Philippines – Page 32 – On The 8 Spot

January 28, 2009

Philippine Stimulus

Seems Congress is prepairing 100 billion peso stimulus package, roughly 5 percent of nominal GDP, not bad in scale, but I haven’t seen any of the details.(Can’t seem to find an online copy). As usual opposition makes noise because corruption would probably eat most of the stimulus, and recent reports suggests that they are going to use money from the SSS and GSIS. This is frankly scary because this is shadowing/mimicking what happened in the pre-need crisis early this decade. The GSIS and SSS do not have as large an endowement to begin with and it is probably not a good idea to enter investments they do not have any experience with. (I am reading reports that they plan on investing in infrastructure projects, which is very scary, because most of these projects are just not profitable in a purely financial sense, rather they are profitable in a societal utility sense.)

January 22, 2009

Oh Why Cant We Have A Better Press Corp. – Oscars best actress nominees – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

: Image via Wikipedia

A Little Proof reading/Fact Checking Please. Kate Winslet was nominated for “The Reader”. I’ve had long talks with chuck about this, but If we can’t trust the press with simple things like these, How can we trust them with the bigger issues and the hard stuff that they have to get right? Oh Why Cant We Have A Better Press Corp.

Oscars best actress nominees
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 22:01:00 01/22/2009
Filed Under: Entertainment general, Cinema, Awards and Prizes
BEVERLY HILLS—Best actress nominees for the 81st Academy Awards announced Thursday:
• Kate Winslet “Revolutionary Road”
• Meryl Streep “Doubt”
• Anne Hathaway “Rachel Getting Married”
• Angelina Jolie “Changeling”
• Melissa Leo “Frozen River”
Oscars best actress nominees – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

January 20, 2009

Not Mine–Brian Eno – The Big Here and the Long Now | DIGITALSOULS.COM | New Media Art | Philosophy | Culture

The incident stuck in my mind. How could you live so blind to your surroundings? How could you not think of ‘where I live’ as including at least some of the space outside your four walls, some of the bits you couldn’t lock up behind you? I felt this was something particular to New York: I called it “The Small Here”. I realised that, like most Europeans, I was used to living in a bigger Here.
Brian Eno – The Big Here and the Long Now | DIGITALSOULS.COM | New Media Art | Philosophy | Culture.

In the Philippines we have extremely clean houses, but we have dirty communities. People just seem to view thier’s as as small place as possible. Hope we find the community feeling.

January 19, 2009

Great News For The RH Bill–GMANews.TV – 63% of Pinoys favor RH bill, Pulse Asia survey says – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA

This is Excellent news! There may still be hope to pass this bill , maybe people are beginning to understand how

63% of Pinoys favor RH bill, Pulse Asia survey says
01/19/2009 | 09:43 AM
MANILA, Philippines – Despite the Church’s all-out campaign against it, six of 10 Filipinos favor a proposed bill on reproductive health pending at the House of Representatives, according to a survey by Pulse Asia.
Pulse Asia said the survey also showed eight of 10 Filipinos believe government should not only educate couples on family planning but also provide them with services and materials.
“A considerable majority of Filipinos 63 percent, whether aware or unaware of the reproductive health bill, expresses support for the proposed legislation while only 8 percent are not in favor and 29 percent are ambivalent on the matter,” it said.
Pulse Asia said majorities ranging from 56 percent in the Visayas to 79 percent in Class ABC are in favor of the bill.
GMANews.TV – 63% of Pinoys favor RH bill, Pulse Asia survey says – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA.

January 12, 2009

At McDonald’s, the Happiest Meal Is Hot Profits – NYTimes.com

: Image via Wikipedia

They still don’t do this here in the Philippines, except that we have lots of 24 hour McDonald’s store here. Maybe in a year or two. People mainly go to Starbucks to be seen, and moves like improving the interior design and making it a hip again would do wonders. In the Philippines McDonald’s is being squeezed at both ends. Local food Giant Jollibee has the lower end markets cornered whilst Starbucks has the middle to higher end markets for itself. McDonald’s here is finding it hard to find an image for itself. I think that their approach in the USA would also be a great fit for the Philippine market.

CHRIS WARD, 23, didn’t go to McDonald’s much because it wasn’t open late enough for after-hours snacks.
Casey Fillian, 32, and her friend Carol Milano, 33, gave up their teenage McDonald’s habit when they became more health-conscious adults.
And Russ Green, 47, wouldn’t go to McDonald’s because, among other things, he thought its food was unhealthy.
Yet here all four of them are, lined up at McDonald’s one recent morning, lured back by new menu items, longer hours and a sparkling new building that includes flat-screen televisions and video games for children.
Mr. Ward says he’s a regular again because his McDonald’s is open until 1 a.m. Ms. Fillian and Ms. Milano, now moms, say they often bring their children to the playroom and feel no guilt serving them apple slices and white-meat Chicken McNuggets. Mr. Green was drawn back in — grudgingly — because McDonald’s lattes are cheaper and more convenient than those at Starbucks.
At McDonald’s, the Happiest Meal Is Hot Profits – NYTimes.com.

January 9, 2009

Medical Expenses –Angry Bear: Who has "bad credit" when a million Americans file for bankruptcy?

Also in 2005, researchers at Harvard University completed a study that found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses. The average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000 and that 68 percent of those who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance. The study concluded that every 30 seconds in the United States, someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.
Angry Bear: Who has “bad credit” when a million Americans file for bankruptcy?.

I had intuited this, but have no real evidence. It is heart wrenching to see families that could have had a much better life except for the ravages of medical expenses.
Sadly most families even those in the Philippines middle class can barely afford one time costly medical procedures let alone conditions which require prolonged treatment .

December 23, 2008

Flip Pride- A Good Animated Filipino Made Film – OUR AWESOME PLANET: Kaya ng Filipino Lumipad… a DAYO Review

1. The Dayo Storyline is solid
One of the things I didn’t like about previous Filipino animated movies was that their storyline was corny. Dayo was able to bring to life our animist world with the Nuno sa Punso, Manananggal, Kapre, Tikbalang, Sirena and Syokoy. The Alikupong concept was brilliant. I wanted to shout, “Finally, Filipinos have made our first digitally animated movie! Yes!!!”
OUR AWESOME PLANET: Kaya ng Filipino Lumipad… a DAYO Review.

December 22, 2008

Philippine province tries to shake off its mafia image – Yahoo! Philippines News

After Edsa Revolutions 2 lots of UP grads were enlisted to become investigators for the Ombudsman (A local constitutional institution that is charged in going after corrupt officials). A friend wanted to help in fight corruption in the Philippines. He tells me that to investigate anything in Abra is akin to a death sentence. Its scary because in my home province of Bataan it seems that although we have not reached that point, we are fast going that route. Sometimes I ask myself, what can one man do? what can I do? I still haven’t found an answer.

But, he added, “we also want Abra to stand for something other than gunplay”.
Here the going rate for a Mafia-style “hit” on a local politician was just 5,000 pesos (about 100 dollars) in last year’s elections, according to people in the know.
“That is the house of a bodyguard of the former governor. Armed men knocked on his door and shot him dead during the election campaign,” a local rental car driver said as he showed visitors the sights of the provincial capital.
Despite its natural beauty and rich mineral endowment, many people here live in poverty. Communist guerrillas operate in the lawless uplands, and some towns have been practically abandoned by their mayors, Bersamin said.
Philippine province tries to shake off its mafia image – Yahoo! Philippines News.

December 9, 2008

Flip Pride: Manny Pacman Pacquiao Edition

from the freakonomics blog:

Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya Bratton
By Steven D. Levitt
INSERT DESCRIPTIONPhoto: regelzam0ra
I’m pretty sure Manny Pacquiao is a better fighter than Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton. But who is the better crime fighter? At least for one day, it appears that Pacquiao wins that title as well.
Pacquiao squared off against Oscar De La Hoya in a highly anticipated boxing match last Saturday. Pacquiao won the match, but he accomplished something else that night.
According to this newspaper report, the criminals in the Philippines where Pacquiao is from were expected to suspend their activities in order to watch the boxing match. Not a single crime was reported in Metro Manila during Pacquiao’s last bout.
It is not just the criminals who put down their guns; an unofficial ceasefire took place between Philippine military forces and their rebel foes during the fight.
Hat tip: Tim Groseclose
Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya Bratton – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.

December 9, 2008

Flip Pride: Manny Pacman Pacquiao Edition

: Image by sjsharktank via Flickr

from the freakonomics blog:

Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya Bratton
By Steven D. Levitt
INSERT DESCRIPTIONPhoto: regelzam0ra
I’m pretty sure Manny Pacquiao is a better fighter than Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton. But who is the better crime fighter? At least for one day, it appears that Pacquiao wins that title as well.
Pacquiao squared off against Oscar De La Hoya in a highly anticipated boxing match last Saturday. Pacquiao won the match, but he accomplished something else that night.
According to this newspaper report, the criminals in the Philippines where Pacquiao is from were expected to suspend their activities in order to watch the boxing match. Not a single crime was reported in Metro Manila during Pacquiao’s last bout.
It is not just the criminals who put down their guns; an unofficial ceasefire took place between Philippine military forces and their rebel foes during the fight.
Hat tip: Tim Groseclose
Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya Bratton – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.

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