Food firms eye direct input imports

Food exporters are batting for more direct importation of their raw material requirements such as flour and packaging materials to be placed under a customs bonded warehouse by the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC).

Jesus M. Tanchanco Jr., chairman of the Food Entrepreneurs & Exporters of the Philippines Inc. (FEOP), told reporters at the "Processed Food Industry Forum" the need to import flour and other packaging materials particularly glass bottles because of the high local prices of these items.

Tanchanco said they have the option to import flour and packaging materials directly or through the PITC, which also operates a bonded warehouse.

He, however, said they are also working with the Bureau of Customs in an effort to accredit additional bonded warehouses that they can tap for the imports of their members.

FEOP is eyeing India as source for flour and glass bottles. "Possibly we may import flour for our members but we will see how much low the price of the local flour can go," he said. Since last year, FEOP members are already availing of the cheaper-priced D sugar or locally sourced sugar.
The D sugar is actually intended for exports hence it is called world class sugar but through PITC, the FEOP were allowed a certain percentage from this sugar as long as the processed food that they produced are exported.

The D sugar is P200 to P300 per bag cheaper than the sugar sold in the local market. The demand of the FEOP members is averaging 10 tons a month.

"Half of our members are taking advantage of that like Monde Nissin and Rebisco Biscuits," Tanchanco said. According to Tanchanco, the two-day forum seeks to provide information and insights to their members on diverse topics on the state of the industry, food regulation and safety, new developments in export marketing and promotion of food, quality control and compliances, DTI programs for local marketing, import regulations on processed food products, environmental issues affecting the food industry, raw material sourcing and funding sources and alternatives.

Christmas ’08 Collection

Christmas has never been more colorful with Warehouse’s Christmas ’08 collection. Featuring a wide variety of styles and colors there is something for everyone in this collection.

In a rich jewel toned palette of teals and greens the Charleston brings the decadent 1920s look for Christmas. Dresses are sexy and super glamorous with petal ruffles, empire lines, maxi, maxi lengths and pretty bow ties. Ruffles, frills and 3D embellishment create a romantic and feminine story embodied in the Ophelis. Pearlized sequins, chiffon, tulle and organza give a watery and other worldly feel. A starlet 50s quality, ice cool glamour as personified by Grace Kelly, is reflected in full skirts and ethereal touched. Colors are soft and delicate with grey continuing as key trend with deepest black appliqué embellishment onto sheer fabrics contrast with the muted palette.

Burnished metallics, pewter and old gold invoke the spirit of medieval warriors. Aptly named the Armoury this collection features metal studwork, chainmail, paneling and sequins convey a harder edge glamour. Sumptuous jacquards, glazed effects and panelled silk satin add a feminine warrior princess attitude. Décor party wear looks are updated in a new palette combination of purple and ruby red. The key look is for show stopping party dresses, from floor skimming ruched halter satin maxis to mini pleat of ruffle proms and sexy one shoulder bustier cocktail dresses.

Maximize impact with multi ruffle effects, clusters of corsages and dramatic pleating and volume. Statement color silks and satins in jewel box brights. The Jewel collection pieces are sculptural with a 60s edge, Jackie O and Barbarella combined. Big bows, baby dolls and chunky beading on cute prom and shifts add a youthful edge to this flagship look.

A romantic, eclectic story where east meets west with a Napoleonic regal opulence in the Empire Collection. Draped empire line dresses, white tulle ballet skirt and neo classical embellishment, are worn with jewel encrusted Indian head dresses and necklaces. Think Raj princess in a winter wonderland. Gloss continues with its collection for parties, nights on the town or just when you want to shine.

HIV-AIDS awareness forum targets youth - 2

Fellizar said young Filipinos have a high awareness of HIV and AIDS, but points out that this knowledge needs to be translated into actual practice or life skills to help prevent the spread of HIV.
“There's a need to continue this awareness and be able to influence their decisions in life,” she added.

She cited “signs” in the country's AIDS registry which reflect a rising trend in the incidence of HIV infections each month.

Fellizar explained that though the country has a relatively low AIDS prevalence, the cases have tripled each month since 2005.

“What is important now is that people realize that young people and children can be also part of the solutions through ethical and meaningful discussions such as this,” the advocate added.
For his part, 22-year-old Andrei Ceballos of the Kabataang Gabay sa Positibong Pamumuhay believes young adults like him are not worthless when it comes to sensitive issues like AIDS.
He said the older generation tends to see the youth as such because of the image of some school drop outs, young people hooked on drugs, and teenage pregnancies.

“I know some people think that the youth are no longer the hope of the nation, but there are some things we can do to help,” Ceballos said.

He cited a certain project in Iloilo where young people hold a radio program to discuss topics such as rape, violence against women, HIV and AIDS and how these affect their age bracket.“We want to change the way others view us young people...That we are not sleeping on this issue,” Ceballos added in Filipino.

HIV-AIDS awareness forum targets youth - 1

Young people can do their share in addressing the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and be part of the solution, advocates said Friday.

Over 30 youth participants gathered in Quezon City to kick off the National Young People's Planning Forum to put together their own plan of action to address the HIV problem.
In an interview, Irene Fellizar, president of Lunduyan Foundation Inc, one of the forum's sponsors, pointed out that children and young people are among the most vulnerable to HIV.

“The most critical population is this population, because this is the age when they begin to be more adventurous. Many of their dreams may not be fulfilled because of HIV,” she said Friday.

The two-day forum will gather young people, aged 15 to 24, from all over the country to get their views on HIV and the acquired immunodeficiency (AIDS) syndrome, and what they can do to address it.

It is sponsored by the Council for the Welfare of Children's Committee on Children and HIV and AIDS, United Nations Children's Fund, Lunduyan Foundation Inc, and the Philippine National AIDS Council.

The activity is in support of the country's 4th AIDS Medium Term Plan from 2005 to 2010, which aims to prevent the further spread of HIV and reduce its impact on people, families and communities.

Economy grows 4.6% in Q3 amid crisis

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter grew 4.6 percent from a year earlier, despite the global financial crisis, government data showed Thursday.

The economy expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in July to September from the second quarter.

The government has revised second quarter GDP growth to an annual 4.4 percent from the previously announced 4.6 percent.

Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist, at Banco de Oro Universal Bank said: "This is good and it's better than my forecast of 4.4 percent. Quite unexpected as the quarter was the height of the US financial crisis."

Nicholas Bibby, economist at Barclays Capital said: "It came out better than expected. We've been looking for 4.0 percent (year-on-year). We thought that given the surge in consumer price inflation through the third quarter it would have had a big drag on private consumption.

"Private consumption may be a bit stronger than what we've thought and the government did increase public spending through the third quarter. Overall though, growth is expected to slow. We're looking for GDP growth of around 3.0 percent next year."

The government had forecast third quarter economic growth at 3.8-4.6 percent from a year earlier. Growth is also expected to come in between 4.1 and 4.8 percent this year after it hit 7.2 percent in 2007, a 31-year high.

The International Monetary Fund has cut its 2008 growth forecast for the Philippines to 4.4 percent from 5.2 percent earlier this year.

Inflation, which climbed to a 17-year high of 12.5 percent year-on-year in August, is expected to continue to slow and return to single digits as early as this month, the central bank said.
The Philippines' main economic drivers are exports of electronics and agriculture goods, and domestic demand fuelled largely by remittances from overseas Filipino workers.

Merchandise exports for the first nine months of the year rose 4.04 percent from a year earlier but exports contracted 2.7 percent in September from the same 2007 period.

Rice production on target - 2

Malabanan said field reports reaching his office as of the first week of November showed that an estimated 5.23 million metric tons of palay have been harvested from nearly 1.3 million hectares. That represents 51 percent of the 2.5 million hectares of paddy fields planted during the wet crop. Over 6.7 million metric tons of palay or unhusked rice have been harvested from half of the 2.5 million hectares of lands planted to rice for this wet or main cropping season for the staple.

Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program National Coordinator Dr. Frisco Malabanan said the initial yield report indicates that the Department of Agriculture (DA) could still attain a positive growth in palay production this year.

“Such preliminary yields indicate that the DA can still attain a positive growth palay production this year despite the significant drop in fertilizer use by farmers arising from the 100-percent jump this year in the cost of petrochemical fertilizers,” Malabanan said.

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Malabanan said the full-year production forecast of 16.6 million metric tons was based on the combined yields of 10.587 million metric tons in the first three quarters of 2008, which represents a growth rate of 7.22 percent compared to the aggregate volume of 9.874 million metric tons during the same period last year.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed palay production in the third quarter reached 3.467 million metric tons, a 10.17-percent growth compared to the 2007 yield of 3.146 million metric tons for the same period.In a statement, the Agriculture department said the palay yields were not as high as originally projected for the period because of the 30-percent drop in the application of costly inorganic fertilizers during the wet or main crop, leading to a decline in the per-hectare yields of farmers.

However, despite the decline in fertilizer usage, the Agriculture department managed to offset the potential production losses by increasing by 7 percent the total area planted to palay during the wet cropping season.

Malabanan said field reports reaching his office as of the first week of November showed that an estimated 5.23 million metric tons of palay have been harvested from nearly 1.3 million hectares. That represents 51 percent of the 2.5 million hectares of paddy fields planted during the wet crop.

Rice Production on Target - 1

Good morning everyone! Rice grains plays a very important part of life of the people. I may say most depend on rice. I want to share with you what I have read in one newpaper here.

Over 6.7 million metric tons of palay or unhusked rice have been harvested from half of the 2.5 million hectares of lands planted to rice for this wet or main cropping season for the staple.

Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program National Coordinator Dr. Frisco Malabanan said the initial yield report indicates that the Department of Agriculture (DA) could still attain a positive growth in palay production this year.

“Such preliminary yields indicate that the DA can still attain a positive growth palay production this year despite the significant drop in fertilizer use by farmers arising from the 100-percent jump this year in the cost of petrochemical fertilizers,” Malabanan said.In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Malabanan said the full-year production forecast of 16.6 million metric tons was based on the combined yields of 10.587 million metric tons in the first three quarters of 2008, which represents a growth rate of 7.22 percent compared to the aggregate volume of 9.874 million metric tons during the same period last year.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed palay production in the third quarter reached 3.467 million metric tons, a 10.17-percent growth compared to the 2007 yield of 3.146 million metric tons for the same period.

In a statement, the Agriculture department said the palay yields were not as high as originally projected for the period because of the 30-percent drop in the application of costly inorganic fertilizers during the wet or main crop, leading to a decline in the per-hectare yields of farmers.However, despite the decline in fertilizer usage, the Agriculture department managed to offset the potential production losses by increasing by 7 percent the total area planted to palay during the wet cropping season.

Smart: mobile phone gaming in RP growing

Good morning friends. I saw this news about this Smart Wireless. As far as my internet is concern now, Smart is my internet provider and it has a good service to me. I hope they will continue on serving people.

Wireless service provider Smart Communications is expecting growth in the mobile gaming business in the Philippines with stronger sales of Java-enabled mobile phones.

The company has already expanded its Game Station WAP service with a series of tournaments for mobile phone gamers. The prizes include PlayStation 3 game consoles and over P100,000 in cash.

Gian Conde, Smart Product Assistant for Value Added Service and Data, said gaming is huge in the Philippines, as shown by the popularity of online PC and stand-alone games, as well as handheld devices, such as the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.

The sales of Java-enabled phones that are capable of running games have also increased, largely because of lower cost of handsets.

In the past few years, Java-enabled color-screen handsets would cost around P15,000 to P20,000. However, some Java phones now cost less than P10,000, creating a bigger market for Java applications.

"Some people use their phones now not just for making calls or SMS but also to entertain themselves. If they are not listening to music, they might be playing some games," Conde said.
Conde said Game Station has about 5,000 titles in its library, the majority of which are casual games built only for mobile phones.

However, there are titles that are based on popular PC or console game licenses, such as the sports games created by Electronic Arts or Marvel. Some of these are being offered by Game Station.

Among these titles are Ironman, Incredible Hulk, NBA Live, Hellboy, Need for Speed, Deal Or No Deal, among others.One of the more popular PC and console games today, Guitar Hero III, also has a mobile phone version.

No perfect crime - 2

But even if Dacer belonged to a world where ethical lines were blurred if not totally ignored, that was no excuse to murder him. That many of those indicted for his murder are police officers, such as Cesar Mancao II and Glenn Dumlao who were arrested in the United States where they had fled to escape justice, only reinforces the public’s suspicion that some police officers are in reality agents of the criminal underworld. According to investigators, Dacer and his driver were abducted in broad daylight in a busy street in Makati, brought to Dasmariñas, Cavite, where they were tortured, and then taken to Indang, Cavite, where they were strangled to death and their bodies burned. Their remains were identified through dental records.

The brutality of the murder should make the public welcome Mancao and Dumlao’s arrest while deepening their wariness of the police. But the public should be equally wary about the politics that may taint politically charged controversies like Dacer’s killing. It seems, for example, quite suspicious that cases seem to be resurrected from the tomb of historical forgetfulness every time national elections draw near.

With or without politics, killings like Dacer’s cry out for justice. They must be resolved and the perpetrators haled to court and convicted. It is a sign of a mature democracy when criminal cases and other violations of the law are investigated, tried and resolved, without any political compulsion or consideration for personalities, regardless of their status in society or their social entitlements, and regardless of their political office or the size of their bank accounts.

While we’re at it, we should demand results from other cases involving high officials, particularly former undersecretary of agriculture Jocelyn Bolante, who disbursed P728 million in fertilizer funds to congressmen at the height of the 2004 election, ran off to the United States to escape the heat, and who’s now facing congressional grilling after he was extradited by American authorities. Another case is the murder of journalist Marlene Esperat, who had exposed Bolante. These cases show how politics and killings seem wedded like tangled vipers. Justice should untangle the knot.

No Perfect Crime - 1

Good morning everybody. All people should have to pay attention of this news which I have read in our newspaper.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, the anti-crime watchdog, said the arrest of two former officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the United States in connection with the 2000 murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer should show there’s no perfect crime. The remark is anticlimactic but it reflects the public’s relief upon learning that after eight years, the murders are on their way to a resolution. The cases are by no means closed, but the arrests should expedite the investigation and trial.

When his family reported Dacer’s disappearance in November 2000, many people immediately wrote him off as a goner. In those confusing days when the administration of President Joseph Estrada was collapsing, Dacer’s disappearance seemed merely to reinforce the general feeling that things were coming unhinged. It didn’t matter that Dacer belonged to a public relations industry where loyalties can be bought, where some PR professionals are bereft of ethics, and where treachery and betrayal may take place behind warm handshakes and profuse pleasantries. Dacer thrived and basked in a regime of false smiles and spurious allegiances, and his brutal death embodied the innately brutal nature of public relations, or at least public relations as practiced in the Philippines.

Sabina Reyes, Dacer’s daughter, testified in court that she had been told by her father that if something happened to him, it would be the handiwork of Panfilo Lacson, who was at the time head of the Presidential Anti-Organized-Crime Task Force (PAOCTF). She claimed Lacson was angry at Dacer for supporting Roberto Lastimoso’s bid for the position of PNP chief. She disclosed the contents of her father’s letter to Estrada in which Dacer endorsed Lastimoso for the top post and accused Lacson of waging a media campaign against Lastimoso and Ronaldo Puno, who was then the interior secretary. (Lacson has denied all of this.) How a publicist could affect public policy and top appointments in government indicates Dacer’s power, which certainly went beyond the strict limits of his profession.

Take a bite of chestnuts

Popular holiday foods include chestnuts. For one, they are no longer seasonal in the Philippines. It is common to find chestnuts being roasted in some shopping malls and supermarkets.

Chestnuts are full of beneficial nutrients like vitamins (A, B1, B2, Niacin, C), minerals (calcium, iron, phosphorus), fats, and protein. Unlike other nuts, it is low in fat and has a high starch content. It is usually eaten boiled or roasted or sometimes added to soups or used as stuffing.

Worldwide, there are around 100 varieties of chestnuts; the variety that produces single large nuts is thought to be more flavorful and better for cooking. This variety is called marrons in France.
A variety called horse chestnut is now becoming popular in the market as a food supplement. This is said to be rich in flavones which some modern research has shown to help support the normal integrity of the vascular system and connective tissue.

Flavones are flavonoids; a few thousand different flavonoids have so far been identified. Many of these serve as antioxidants or play important roles in maintaining the health of the body; nearly all flavonoids enhance the functionality of vitamin C. Flavonoids are sometimes redundantly called bioflavonoids.

As a class of compounds, flavonoids have been referred to as nature’s biological response modifiers because of their ability to modify the body’s reaction to other compounds such as allergens, viruses, and carcinogenic properties. This is because flavonoids possess anti-oxidant and free radical-scavenging activity. Certain studies have indicated that consumption of these compounds is associated with reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

So if you want to get all these health benefits from your chestnuts, you can now start cracking your roasted chestnuts and eat them plainly. Or if you prefer, here is a sample recipe:

New Investment up 96% at P370 B - 2

The data also showed that all sectors, except the ICT sector, were up. Leading the sectors was electricity, gas and water supply which generated P127.5 billion in investments and almost tripling the P45.83 billion investments inflow the sector in the January-September period last year.
Investments in the manufacturing sector also substantially improved to P104.37 billion from P77.65 billion followed by real estate, renting and business activities with P73.09 billion from P40.69 billion last year.

Transport, storage and communication generated P15.38 billion in investments from P6.23 billion last year. The infrastructure and industrial services sector generated P12.95 billion from zero investments in the January-September period last year.

The data also showed a good mix of equity investments where Filipino firms contributed P227.08 billion or 61 percent of the total investments figure while foreign investments represent P142.79 billion or 39 percent of the total.

In terms of nationality, the Dutch emerged as the biggest investors in the first nine months of this year with P36.9 billion followed by Great Britain P24.88 billion and South Korea P22.03 billion.

The U.S. and Japan, which used to be the country’s first two biggest investors ranked fourth and fifth. American investments totaled P16.38 billion and the Japanese P14.72 billion. Notably, the big-ticket projects that came in the January-September period this year were mostly in the power generation sector.

The single biggest investment was that of Emerald Energy Corp. for its P36.82 billion power
generation project in Batangas. The company is 99.99 percent Dutch-owned.

Other big-ticket items include the two power projects of British-Filipino Global Business Power Corp. with P22.14 billion and another P17.79 billion project, Kepco SPC Power Corp. of South Korea with P19.95 billion, and the Filipino-owned JG Summit Olefins Corp. P34.38 billion.
The only sore site in the January-September investments picture is the ICT sector, which posted a 28 percent decline in investments to P8.37 billion only from P11.61 billion in the same period last year. But despite the decreased investments, the sector has the biggest jobs contribution of 37,764 or 21 percent of the total employment 147,705 jobs that would be generated by the approved projects.(BCM)

New investments up 96% at P370 B - 1

Good morning everyone. Hearing this kind of good news will surely boost the eagerness of investing for your own business. This has referenced to one of the newspaper here in our country.

Despite the global financial crisis, all key indicators in the investments picture by the country’s premier investment generating agencies – the Board of Investments (BoI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) – are positive with combined investments in the first nine months this year posting a robust growth of 96 percent to P369.87 billion versus P188.62 billion in the same January-September period last year.

Data obtained by reporters showed the BoI project approvals contributed P275.49 billion or 74 percent of the total investments while PEZA contributed P94.38 billion accounting for the remaining 26 percent.

The approved investments, measured in terms of project cost, represent around 95 percent of the P391 billion combined 2008 investments target of the BoI and PEZA, which is 12 percent growth from the 2007 actual investments haul.

There were also more projects that register in the first nine months than last year with 698 projects approved by both agencies compared to only 560 projects approved in the same period last year.

Once fully operational, these projects are expected to generate 147,705 job opportunities, significantly higher than the 107,851 jobs generated on approved projects in the same period last year.

There’s Money in Rice Coffee - 3

Letty is not content, however, with just her rice coffee. Lately she has ventured into the manufacture of other products that she sells together with her rice coffee. One of her most promising new products is malunggay tea. She now processes about 300 kilos of malunggay leaves a month. As more people come to know about this, she could easily increase her production. The teabag machine has been instrumental in enabling Letty to process other tea products.

Among the new products are ginger-apple tea, squash tea, lemon grass tea, turmeric tea, ginger chips and salabat. Aside from reaping financial returns from these new products, Letty is helping growers of raw materials. She is making several families happy in Brgy. Linglingay in Munoz. They are supplying her with fresh malunggay leaves which she makes into tea. She buys the leaves at R10 per kilo.

Meantime, she is also paying attention to a three-hectare farm in Munoz where she grows rice organically. Another farm is a 10-hectare property in Cauayan, Isabela, which she and her husband are managing. Her husband is a bank employee in Cauayan. They don’t use any chemical fertilizers and pesticides in growing their rice. Thus, they can claim that their rice coffee is made from organic rice.Meanwhile, Letty does not stop looking for new products she could add to her product lines. And it would not be surprising if she will come up soon with other products from readily available indigenous raw materials.

There’s Money in Rice Coffee - 2

Nevertheless, by the year 2003, Letty was already convinced that making rice coffee could be a viable business. She resigned from her job as administrative assistant at PhilRice to concentrate in her rice coffee business. It did not take long for government agencies to notice her efforts. The Department of Trade and Industry lent a helping hand by improving her packaging and label design. On the other hand, the Department of Science and Technology also offered her three machines that could improve production efficiency as well as the quality of her product.

The three machines include a mechanical roaster, a pulverizer that makes uniformly fine instant rice coffee, and a tea-bagging machine. Oh yes, Letty’s rice coffee also comes in teabags, each containing several grams, and retailing at R10 each. The teabag machine is now also used to make tea out of other raw materials.

The machines have a total cost of R630,000 payable in three years, interest-free. Letty is now amortizing the machines at R17,000 a month. That is no problem for her as she has a good cash flow.

Making rice coffee is really profitable. It is a virtual goldmine. For instance, one cavan of rice will produce 168 pouches of ground rice coffee, each containing 250 grams. When sold at SM, the total value would be R12,558. Deduct the 30 percent cut by SM and Letty gets R8,791. The total cost of raw material, labor and other costs amount to R2,5000, according to Letty. After deducting that, the net is R6,291 per cavan. She usually processes 10 cavans a month for ground rice coffee so you can figure out what she makes.

The rice coffee in teabags is even more profitable. From one cavan of rice, she can make 5,520 teabags that retail for R10 each. The gross sales could then be R55,520 per cavan. Deduct the usual cost of production and the profit is staggering. Letty says she processes 8 cavans of rice for rice coffee in teabags in one month.

There’s Money in Rice Coffee - 1

Good morning friends. There is this Agriculture Talk which everybody can can money. I want to share it with you.

People from PhilRice call her the rice coffee magnate. And for a good reason. From very small beginnings, she has developed rice coffee making as her virtual goldmine. Her products that now include non-rice teas are sold in prestigious malls in Metro Manila, including the SM Mall of Asia and five other SM branches.

From SM alone, she now collects an average of R137,000 a month, an amount that is considered very significant for a micro-entrepreneur like her. Of course, she also sells a lot through other outlets in Metro Manila as well as in Nueva Ecija and other provinces.

Letty’s love affair with rice coffee all started in November 1997 during the anniversary of PhilRice. At that time the officials of PhilRice requested the women of Munoz to exhibit their rice-based food products like rice wine, chiffon cake, shang rice, butsi and others. Previously they had undergone training on making such products. In the case of Letty, she chose to exhibit roasted rice packed in transparent plastic. To each pack she pasted a typewritten "rice coffee" label.

The visitors were not exactly impressed by Letty’s rice coffee. After all, rice coffee is commonly made in households in Nueva Ecija. It is not a new product and it is very easy to do. All that is needed is to roast some rice, boil the same, and presto, one has rice coffee.

But that did not discourage Letty to pursue her project of making rice coffee and selling the same through sari-sari stores and other outlets. She confesses, however, that selling rice coffee to outlets such as groceries and other stores was no easy task. She had to endure discouraging remarks, including insults. Who would buy your rice coffee? This was one of the usual remarks she encountered.

Business and Society - 3

Our local officials may want to emulate what was done by one of the regional pioneers in Indonesia, Gamawan Fauzi, the top man in West Sumatra’s Solok region. After he took power in 2001, he quickly created a one-stop shop for government services, replacing an opaque and complex web of offices and brokers. Fauzi’s concept was to bring all government services under a single roof, post set fees, promote auto payment and guarantee prompt service as a means of rooting out corruption. The experiment has worked: the model has since been emulated across Indonesia, and Transparency International reports that corruption, while still high, has been reduced substantially.

Indonesia also should inspire our Government to adopt the right measures in dealing with the Muslim insurgency problem in Mindanao. It has become a model for its antiterrorism campaign by shutting radical madrassas, establishing an effective counterterrorism force and cracking down hard on suspected cells, while also avoiding human rights abuses. As the world’s most populous Muslim country (more than 90 percent of its population of 240 million acknowledge Islam as their religion), its democratization exemplifies an alternative to zealotry, intolerance and extremism.

As prices of commodities, including of petroleum, decline significantly, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and India – as well as China – will have to depend a great deal more from actively pump priming infrastructure and social services to boost domestic market for goods. Export promotion will have limited results as the traditional markets of the US, Europe and Japan suffer form recessionary forces. Let us watch closely what these emerging markets will do and emulate prudently and selectively their respective practices. Although it is impossible for us to completely decouple from the developed economies, there is much we can do to strengthen our ties with the BRIC and the Next Eleven which have become our fellow travelers to an economy free from mass poverty.

Business and Society - 2

Our leaders have to think as big as President Yudhoyono. After we recover from the impact of the ongoing financial meltdown in the developed countries, we have to be convinced that we too can grow at rates approximating the 8 to 10 percent which not only China, but also India and Vietnam have been able to register for the past 8 years or more. Vietnam, too, is not exactly a model of good governance and efficient infrastructures. But like India and China, it has been able to grow at 8 percent or more for a good number of years.

One key to Indonesia’s success is the decentralization of political power to the regions. Quoting the Newsweek article again: "Indonesia’s political turnaround has been just as dramatic as its economic one. The president, known universally as SBY, is a former general who was elected in mid-2004 and has since become the country’s most effective democratic leader. In four years, he has helped Indonesia roll up its terrorist problem and rebuild from the 2004 tsunami. Less appreciated (but more enduring), he has backed a profound political decentralization program, empowering hundreds of local administrations. Jakarta now rules by consensus, not decree. This has its downsides: it makes it impossible to railroad through big national development projects of the sort China is famous for. As SBY himself admits: ‘In many circumstance, we face local communities that don’t agree with government projects, so we have to convince them. I do no think the system is wrong. In a democracy like ours, change, reform and resistance are normal.’"

Corruption, chaos and complexity should not be obstacles to the Philippines replicating its 2007 performance of growing at 7.3 percent or more. We just have to make sure that we are allowing the Jesse Robredo’s, Marides Fernando’s, Fred Tinga’s, Sonny Belmonte’s, and similar outstanding local officials to do their thing, with little interference from the national government. Actually, many of these provinces and cities led by competent and honest local officials are already growing in Gross Regional Product at more than 7 percent annually. We just have to multiply their numbers to get a Gross Domestic Product growing at a similar rate. The conditions for this take off already exist in the Philippines. We are not far from what Indonesia has accomplished in political reforms over the last ten years. The Newsweek article describes these favorable conditions that have kick-started the Indonesian take-off: "The country’s largest parties now basically agree on economic policy and the need to reduce corruption, improve the rule of law and make government ore efficient. Key democratic institutions – including a free press, impartial courts and a legislature chosen by voters – are remarkably robust, and the once all-powerful military has largely removed itself from politics." The regional dispersal of economic activities has reduced Jakarta’s share in Indonesia’s GDP to just 15 percent. With the massive infrastructure projects being pushed in Mindanao, Northern and Central Luzon and Central Visayas, we should be moving in the same direction. We just have to decapitate the monstrous capital that is the Metro Manila region.

Business and Society -1

Good morning friends. I was reading one of our newspaper here in our country and I found one article in business section. I want to share it with you. It's a good news.

Among the emerging markets that in the next twenty years will dominate the global economy are three Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. They have been included in the famous "Next Eleven" (after the BRIC countries) because of their large internal markets and their rich natural resources. A recent article in Newsweek by George Wehrfritz (October 11, 2008) entitled "Indonesia As the New India," should serve a food for thought for our leaders, both in the public and private sectors.

According to Mr. Wehrfritz, Indonesia’s economy is so buoyant that it can be compared to another Asian giant: India: "Both remain corrupt, chaotic and excruciatingly complex. Yet each is also an attractive emerging economy and in India’s case a star of the developing world. Could Indonesia be next? Its economy grew by 6.3 percent last year, the main stock exchange ranks among the world’s best performers since 2003 and last year foreign direct investment nearly tripled, to a respectable billion. All of which resembles India in the 1990s, when reforms kick-started a potentially massive economy – though outsiders barely noticed until the IT sector took off and growth passed 8 percent. In Indonesia, the key sectors are energy, mining and soft commodities like rubber, palm oil and cocoa. And in an exclusive interview, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he sees no inherent reason why a big democracy like his can’t grow as fast as China, which has posted 10 percent growth rates in recent years."

Recycling program launched today

Good morning to all! I want to share with you one of the program this Christmas which will benefit many people of Makati City, Philippines. It's good to hear this kind of new because it will help the poor and the needy people.

In anticipation of the Yuletide season, the Makati City government will launch today a recycling program to encourage residents to reuse garbage to create novelty Christmas gifts.
With the theme "Basura’y Bawasan, Balikgamitin at Baguhin ang anyo sa Pasko (3B sa Pasko)," the project will include a month-long exhibit and trade fair of different kinds of Christmas items made from recyclable materials.

It will tour the city’s 16 public schools and 19 barangay neighborhood organizations so as to promote recycling as a means of alternative livelihood. According to Department of Environmental Services (DES) chief Danilo Villas, the 3B sa Pasko, which will run until December 5, is organized to introduce waste reduction as an entrepreneurial source of livelihood where the main capital is basically composed of recyclable materials.

"It’s Christmas time once again and we are now encouraging our school officials, students and residents to take those recyclables from their schools and homes and make colorful and innovative items which they can sell at the 3B sa Pasko exhibit," Villas said. Villas added that event organizers will also choose among the participants, who has the best product and the best booth.
The best product excellence will be judged by 40 percent for recyclables, 20 percent for usables, 20 percent for creativity, and another 20 percent for innovativeness.

On the other hand, the best booth will be judged by 20 percent for product display with tag price and description, 40 percent for booth décor and arrangement, and another 40 percent for uniqueness and use of recyclable materials.

Villas assured that visitors can purchase beautiful novelty items such as Christmas and home decorations at reasonable prices.

Gov’t doctors required to use generic names for prescribed medicines - 1

Good morning to all of you! I heard this news is the radio while I’m eating my breakfast. After hearing this new, I also read this in the newspaper so that’s why I decided to share it with you. This will help a lot

All government doctors and health workers in government facilities are now required to write only generic names of prescribed medicines, following the mandate of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9502 or the Universally Accessible and Affordable Quality Medicines Act of 2008 signed by health officials recently.

The law, also known as the Cheaper Medicines Act, strictly states the use of generics by doctors even in private health facilities. However, doctors working in private clinics and hospitals have the option of writing the commercial brands of medicines in their prescriptions. In a conference announcing the signing of the IRR in Quezon City yesterday, Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said this will pave the way for the reduction of the cost of medicines in the country.

He said the IRR seeks to improve competition, improve the availability of medicines, and contain the cost of drugs in the country. He said the IRR will also improve the "health professional’s behavior in responding to the needs of indigents and other vulnerable sectors of society" through the use of generic terminology in all transactions. One salient feature of the IRR is the targeted reduction of the cost of medicines at not less than half the drug prices in 2001. "Ang benchmark natin ay 2001 prices, so any downward movement of prices of medicines must be in reference to the 2001 benchmark," Duque said.

Obama elected 44th and first black President of US - 2

Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator and son of a white mother from Kansas and an African father from Kenya, mined a deep vein of national discontent, promising Americans hope and change throughout a nearly flawless 21-month campaign for the White House.

Obama stepped through a door opened 145 years ago when Abraham Lincoln, a fellow Illinois politician, issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed African-Americans from enshavement in the rebellious South in the midst of a wrenching civil war.

Obama lays claim to the White House on Jan. 20, only 43 years after the country enacted a law that banned the disenfranchisement of blacks in many Southern states where poll taxes and literacy tests were common at the time.

Cautioning Americans that the nation’s problems were manifest, Obama said: ``The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you we as a people will get there.’’Democratic primary rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton promised Obama her full support and congratulated Americans for making him the 44th US president.
``In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change, and refused to be invisible any longer,’’ she said.

With victories in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other battleground states, Obama built a commanding lead over McCain after surging in the polls in the midst of a national financial crisis. He and his fellow Democrats sought to link McCain to the unpopular George W. Bush.

Obama elected 44th and first black President of US - 1

Good morning friends. I was listening to the radio about the winning moment of Obama. His speech is very touchy. Everyone is waiting for the result of that US Election. I want to share this news with you with reference to our newspaper here Manila Bulletin.

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama wrote his name indelibly into the pages of American history Tuesday, engineering a social and political upheaval to become the country’s first black president-elect in a runaway victory over Republican John McCain. Less than an hour after sealing his hold on the White House, Obama, the country’s 44th president, and his wife Michelle stepped onto the stage holding the hands of their two daughters at a massive victory rally in Chicago’s Grant Park.

``If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,’’ the new president said.He spoke warmly of McCain, the 72-year-old Arizona senator who was his rival in the longest and most costly presidential campaign in American history.

After McCain called Obama to concede victory, he spoke graciously of Obama at an outdoor rally in Arizona, commending the president-elect on his victory and emphasizing that he understood its special importance to African-Americans.

``The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly,’’ McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona, many of whom booed and growled as he called for the nation to unify behind the victor and his running mate, Joe Biden.

My Special Angel

You are my special angel
Sent from up above
The Lord smile down on me
And sent an angel to love
You are my special angel

Right from paradise
I know that your an angel
Heaven is in your eyes
A smile from your lips

Brings the summer sunshine
The tears from your eyes

Brings the rain
I feel your touch

Your warm embrace
And I’m in heaven again
You are my special angel

Through eternity

I’ll have my special angel

Here to watch over me

The Theme ….All Saints’ Day – 3

Good morning every one. Let me continue my last part of this article.

How can the poor and the deprived make any headway in this life? Together, they will just increase their misery. Misery piled on misery becomes a heavy baggage obstructing their way to decent existence. Surely, the medieval habit of penitential flogging appears ludicrous in this age of technology, but floods and rice shortage and joblessness have created interesting alternatives, like living on the rooftop of your half-buried house in Baguio or searching for food in trash cans. The poor, under these circumstances, have practically no chance, “for the world,” “which seems/ to lie before us like a land of dreams,/ So various, so beautiful, so nest,/Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light/Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain .” Perhaps, but only in a world devoid of spirituality. Here, even the poor consider poverty a temporary setback. What you sow you shall reap, and you are simply asked to sow the right seeds.

While candlelight flicker in the tombs, while prayers rise to the sky, while flowers perfume the dead’s memory, the living, whether rich or poor, are humbled by the thought of the body’s frailty. The graveyard is a great equalizer, and a purveyor of hopefulness. The departed re the living in repose. The dead, ‘were woven of human joys and cares,/Washed marvelously with sorrow, swift to mirth,/The years had given them kindness. Dawn was there,/And sunset, and the colors of the earth./These had seen movement, and heard music; know/Slumber and waking; loved;gone proudly friended;/Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;/Touched flowers and furs and cheeks.” To die in order to live. To live in order to die. The bell tolls as much for the dead as for the living, for they are one and the same.

The Theme ….All Saints’ Day – 2

This also explains the apparent sturdiness of the Pilipino soul when confronted by perils and calamities. Though the typhoons and mudslides have inundated towns and cities in many places here, killing people in their paths, though terrorists have burned houses and people in the South, we pick up the pieces of our lives, and resume the dangerous business of living. Not that we are gluttons for punishment, but that we possess a surplus of patience.

Whereas in other countries such hardships might be cause enough for a major national upheaval, here we only blame ourselves, attributing our punishment to some unforeseen violation of divine regulations. After all, we are responsible for our actions, good or bad. Reaping what you sow, karma, “guhit ng palad” (palm lines) – we have many terms for their consequence, but we simply gloss over the causes. And all this, strangely enough, seems to work to our advantage. Divine Providence is a veil behind a veil which is difficult to penetrate. Wise men in their limited wisdom try to , and end up adding another veil to it. Is not acceptance, then better than interrogation? The acknowledgement of things as they are enables us to adjust our abilities and weaknesses to the realities at hand. This may not ennoble the spirit, but it will empower the body. In a manner of speaking, the poor derive strength from their poverty, deprived form their deprivation. The earlier they acknowledge that, the sooner their struggle for amelioration can begin. Instead of raging against an imagined cruel god, they will assess their chances of survival. Sure many of them will fail in the enterprises, but the few who will succeed will inspire others.

The Theme ... All Saints' Day - 1

The Roman Catholic Tradition of honoring the dead underscores the paradox of earthly existence and the needs of communicate with the mysterious parts of being. The theme confirms the universal longing for the ultimate knowledge. It subverts the science that governs the mind, for it announces that we live in order to die and die in order to live. Millions who follow the light of the belief continue to rely on its promised benevolence. We honor the dear because we want to be honored when we die. The ritual materials with which we manifest our belief – flowers, candles, prayers, vigils, meditations – strengthen our resolved and fortify our spirit, so that we vanquish without complaints the hardship attendant to the c celebration. We sweat through heavy traffic and under the noonday heat, we bear the din and the foulness of the marketplace into which the cemetery has been turned, we suffer the blast of radios and vocal chords that fracture the essence of our prayer, but these are insignificant when considered against the magnitude of hope that their toleration gives us.

For tolerance of pain is a desirable form of salutary martyrdom. It is loss with the promise of gain, or pain to be washed away by pleasure, of something emerging from nothing. But first there must be the realization of things as they are, rhapsodized by Wordsworth thus: “The rainbow comes and goes,/ And lovely is the rose;/ The Moon doth with delight/ Look round her when the heavens are bare;/ The sunshine is the glorious birth;/ But yet I know, where’er I go,/ That there hath pass’d away a glory from the earth’- before the vision comes of things as they will be: “Though nothing can bring back the hour/ Of splendor in the grass of glory in the flower;/ We will grieve not, rather find/ Strength in what remains behind.” In the theology of hope, every suffering accepted is a digit toward the required sum for salvation, for “God doth not need/ Either man’s work of His own gifts: who best/ Bear his mild yoke, they serve Him best.”

Multi-billion dollar omega 3 fatty acid may be produced from local seaweed - 2

However, to become successful in its food supplement development, research institutions need budgetary support. For this project, budgetary need is estimated at P3 to P5 million particularly for the laboratory part.

Nutraceutical projects like this needs devices like a high performance liquid chromatograph which separates, identifies and quantify compounds, gas chromatograph which identifies compounds in their gas state, and a flash chromatograph.

MSI is planning to conduct a fucoxanthin fish-feeding test over at least a one-fourth hectares fish pond. Test has to be conducted on different types of fish to determine effectivity on a certain specie. For a future commercial operation, an extraction plant that has a 10-kilo extractions capacity is needed to be put up initially prior to large scale commercial production.

Omega 3 fatty acid is known to reduce coronary heart disease risks and to enhance brain productivity. It is known to contribute in fish oil’s ability to stimulate blood circulation as it helps breakdown clot formation from a compound called fibrin, reduce blood pressure arising from cutting of blood triglyceride levels, and thus reduce heart attack risks. Fish oil is also known to fight cancer specially for breast, colon, and prostate.

The Japanese have also used fucoxanthin in experiments as a slimming agent. The MSI project can be completed over an estimated three to five years given enough funding and staff support. Research and Development experts here will need doctorate graduates on Chemistry of Biochemistry.