Renewable Energy In the Pacific Coast

Philippine Sen. Loren Legarda talks about renewable energy and the importance of the people's awareness and consciousness about saving the environment. Photo taken by Mini Arceo during the Aurora Investment Summit in Clark Freeport Zone.

Amid the ongoing global economic crisis, more and more people in the third-world countries are trying to work doubly hard to save their families from famine. Today, the Philippine government is talking about exploration of renewable energy to save millions of pesos in importing oil for energy. Aurora, a Philippine province in the eastern Pacific Coast, is now exploring the possibility of putting up windmills in their area to generatge power for its investors and to sell the same to the National Power Corp. Sen. Edgardo Angara and his sister, Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara are now working hand in hand with Legarda to realize this project.

Everything is all about attitude

(Sec. Ed Pamintuan.Photo from freeport-online)

Long before newly-elected US President Barack Obama said “yes we can,” Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan, chairman of the Subic-Clark Alliance Development Council (SCADC), was already known for his battlecry “Agyu Tamu.”

When Pampanga and Angeles City were gravely hit by the Pinatubo eruption and lahar in the early ‘90s, Pamintuan led the Angelenos in a fierce crusade to save the City of Angeles from moral devastation. The former Angeles City mayor and his team accomplished the improbable by reviving the devastated business district, coming up with a genius event, the “Tigtigan Terakan King Dalan.” The TTKD became a phenomenon and attracted thousands of tourists annually in time with the Fiestang Apu. This event has signaled the message outside Pampanga that Angeles City was still alive during those gloomy years.

In his speech at the executive economic briefing at the Mimosa Hilltop last February 19, Pamintuan gave a spirited talk about the global crisis, US recession and how our country should react on this.

“The key to overcoming problems therefore is attitude. In business, as well as in life, it makes a difference on how we look at the world…The reality on the ongoing recession cannot be doubted or dismissed. Its impact on the Philippines has been quite tangible in the forms of lay-offs, downsizing, cancelled orders, lower consumer spending and return of investments…This does not mean that we should just sit back and relax. The global crisis is an opportunity for us to seize the day and turn lemons into lemonade,” Pamintuan said.

I laud the Secretary’s fighting spirit and it is indeed contagious. If we will consider the opinion of Dr. Emilio T. Antonio Jr., president of the Center for Research and Communication Foundation, Inc., who was one of the speakers during the briefing, our own perceptions and fears would most likely shape our reality.

According to Antonio, it is wiser to check the facts of our country’s financial status rather than just listen and watch news. He claimed that asset markets remain jumpy due to bad sentiments. So he cautioned everyone to avoid conventional wisdom that when United States catches flu, the Philippines would most likely get pneumonia.

Although Antonio did not dispute the fact that we may be affected by the crisis, he said that overall, we are in a better position to fight the crisis because we are financially healthier than before. If we will check our income vs. our spending, we will find out that we have enough reserves that will last for six months and surplus while our credit ratings are improving.

Antonio said the whole country is in surplus. The per capita income increased from $1000 to $2000. Meanwhile, the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) continuously pump our economy and their remittances steadily increase by $1.4 billion per year.

Also, he added that the US crisis will unlikely shake opportunities for Filipino workers abroad since many are teachers and nurses while the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry is just starting to grow. “Only about four (4) percent of the potential market has been tapped,” Antonio said.

It is a relief to hear good news from the government and the economic consultants. It is likewise refreshing to hear Secretary Pamintuan speak of the possibility that we will rise from the challenges we are faced with.

Reduce the Prices of Commodities

Workers all over the country keep an uproar on the unabated increase in prices of food and basic commodities. Leaders of various labor groups including the Workers Alliance in Region III (WAR 3) have been clamoring for wage increase to “temporarily” lessen the impact of the current crisis.

Based on the latest survey of the NSCB, a family of six needs at least P749 per day to sustain its basic necessities for food, utilities and other commodities. At present, laborers in Central Luzon receive an average of P158 to P287 per day while WAR 3 claims that almost half of the 3.4 million workers are underpaid.

Following the NSCB survey, a family earner who brings home P287 per day falls short of P462 to provide the needs of his wife and children. This is why the workers are in outrage. It seems like the government fails to see the huge problem. Workers are earning less but the prices of basic needs rise up thrice as high in just few months. No matter how bad you may be in Mathematics, it doesn’t need a genius to figure out the discrepancy.

Surprisingly, this is happening despite the fact that the price of oil in the world market has already reached its lowest at $43 per barrel. It is very dubious why the prices of basic commodities continue to increase even if the price of oil steadily drops.

In relation to this, private sector leaders in Region 3 are now saying that increasing the wages of laborers will not solve the current problem. They say that if business owners will be prompted to increase wages, they would either add up their losses to their products resulting to more increase in prices of basic commodities. Or they would be forced to lay-off workers to accommodate the salary adjustment.

But some sectors say that the increase in wages is not actually the long-term solution to this vicious cycle of labor and price increase. Some traders are looking into a better solution by asking the government to focus on reducing the production cost and prices of raw materials for producers and manufacturers that would result to cheaper or affordable products and commodities.

A regular earner will have more economic power despite his P287 daily income due to the eventual cut on prices of food and basic commodities.

I believe this would eventually solve the problem although it is indeed a long-term process and we need our political leaders’ sincerity and will to truly bring down prices of basic commodities. (30)

Finding the Niche

So it is SME tourism now. Take it from former Tourism Sec. Mina Gabor who said that micro, small and medium enterprises could thrive amid the global economic crisis with the improvement of the tourism industry. I agree and it is vise versa. With the strengthening and enhancement of small scale enterprises, more tourism opportunities and attractions will be opened to the market. I have said it before, tourism is the key.

In the last general membership meeting of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pamcham) headed by Rene Romero, the talk of the day was focused on SMEs and their role in the over-all growth of the country. According to Romero, SMEs are the backbone of our economy. Gabor, for her part, said she is an advocate of SMEs. Being the president of Philippine Small and Medium Development Foundation Inc. (Philsmed), their vision is to elevate the role of SMEs in national development by increasing its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product.

Small and medium enterprises comprise of at least 99 percent of the total business in the country. These small players are key drivers to economic development in the countryside including here in Central Luzon. The small and medium businesses also employ the largest number of workers in the region. So it is only fair, prompt and timely that all sectors should focus on supporting and strengthening the small and medium entrepreneurs.

When Everything Is Down

Just when everything in the Philippines seems to be slowing down, the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), now under the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., is working on several expansion projects north of Manila.

After completing the rehabilitation and expansion of the 84-kilometer North Luzon Expressway in 2005, MNTC is now ready to start Phase 2 of the Manila North Expressway (“MNE”) Project.

This project complements and advances the crucial role of the existing NLEX as the infrastructure backbone to the Central and Northern Luzon regions which are expected to be the key beneficiaries of economic and development growth potentials in the coming years.

According to MNTC President and CEO Rodrigo E. Franco, the MNE Phase 2 Project, of which Segment 8.1 is an integral part, is considered as one of the flagship projects of the Philippine Government. It is also a vital road infrastructure that will help decongest Metro Manila as it provides alternative east and west access to mainline NLEX, bypassing EDSA and Balintawak Toll Plaza.

Phase 2 comprises the construction of the 16-km Circumferential Road (“C-5”) which will connect the existing C-5 expressway with the NLEX and onward with the MacArthur Highway to the west of NLEX. Segment 8.1 that is part of MNE Phase 2 Project is a 2.7 kilometer road linking Mindanao Avenue to NLEX in Valenzuela City, Manila.

In a recent briefing with the Pampanga press, Franco said they will start construction on Segment 8.1 on March 2009 as soon as the national government completes the settlement of right-of-way claims. MNTC will infuse some P2 billion for Segment 8.1 and would directly employ 600 workers for the project.

Global Pinoy

Photo from online pinoy

Read: There are some one million Filipinos working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alone. This is according to a local Saudi writer named Abdullah Al-Maghlooth. I received an e-mail of an article he wrote titled, “Imagine a World Without Filipinos” and I was very enlightened. According to him, in 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited some 223,000 workers from the Philippines while we comprise about 20 percent of the total sailors around the world. He said there are about 1.2 million sailors working in various places.

Al-Maghlooth said that it is hard to imagine a world without the efficient, reliable and hardworking Filipino workers. He attributed the Filipinos’ “uniqueness” as global workers to our ability to speak the English language fluently and the technical trainings incorporated in our education system. Honestly, this is the first time I read praises for our educational system, much more coming from a foreigner.

The writer’s article is focused on the role of Filipinos as workers enabling the success of the day-to-day business of other nations. So he is putting much weight on the thought that if Filipinos suddenly and simultaneously stopped working around the world, there will be great disaster.

And I was really touched to read the lines of the writer encouraging all people around the globe to thank the Filipinos because they take part in building and influencing the world economy. And saying that “they” are dependent on us, he asked his readers to “pay respect” to Filipinos and “learn” from our experiences.

I want to believe that the article supposedly published in Saudi Arabia is real. It makes me proud of what we contribute to the world. Seeing our nation’s strength and meaning in the eyes of a foreigner is a consolation to our misery as a democratic state.

But taking the writer’s point of view, it is indeed liberating to think that all over the world, industries, schools, hospitals, clinics, studios, entertainment and amusement parks, casinos, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and even in government offices like The White House, there are Filipino workers.

The global Pinoy virtually controlling the world economy. He may not be the powerful voice that dictates the rules, but the global Pinoy is the muscle that moves the world economy. He is part of the means of production. He has the power to create a paradigm that would eventually change global economy.

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.

GMA's pronouncement doubtful

By Minerva Zamora-Arceo
February 2, 2009

US car manufacturer Ford was reported to have lost $5.9 billion recently. It would also lay-off 1,400 employees this year, according to international news. Kodak, also based in US, is reportedly losing billions in sales and would possible cut-down human resource by 4,000 around the globe. Based on CNN and BBC reports, US had already lost 588,000 jobs since the economic recession hit them late last year.

In the country, economists are projecting almost the same figure of 500,000 to be laid-off this year as an effect of the global economic crisis. Recently, no less than Labor Secretary Mariano Roque admitted that there were some 15,000 job losses reported this year while more and more companies mostly run by foreigners are either cutting operational expenses or stop operations.

If you are regularly reading Punto Gitnang Luzon, you probably noticed the successive reports on lay-offs all over the region. The Bataan-based Japanese firm Mitsumi Philippines recently announced that it dismissed 134 contractual workers and compressed work days from six to five a week to 3,314 employees. The company said this is due to downtrend in product orders as a result of global crisis. Meanwhile, International Wiring System (IWS) likewise compressed workdays to 10 days a month to cut expenses.

Noble Metals, another Bataan-based firm, has served notice of two-month temporary shutdown effective February 20, 2009. At least 32 workers will be affected. Mitsumi and Noble are two of the 42 multi-national firms operating at the Bataan Economic Zone in Mariveles. In Bulacan, DOLE reported that 400 employees were laid-off in several firms in the province including Republic Cement, Four Seasons Apparel, Indo-Phil Textile. Job rotations have also become a trend as part of cost-cutting. Firms now doing rotations are Huey Commercial Inc. Sun King Electronics and Manila Luggage.

In Clark, some 1,000 workers at the Fontana Leisure Estate are still waiting to be paid for their services for the month of December 2008 and January this year.

But despite these reported lay-offs and trends in labor, President Arroyo bravely pronounced that the country is “out of sphere of the two-thirds of the world now into recession.” She added that we should be proud even because our country recorded a six percent growth in GNP (gross national product) and 4.6 percent growth in GDP (gross domestic product) in 2008. During the Lakas-CMD party executive committee caucus in Mabalacat, Pampanga last January 29, the President added that merging Lakas-CMD and Kampi “will keep us on road to First World in 20 years.”

The President is either fooled by paper reports and statistics on GNP and GDP. But such growth is not visible to the common people. Everyday, hundreds of Filipinos lose their jobs and this means more Filipinos losing adequate meals, shelter and education.

To hear the President say that we are not affected by the global economic recession is too good to be true. Foreign-funded firms in the country are already starting to cut production costs. Texas Instrument (TI) in Baguio City has reportedly laid-off workers and likewise decreased operations. We just hope that this would not affect the ongoing construction of TI inside Clark Freeport Zone.

What the people need to hear from President Arroyo are the contingency plans being prepared by the national government in the face of the growing unemployment in the country. It is very dangerous to make people believe that we are “out of the recession sphere,” making others more complacent amid the current crisis.

Instead of announcing plans for the Lakas and Kampi merger, the national leadership should instead announce what specific steps are being done to lessen the impact of these massive lay-offs. The local government units, being the front-liners, will definitely need all the support when their constituents start demanding for livelihood and jobs.

It is not yet time to flaunt political realignments in preparation for the 2010 elections. Too bad that we had enough people power, we are at a lost on what kind of leader we really want. When GMA won the last presidential elections, the Makati Business Club thought an economist like President Arroyo would help propel the country’s economy. But what we got was a leadership full of scams, corruption charges, high rate of unemployment, an OFW-driven economy and dirty political tactics.

Come to think of it, the country could have been better off with ousted President Estrada who waged an all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf rebels, started massive housing project for the poor and launched the dairy program in Central Luzon. (30)

Global Pinoy

Punto! Central Luzon
Mini Zamora-Arceo
Column Title: Let’s Talk About It
Article Title: Global Pinoy

Read: There are some one million Filipinos working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alone. This is according to a local Saudi writer named Abdullah Al-Maghlooth. I received an e-mail of an article he wrote titled, “Imagine a World Without Filipinos” and I was very enlightened. According to him, in 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited some 223,000 workers from the Philippines while we comprise about 20 percent of the total sailors around the world. He said there are about 1.2 million sailors working in various places.

Al-Maghlooth said that it is hard to imagine a world without the efficient, reliable and hardworking Filipino workers. He attributed the Filipinos’ “uniqueness” as global workers to our ability to speak the English language fluently and the technical trainings incorporated in our education system. Honestly, this is the first time I read praises for our educational system, much more coming from a foreigner.

The writer’s article is focused on the role of Filipinos as workers enabling the success of the day-to-day business of other nations. So he is putting much weight on the thought that if Filipinos suddenly and simultaneously stopped working around the world, there will be great disaster.

And I was really touched to read the lines of the writer encouraging all people around the globe to thank the Filipinos because they take part in building and influencing the world economy. And saying that “they” are dependent on us, he asked his readers to “pay respect” to Filipinos and “learn” from our experiences.

I want to believe that the article supposedly published in Saudi Arabia is real. It makes me proud of what we contribute to the world. Seeing our nation’s strength and meaning in the eyes of a foreigner is a consolation to our misery as a democratic state.

But taking the writer’s point of view, it is indeed liberating to think that all over the world, industries, schools, hospitals, clinics, studios, entertainment and amusement parks, casinos, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and even in government offices like The White House, there are Filipino workers.

The global Pinoy virtually controlling the world economy. He may not be the powerful voice that dictates the rules, but the global Pinoy is the muscle that moves the world economy. He is part of the means of production. He has the power to create a paradigm that would eventually change global economy.

But this possibility of the global Pinoy creating a paradigm shift in the global community also makes me think of all the reasons why we fail to boost our own economy. Filipinos excel abroad. Most of our skilled, trained, educated and middle class workers take chances in working for other countries rather than stay here and starve.

Our greatness is actually our failure. The continuous brain drain and human resource export is gradually crippling our own economy. Come to think of it. More and more of our college graduates and degree holders work overseas. More and more scientists sell their ideas to other countries. More and more doctors are treating the sick in other territories leaving our country short of specialists, making our people sicker than before.

The national government should seriously look at this problem instead of promoting brain drain and human resource export. Instead of getting contracts requiring export of our skilled workers, the Arroyo administration should concentrate in truly addressing the needs of our local economy. The national government should focus on pushing for entrepreneurship, agribusiness opportunities and invite more investors to locate in the country.

Better jobs means better pay. This would encourage our educated and skilled citizens to stay in the country and be productive in our own grounds. Better strategies and political drive for more investments will entice our people to stay here and influence our own economy. It is good to pay tribute to the global Pinoy but I dream of the day when the world looks up to us because of our country’s strength as a productive and progressive nation with strong local economy influencing global trends. (30)

Palengkenomics

Punto! Central Luzon
Mini Zamora-Arceo
Column Title: Let’s Talk About It
Article Title: Palengkenomics
Date Published: Thursday, June 19, 2008

As soon as the giant malls start padding their charges on rentals and other services due to the increasing price of oil and energy generation, consumers will eventually feel the effect in every small product they buy. And for those who temporarily disregarded the wet markets in exchange of the fully air-conditioned super- or hyper-marts, they will soon return to the old public markets to look for cheaper meat, fruits, vegetables, rice and other food commodities.

With the rate of increase on oil prices nowadays, economists are projecting that all commodities will shoot up to 50 or even 100 percent. Recent reports said oil price in international market will soon reach $200 per barrel. When the price of oil was only $100 per barrel, the price of rice was only P32 per kilo while the price of pork was only P120 per kilo. At present, the price of rice has temporarily stabilized at P38 to P45 per kilo while the price of pork is already pegged at P170 to P180 per kilo. And I am talking of the wet market prices. At the giant malls, you might be paying a few more pesos for each commodity. Imagine what will happen if oil price escalates to $200 per barrel? Would you care to buy a kilo of pork worth P250?

This is alarming, yes. And even more inevitable. This is why several private sector groups are now encouraging the local governments to refocus on strengthening the public markets to help the public cope with the unabated increase on prices of all commodities.

One of the board of trustees of the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL), Philip Camara of Iba, Zambales, came up with a brilliant idea to campaign for the Palengkenomics program. Camara is also the president of the Zambales Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a private sector representative for tourism at the Regional Development Council (RDC).

The Palengkenomics program aims to strengthen the public markets and develop them as centers of economic activities that would eventually dissolve cartels and empower the local traders by increasing their productivity and profitability.

According to Camara, the poor and neglected condition of our public markets creates disorganized commodity markets that enable cartels to gain control of the local economy, to the detriment of both the producers and the consumers. This, he said, can be reversed by “conditionally” privatizing public markets in favor of Vendors Associations.

The idea of going back to the basics is not bad at all. If there is one place in a local community that is actually moving the cash flow is the public market. It employs hundreds of people and feeding thousands from the slaughterhouses to vendors and helpers.

By encouraging LGUs to grant management rights to vendors association, there will be a common interest among all the stakeholders – that is to improve the markets and provide better services for the public. And as soon as the vendors are given additional income while they are being groomed to embrace the Bayanihan spirit anew, they will have a better chance to fight food cartels, thus, prompting the price of food commodities to become more affordable.

Camara further explained that public markets, being the economic nuclei of municipal economies, “are a key institution to put in order and generate motion towards far-reaching economic stimuli for local economic and even social development.”

He said that many public markets are in a state of disrepair and bad governance wherein vendor's associations are hardly empowered. True. Market people are even being used by some politicians for their electoral campaigns but without any concrete program for their security and welfare.

Camara further explained that production is not enough but market access is of absolute importance if we are to assure the profitability of the productive poor.

Our local government officials should think hard about this. It is true that production of food alone in our neighborhood will not guarantee that the end products will reach our tables without much inflation. The government should ensure that every product produced by the farmers or the fisherfolk will be available to all at an affordable price. It is not the wages or the salaries that matter. No matter how many times we ask for a wage hike, as long as the prices of commodities continue to increase, we will still end up lacking the quality life we want.

What is more important is for the government to bring down the prices of basic commodities, make everything affordable to the public including electricity and other utilities so the people could live comfortably. And one of the solutions is to ensure that the food we produce reach our tables fresh, safe and affordable by improving the public markets and empowering the vendors and small entrepreneurs.

About 'Survival Kit'

This blog aims to provide information on how to survive amid the growing concern on global economic crisis. Third-wolrd countries are the mostly hit states from the world-wide recession while laborers are the perennial victims of the fast-changing paradigms in trade, business and economy.

The internet has become a powerful tool in helping others around the world even in the smallest way we could. By providing the right information to those who are more blessed and more wealthy, we are spreading the goodwill and the survival of humanity as a whole.