Even the Giants Cry

The current situation in the Philippines is not an isolated case. As we continually call on President Arroyo and her administration to do something about the massive lay-offs in major industrial areas and economic zones in the country, constituents of the biggest superpowers in the world are doing the same thing.

No less than the most powerful man in the world, US President Barack Obama has been appealing to his fellow leaders at the US Senate to act now and fast if only to save their country from further devastation.

In the recent news, he announced that unemployment for the last week was already recorded at 626,000. “Tomorrow, we're expecting another dismal jobs report on top of the 2.6 million jobs that we lost last year. We've lost 500,000 jobs each month for the last two months," he was quoted by the international press as saying. The new report of US Labor Department is believed to be the highest since October 1982, when their economy was in a steep recession.

Even Obama and his people cry. Even the mightiest of the highly industrialized world are looking into drastic measures to save their economy. The ongoing talk between the White House and the Republican Senates seems to be taking longer than it should be. Obama’s stimulus bill that is focused on higher tax cuts, lower expenditures for the government and relief measures for homeowners is seen to be slashed from $987 billion to $800 billion.

This is fair enough for Obama while other Republican senators are still giving a fight on other cuts on the bill.

Whatever happens to Obama’s stimulus bill will be an indicator of how his administration will fair in negotiating with the US Congress. This will be a reference of the political trends that would eventually dictate the future of US’s economy. Whether US could recover or not will depend on how good Obama could persuade everyone in the US Congress that indeed the time of politicking is over and the Republicans must help him revive their economy fast.

6,247 Workers Hit by Crisis

It is very sad to learn that some 6,247 workers in Central Luzon, Philippines already lost their jobs because of the growing economic crisis. In a recent briefing among the locators inside Clark Freeport Zone, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) CL Dir.
Nathaniel Lacambra urged investors “to face the realities of our times.”

The challenge came in the face of the same growing concern inside Clark which had so far retrenched 2,075 workers since November.

When everyone thought that Philippines would be spared from the global crisis, we are experiencing the most depressing period of the country in the 21st century. To hear about people losing their jobs despite the unabated increase in prices of basic commodities is truly depressing.

And while others are losing jobs, several workers experience rotations with lesser working days and lesser take home pay due to their companies’ cost-cutting measures.

These scenarios are precisely the reason why more and more Filipinos choose to work abroad rather than stay here in the country. I just hope that the Philippine government will exert more effort in curbing corruption and instead pouring its resources to generate jobs for the people.

Bamboo Fever

Bamboo talk is all over Pampanga. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 3 through the leadership of Director Blesila Lantayona recently called on all stakeholders, including those from other provinces, to come up with a road map for bamboo development. With a directive from the national government, DTI took the initiative among national government agencies to push for the development of engineered bamboo products to become mainstream industry in the region.

The Pampanga Bamboo Development Council (PBDC) and the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL), on the other hand, continue to work on the propagation of bamboo in the province.

Aside from the P5 million allotted by the provincial government through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the bamboo program that was presented by the bamboo council last year, the PBDC is now working on a proposal for the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) for the establishment of a bamboo plantation at the Clark sub-zone area.

During a recent meeting with CDC President Benny Ricafort, ADCL proposed that the
1,240 hectares reforestation land at the sub-zone could be considered for bamboo plantation. Ricafort has requested ADCL to submit the proposal as soon as possible for their review and possible approval.

ADCL, being the main player behind the PBDC, finds it appropriate to take advantage of the Clark sub-zone’s available area for reforestation. In order for the bamboo industry to truly materialize, CITC Director Frank Bonuan said at least 50 hectares of plantation is needed to sustain the supply needed by small scale manufacturers of bamboo engineered products.

Although Pampanga has the capability to manufacture bamboo engineered products at this point in time, the supply is too unpredictable, making it quite risky to enter into such investment. But with the PBDC and ADCL’s proposal to use the 1,240 hectare reforestation are of sub-zone, the concern on supply will be answered within a period of five years.