 34.3 million people employed in January, more than half, or 51.2 percent, worked in services.

Farming was the second-biggest employer with 34.6 percent, with the rest working in the industry, particularly manufacturing.

[jamir57]

^ toniht magaling ka mghanap ng bad news ah..

[skywalker2008]

Laguna-based TDK-Fujitsu cuts 2,000 jobs
03/18/2009 | 06:41 PM

MANILA, Philippines - TDK Fujitsu Philippines Corp. (TFPC), which makes magnetic recording heads for computer hard disk drives, said it laid off 2,000 workers in its Biñan, Laguna facility.

TFPC is different from Fujitsu Computer Product Corp. of the Philippines Inc. (FCPP), which cut 1,750 jobs earlier this year, according to various reports which came out on Wednesday afternoon.

TFPC’s layoffs were confirmed by Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque during a briefing in Quezon City.

TFPC, an international private company, maintains a facility in a special export processing zone at the Laguna Technopark Phase 3, reports said.

However, while TFPC and FCPP are separate entities, their parent companies agreed to work together five years ago.

In the middle of 2004, TDK Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. – the parents of TFPC and FCPP – undertook an agreement to design, develop, and produce heads for hard disk drives.

FCPP, the local unit of Fujitsu that makes computer hard disk drives, was established in 1995. Its facility is located at the Carmelray Industrial Park in Canlubang, Laguna.

FCPP – including other Fujitsu businesses in the country – currently employs an estimated 6,000 workers, said Ernesto G. Espinosa, FCPP’s vice president for human resources and general affairs. - GMANews.TV

[djhones]

Researchers reveal a 'cyber spy' network

Researchers have revealed that an electronic spy network has managed to infiltrate government computers from around the world.

The researchers said the network is mainly based in China, and that 1,295 computers had been infiltrated in 103 countries. The computers included those belonging to foreign ministries and embassies, as well as those linked with Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The Canadian researchers noted that there is no firm evidence that shows that China's government is behind the network, and government officials in Beijing denied involvement according to the BBC.

The report follows a 10-month investigation conducted by the Information Welfare Monitor (IWM), and is entitled Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network. The information in the report comes from Canadian firms SecDev Group and the Munk Centre for International Studies.

The group notes that they acted on a request from the Dalai Lama's office, who wanted to know if their computers were being monitored.

The researchers then found that the ministries of foreign affairs of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Barbados and Bhutan all appeared to have been targeted by the same network. In addition, hacked computers were also found in the embassies of countries including India, South Korea, Romania, Thailand, Germany and Pakistan.

The analysts believe the system was focused on monitoring the computers of governments in Asia.

They added that the attacks could be considered "industrial espionage", as the hackers showed an interest in the activities of lawmakers and major companies. According to the researchers, the networks were able to gain access to the computer through malware, or malicious software.

The malware allowed hackers to take control of computers in order to send and receive classified information.

In a separate report, the New York Times noted that the operation is the largest to have been uncovered in terms of the number of countries that are affected

[filcan]

Asian economic outlook 'bleak' for 2009


Customers buy vegetables at a market in Quezon City in suburban Manila, Philippines, on September 16.

(CNN) -- Asia's economic growth will tumble to the slowest pace since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report released Tuesday.

Customers buy vegetables at a market in Quezon City in suburban Manila, Philippines, on September 16.

"The short term outlook for the region is bleak as the full impact of the severe recession in industrialized economies is transmitted to emerging markets," said Jong-Wha Lee, acting chief economist for the ADB.

The Asian Development Outlook 2009 forecasts that economic growth in developing Asia will slip to 3.4 percent in 2009, down from 6.3 percent last year and 9.5 percent in 2007. Growth could improve to 6 percent in 2010, if the global economy experiences a mild recovery next year, the report says.

"The concern for the region, and especially for the region's poor, is that it is not yet clear that the [United States], European Union and Japan will recover as soon as next year," Lee said.

The slowdown should prompt Asian countries to expand their economic base and not be as dependent on exports, according to the report.

Despite the downturn, the report says Asia is in a much better position to cope with the current crisis than it was in the late 1990s.

"Large foreign currency reserves and steadily declining inflation rates will provide policymakers with the necessary tools to nurse their economies through the hard times ahead," the report said.
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A number of Asian governments, including China, Japan and South Korea, have already responded quickly to the global financial crisis with stimulus packages and changes in monetary policy, helping to stem some of the downturn.

In November, China announced plans to inject $586 billion (4 trillion yuan) into its economy to offset declines in industrial and export growth. That economic stimulus plan included the loosening of credit restrictions, tax cuts and massive infrastructure spending.

CNN.com

[kiretoce]

What about the Filipinos? Piracy focus seen as hypocritical

The international community is showing hypocrisy by suddenly focussing on Somali piracy because of the capture of one American, a regional maritime group said on Saturday.

Sea gangs from the lawless Horn of Africa nation grabbed world headlines this week when they briefly hijacked the U.S. freighter Maersk Alabama. Its 20 crew retook control, but the gunmen took captain Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat.

The global media has tracked in great detail each twist and turn of the drama as it unfolds, including a failed attempt to swim to safety by the former Boston taxi driver.

But Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said it was a pity similar attention was not paid to the nearly 250 other hostages -- all from poorer nations -- currently being held by other Somali pirates.

The biggest nationality represented, at 92, is Filipino.

"The media and the international community at large is just demonstrating its hypocrisy," he said in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, where the 17,000-tonne Alabama was due on Saturday.

"Journalists have flooded here from all over the world because of one American captain. What about all the others, from Bangladesh, from Pakistan, from the Philippines, some of whom have been held now for months?"

The story has all the front-page ingredients: buccaneers audaciously try to seize a huge U.S. container ship, its sailors resist, then Phillips apparently volunteers to board the lifeboat with the pirates in return for his crew's safety.

Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art U.S. naval destroyer armed with missiles, torpedoes and helicopters keeps a watchful eye. And more warships are on the way.

Mwangura told Reuters, however, that did not excuse the lack of attention given to the scores of other hostages still being held for ransom off the Somali coast.

"Once again, it has taken American involvement to get world powers really interested," said a diplomat who tracks Somalia from Nairobi. "I hope they don't forget the Filipinos and all the others, once this guy is released."

Heavily-armed gangs from the failed state hijacked 42 vessels last year in the strategic Gulf of Aden and further south in the Indian Ocean, and tried to attack dozens more.

The crews of many of those ships are being held hostage near small pirate bases on the coast, where their captors tend to treat them well in anticipation of a sizeable ransom payout.

Mwangura said the same international focus had highlighted the long-running crime wave off Somalia in the past -- but only when white people from rich nations were involved.

When the gangs seized the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star last year, everyone paid attention. Not just because it was carrying $100 million (68.2 million pounds) worth of crude oil, he said, but because it had two British crewmen on board too.

"It was the same in 2005. The media went crazy when that luxury cruise liner, the Seabourn Spirit, was attacked with lots of white tourists on board. And they weren't even hijacked."

[tonight]

137 Filipinos stranded in Dubai
By Veronica Uy

Probe, suspension of recruiter sought

MANILA, Philippines—One-hundred thirty-seven Filipino bus drivers are stranded in Dubai and asking the government to help repatriate and give them justice, a labor policy group said Monday.

In a statement, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center also called on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to investigate and, if possible, suspend the license of CYM International Services, the agency that recruited the drivers, and its counterpart in Dubai, Al Toomoh Technical Services.

“The sheer number of victims involved constitutes an act of economic sabotage by this licensed agency,” said former labor undersecretary Susan Ople, who heads the center named after her father. “We urge immediate action and for the owners of the agency to be barred from leaving the country.”

She said one of the drivers, Claro Oliver of Rizal province, contacted her office over the weekend about their plight.

Citing her conversation with Oliver, Ople said the agency promised the Filipino drivers good-paying jobs with the Dubai government’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The drivers said they paid as much as P150,000 to CYM International Services in exchange for the jobs.

However, some of the drivers—some of who quit their local jobs despite years of service—have been waiting for the RTA jobs since January this year.

“Desperate for food and cash, the stranded drives have resorted to scavenging a dumpsite for scrap food,” Ople said.

The Filipino community there learned about the workers’ plight from Ares Gutierrez and Jay Hilotin, Filipino journalists working in Dubai, and went to the dumpsite where they were staying to bring them food, water, and other items.

Eliseo Maximo, who has worked for 11 years as a bus driver in Manila, said: “We’ve been collecting aluminum cans, selling them at 4 dirhams [1 dirham is about P10] per kilogram in Ajman, just to have something to eat.”

Aside from lack of food and shelter, the stranded Filipino drivers who have worked for years in companies like Baliuag Transit also complain that because their passports are being held by the Dubai counterpart of their agency, they could not apply for new jobs.

Ople asked the Philippine consulate in Dubai to intervene and retrieve the passports of the stranded workers, as they still want to work in Dubai instead of being repatriated back.

“If they come home, whatever they earn as bus drivers won’t be enough to pay off their loans and still sustain the needs of their families,” she explained.

Ople said she is awaiting documents from the bus drivers that would help speed up the POEA’s investigation into the alleged illegal recruitment practices of CYM International Services and its counterpart in Dubai.

The former labor undersecretary said she also hoped the 137 drivers would be able to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President Noli De Castro, and other high-ranking officials who are now visiting Dubai.

[bitoy]

wrong thread