Yesterday, August 26, 2013, the Philippines celebrated its annual National Heroes' Day. Yesterday, almost 300,000 heroes marched in Luneta Park to show their patriotism and love for the Philippines. People from all walks of life ay sama-samang lumabas sa kanilang bahay kasama ang kanilang pamilya at kaibigan upang ipaalam sa ating mga senador at kongresita na pagod na ang ating bayan sa pangongorakot nila sa kaban ng bayan. Pagod na ang mga mamamayan sa pagnanakaw nila sa buwis na binabayad ng ordinayong mamamayan. Tama na! Sobra na! Na-hihigh blood na tayo sa mantika ng pork barrel!
Gusto ko lang pong iremind kayong mga senador at mga kongresita na ang trabaho nyo ay gumawa ng mga batas at hindi para magnakaw sa kaban ng bayan.
Kayong mga senador at kongresita na kumukubra sa salapi ng bayan, hindi ba kayo nahihiya sa mga sarili nyo? Hindi ba kayo nakokonsyensa na ang pagkain na isinusubo nyo at ng pamilya mo ay galing sa pagnanakaw nyo? Nakatulog ba kayo ng mahimbing sa mga mansion na pinatayo ninyo mula sa dugo at pawis ng mangga-gawang Pilipino? Kung walang epekto sayo ang sinasabi ko, baboy nga kayo!
Bato-bato sa langit, opinyon lang at ang magalit ... magnanakaw!
Manila is a the worst brand among Asian cities, study says.
If Manila is a grocery item in a grocery store, people will likely not buy it. This can be shown in the recent study made by Public Affairs Asia and public relations firm Ogilvy. Below is a screen shot of the ranking which they published in their online journal recently.
According to the study, factors that impact location brands are :
-Word of Mouth (59%)
-PR and News (51%)
-Social Media (40%)
-Advertising (30%)
This means, the choices of those surveyed where affected by the above factors.
Below are the negative issues that impacted the brand reputation of the these Asian cities and affected the answers of the respondents:
-Pollution
-Instability
-Corruption
-Poor Governance
-Crime
-Bureaucracy
-Security
-War
-High Cost of Living
-Poor rule of law
-Terrorism
-Cleanliness
-Censorship
-High Taxes
-Poor logistics
-Labour unrest
-Poor Human Rights
-Poor Reputation
-Climate
-Poverty
-Violence
-War
-Discrimination
-Inflation
The economic gains that the Philippines is experiencing will be put in to waste if the government will do nothing to address this issues.
Traffic Everywhere!
Ang saya-saya! Kasi 10:00 am na ko nakakarating ng opisina ko this past few months. Ang traffic kasi everywhere! Road works here and roadworks everywhere! Kaya I'm always late sa aking work. It's more fun in the Philippines talaga!
Nakatira ako sa Bulacan at nag-wowork ako sa Makati. Dapat 5:30am ng umaga ay nakapila nako sa FX or else I'll be late for work. Ganyan ang buhay ko araw-araw, aalis ako ng bahay ng wala pang sikat ang araw at uuwi ako ng bahay kapag wala na ang sikat ng araw. Alam ko marami tayong ganito ang situation sa buhay. Kung marami lang trabaho sa Bulacan, eh hindi na ko magtya-tyagang mag trabaho sa Makati. Pero wala tayong choice, halos lahat ng matitinong trabaho ngayon ay nasa Makati o Ortigas lamang.
Bukod sa layo ng ating byahe, marami ring perwisyo sa kalye. Isa dyan ay ang grabeng traffic sa Metro Manila. Ewan ko ba kung ano ang solution sa problemang ito. Bukod sa napaka-daming barumbadong jeepney at buses sa kalye, eh hindi rin maganda ang kondisyon ng ating kalye at tulay. Kung hindi ito lubak-lubak ito'y makikitid. Siguro ito ang dahilan kung bakit matraffic sa Metro Manila. Pero, in fairness, maraming mga construction at road improvement na ginagawa these past few months. Kaya mas lalong lumala ang traffic sa Maynila. Hindi mo tuloy alam kung matutuwa ka or maiinis ka sa gobyerno. Naalala ko tuloy ang SONA ni Pres. Aquino last July. Ang sabi nya:
"Dati, panay ang “hoy, gising!” sa gobyerno (DPWH) , bakit wala daw kasing ginagawa. Ngayon ang reklamo, “Sobra namang trapik, ang dami kasing ginagawa.”
Eto lang ang masasabi ko sayo Pangulong Aquino, hindi ka si Kris Aquino, at sana ingatan mo yang bunganga mo. Parang utang na loob pa naming mga tax payers na marami kayong ginagawang butas na kalye at ini-espaltong kalye. Hello! Trabaho nyo yan, at wag nyo isusumbat sa amin na marami kayong infrastructure project! Pera namin yang ginagastos nyo, kaya pwede ba! wag nyo naman kaming perwisyohin! Hindi excuse yang mga punyetang DPWH projects na yan sa kunsuminsyon na traffic na idinudulot nito!
Nakatira ako sa Bulacan at nag-wowork ako sa Makati. Dapat 5:30am ng umaga ay nakapila nako sa FX or else I'll be late for work. Ganyan ang buhay ko araw-araw, aalis ako ng bahay ng wala pang sikat ang araw at uuwi ako ng bahay kapag wala na ang sikat ng araw. Alam ko marami tayong ganito ang situation sa buhay. Kung marami lang trabaho sa Bulacan, eh hindi na ko magtya-tyagang mag trabaho sa Makati. Pero wala tayong choice, halos lahat ng matitinong trabaho ngayon ay nasa Makati o Ortigas lamang.
Bukod sa layo ng ating byahe, marami ring perwisyo sa kalye. Isa dyan ay ang grabeng traffic sa Metro Manila. Ewan ko ba kung ano ang solution sa problemang ito. Bukod sa napaka-daming barumbadong jeepney at buses sa kalye, eh hindi rin maganda ang kondisyon ng ating kalye at tulay. Kung hindi ito lubak-lubak ito'y makikitid. Siguro ito ang dahilan kung bakit matraffic sa Metro Manila. Pero, in fairness, maraming mga construction at road improvement na ginagawa these past few months. Kaya mas lalong lumala ang traffic sa Maynila. Hindi mo tuloy alam kung matutuwa ka or maiinis ka sa gobyerno. Naalala ko tuloy ang SONA ni Pres. Aquino last July. Ang sabi nya:
"Dati, panay ang “hoy, gising!” sa gobyerno (DPWH) , bakit wala daw kasing ginagawa. Ngayon ang reklamo, “Sobra namang trapik, ang dami kasing ginagawa.”
Eto lang ang masasabi ko sayo Pangulong Aquino, hindi ka si Kris Aquino, at sana ingatan mo yang bunganga mo. Parang utang na loob pa naming mga tax payers na marami kayong ginagawang butas na kalye at ini-espaltong kalye. Hello! Trabaho nyo yan, at wag nyo isusumbat sa amin na marami kayong infrastructure project! Pera namin yang ginagastos nyo, kaya pwede ba! wag nyo naman kaming perwisyohin! Hindi excuse yang mga punyetang DPWH projects na yan sa kunsuminsyon na traffic na idinudulot nito!
Good News Nanaman!
I saw this article in the Global Business section of the New York Times, details below:
A Youthful Populace Helps Make the Philippines an Economic Bright Spot in Asia
By FLOYD WHALEY
Published: August 27, 2012
MANILA — In the upscale business district of Manila, a midweek crowd
spills out into the street. The New York-themed Borough restaurant is
pulsating to the beat of a Bon Jovi song, while young, hip Filipinos
take shots of tequila from a passing tray and sing in unison.
“Whoa-oh, we’re halfway there!” the crowd sings. “Whoa-oh, livin’ on a prayer!”
The revelers have reason to celebrate. Times are pretty good in the Philippines
if you are young, skilled and live in the city. Young urban workers are
helping to give the country its brightest prospects in decades,
economists say.
With $70 billion in reserves and lower interest payments on its debt after recent credit rating upgrades, the Philippines pledged $1 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help shore up the struggling economies of Europe.
“This is the same rescue fund that saved the Philippines when our
country was in deep financial trouble in the early ’80s,” said
Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento, a congressman from Western Samar.
The Philippines has certainly had a steady flow of positive economic
news recently. On July 4, Standard & Poor’s raised the country’s
debt rating to just below investment grade, the highest rating for the
country since 2003 and equivalent to that of Indonesia.
The Philippines is the 44th-largest economy in the world today, according to HSBC estimates.
But if current trends hold, it can leap to the No. 16 spot by 2050. The
Philippine stock market, one of the best performers in the region,
closed at a record high after the recent S.& P. rating upgrade, and
the country’s currency, the peso, reached a four-year high against the dollar at about the same time.
The gross domestic product of the Philippines grew 6.4 percent in the first quarter,
according to the country’s central bank, outperforming all other growth
rates in the region except China’s. Economists expect similarly strong
growth in the second quarter.
“We have made a very bold forecast for the Philippines, but I think
justifiably so,” said Frederic Neumann, a senior economist at HSBC in
Hong Kong.
A high population growth rate, long considered a hindrance to
prosperity, is now often seen as a driving force for economic growth.
About 61 percent of the population in the Philippines is of working age,
between 15 and 64. That figure is expected to continue increasing,
which is not the case for many of its Asian neighbors, whose populations
are aging.
“There are a number of countries in Asia that will see their working-age
populations decline in the coming years,” Mr. Neumann said. “The
Philippines stands out as the youngest population. As other countries
see their labor costs go up, the Philippines will remain competitive due
to the sheer abundance of workers joining the labor force.”
Many of those workers are feeding the country’s robust outsourcing industry. The Philippines, where English is widely spoken, surpassed India last year as the world’s leading provider of voice-based outsourcing services like customer service call centers.
According to the country’s Board of Investments, offshore call centers
employed 683,000 Filipinos in 2011 and generated about $11 billion in
revenue, a 24 percent increase from the previous year. The government is
seeking to expand the industry and has said it hopes it will generate
$25 billion in revenue by 2016.
The Philippines’ growing prosperity has also been driven by the 9.5
million Filipinos — almost 10 percent of the population — who work
outside the country and who sent home about $20 billion in 2011. That is
up from $7.5 billion in 2003.
Trinh D. Nguyen, an economist with HSBC in Hong Kong, said the
Philippines had benefited from an increase in government efficiency and
revenue collection, as well as aggressive actions to address corruption,
like the impeachment of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the
arrest of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on suspicion of
accepting kickbacks and of misusing government lottery money.
“It is not only short-term growth that draws investors to the
Philippines,” Ms. Nguyen said. “The fundamentals are there.”
But there are also real weaknesses in the country. Recent flooding,
which by some estimates submerged 50 percent of Manila, illustrates a
shortage of modern infrastructure that makes the Philippines highly
vulnerable to disasters.
“The Philippines is hit with several deadly and devastating natural disasters every year,” Ms. Nguyen said.
But government officials have said that the recent flooding might
actually help economic growth, because reconstruction will require an
increase in public spending and the country will have to put into place
programs to make it more resistant to the effects of natural disasters.
Another hurdle is the fact that the Philippines has traditionally
underexploited its natural resources. The government estimates that
there are 21.5 billion tons of metal deposits in the country, including
large deposits of nickel, iron, copper and gold. But they have never
been a significant driver of economic growth because extraction has been
mismanaged, Mr. Neumann said.
In the shorter term, there are concerns that the country’s newfound prosperity has not sufficiently eradicated poverty.
Other countries in the region, most notably China and Japan, but also
Thailand and Vietnam, have successfully developed export-driven
manufacturing, bringing millions of people out of poverty and increasing
the size of their middle classes. Manufacturing typically draws workers
away from agriculture, which pays less. But many of the large foreign
companies that financed such transitions to manufacturing in Asia have
avoided the Philippines because of periods of political instability.
The service sector — including the young call center workers who were
recently reveling in Manila — are helping drive an economic boom in the
cities.
But that type of outsourcing still provides only about 1 percent of jobs
in the country, according to data from the Asian Development Bank. And
the strong sector does not create jobs accessible to farmers or to
millions of other Filipinos in rural areas who seek a way out of
poverty.
“While the Philippines’ business process outsourcing industry has grown
impressively, it still employs a very small portion of the country’s
work force,” noted Rajat M. Nag, a managing director of the Asian
Development Bank. “It needs to aggressively develop its manufacturing
sector to create more jobs.”
On Emerald Avenue in the Ortigas business district of Manila, where
hundreds of call center workers pour out of skyscrapers to gossip and
smoke, Mika Santos, 18, does not have much to say about the national
economy. But she is very happy with her own situation.
After completing a two-year information technology course and passing an
exam in English proficiency, she started handling customer service
calls for a United States mobile phone company. She earns a
comparatively high salary for an entry-level job, and her employer
offers incentive bonuses, free meals and shuttle service.
Had she been born a generation earlier, she would most likely have
worked as a low-income farmer or gone overseas to find work. “My parents
didn’t have any opportunity like this,” she said.
Bato-Bato Replies: Hay! Ang sarap basahin nitong article na to. Napakagandang pakinggan na ang economiya ng Pilipinas ay umuusad na. Hay! Ang sarap naman. Kaya lang, bakit kumakalam parin ang sikmura ko? Bakit kulang parin ang sweldo ko? Bakit naghihikahos parin ako para pagkasyahing ang kakapiranggot na sweldo ko. Hay, lintek! Aanuhin ko tong "good news" na to kung hindi ko naman nararamdaman ang paglago ng economiya natin! Puro tiis at pasensya na lang! Bato-bato sa langit, lintek gutom na pamilya ko!
Mga Praning!
Dalawa lang ang characters sa video na ito:
1. Isang bus driver na hindi marunong rumespeto ng isang traffic enforcer at
2. Isang traffic enforcer na hindi dapat respetohin.
Hindi ko man alam ang buong istorya ng video na nito pero sa tingin ko ay may pagka-arogante rin ang bus driver. Hindi magwawala at maghuhubad na parang "Gardo Versoza" si mamang traffic enforcer kung hindi rin matigas ang ulo ng bus driver. Kitang-kita naman sa video kung pano murahin at patulan ng bastos na bus driver si Grado Versoza.
Ang advice ko sa inyong dalawa, maligo muna kayo at ang aasim ng mga kili-kili at ugali nyo!
Bato-bato sa langit, ewan ko ba bakit madaming praning sa Pinas! @#@!!!*^%$!
The First Lady Chief Justice in the Philippines
Congratulations to the new Chief Justice of the Philippines - Honorable Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno.
Kami ay lubusang umaasa sa reporma sa ating justice system. Sa haba ng iyong magiging termino bilang Chief Justice eh ewan ko nalang po kung kukulangan ka pa ng panahon para ayusin ang ating bulok at napaka-bagal na justice system. Magdilang angel sana.
Goodluck po sa inyo.
Bato-bato sa langit. Opinyon lang at wag magagalit.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
Paalam Sec. Jesse Robredo
Image via www.dilg.gov.ph |
Jesse Manalastas Robredo (May 27, 1958 – August 18, 2012)
was the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government of the Philippines.
Robredo was a member of the Liberal Party.
On July 9, 2010, President Benigno Aquino III named Robredo
as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government. Robredo was formerly the
Mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur. He was also the first Filipino mayor to
receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000.
On August 18, 2012 (PHT), the aircraft carrying Secretary
Robredo crashed off the shore ofMasbate City. He was scheduled to go home and
watch her daughter's swimming competition in Naga City. The Philippine
Department of Interior and Local Government said that the pilot sent a distress
call to the Masbate airport requesting an emergency landing. The plane never
made it to the airport and crashed in the ocean. His body was retrieved three
days later, August 21, 180 feet below sea level.
Content Source: Wikipedia
Ang Baboy, Bow.
Well, well, well...ROBERT BLAIR CARABUENA ang galing galing mo. Sana Pumayat ka na dahil ang baboy ng asal mo! Nagagalit din ako sa mga ilang engot na MMDA enforcers, pero hinding hindi ko magagawa yang ginawa mo. Nakakahiya!
Bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan oink-oink!
The Philippines is now Asia's New Tiger
After the tragic flooding that swept Mega Manila and nearby provinces last August 7, 2012, a brush of good news may be enough to pave away the drenched spirits of affected Filipinos. According to Michael Spencer, chief economist for Asia at Deutsche Bank AG, "The strongest-performing economy in the Asia today is the Philippines," his statement in a Bloomberg interview.
Yes you heard it right. Philippines, ikaw na! Kahit nakakaintindi naman ako ng wikang ingles, parang nahihirapan akong intindihin ang news na to. Hindi ko sya naiintindihan kasi hindi ko naman nararamdaman ang pag-lago ng ating economiya. Bakit hirap parin ako sa buhay? Bakit parang kapos na kapos parin ang aking sahod? Bakit gusto kong lumayas sa ating bansa upang humanap ng mas magandang opportunidad sa ibang bansa?
Kung totoo man ang sinasabi ni Michael Spencer, thank you po. Kaya lang, hindi po namin makakain yang good news mo. I, thank you.
Bato-bato sa langit, opinyon lang po at wag magagalit.
Bagong system ng rainfall alert, epektibo ba sa pagbibigay ng babala?
Video Source: GMA NEW ONLINE
Para sa mga hindi pa nakakaalam kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng PAG-ASA color warning system, panoorin po ninyo itong video.
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