Thursday, August 31, 2006

Peso at 50 level

I posted this question on Philippines www.gov.ph/forum/current events
'What did you do to strengthen the peso? Tell your story.'
Here's some of the response:
I bought some like I do every month.

I replied:
Absolutely! As more people, Filipinos or otherwise buy pesos, the price of pesos gets better! Just like a stock price.
I sent and remit up to 90% of my income to the Philippines. I don't bring products from here when I go for vacation and I told my friends to do the same. I bring and introduce our products to Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. I promote tourism of our country and has even made one presentation here in my company about the Philippines. Things like these, that I can do by being an OFW.

My reply:
90%! Wow! that's a lot! Commendable stuff you're doing to strengthen the peso. However, the primary purpose must be what is best for you as an individual. Doing what's best for you, will benefit your family and indirectly the nation as a whole. Too much remittance money coming in the Philippines without the equivalent increase in available goods and services is inflationary. If you are sending that much money in the Philippines, make sure it is to produce goods or services, not just to consume or buy goods and services. Inflationary means on the next buying cycle of your remittance money for goods and services, the price for those goods and services will be more than the acceptable level of below 10% because a lot more people has money than the available goods and services.
You're right. Not all this 90% is being spent. How can a man spend this much of his income for necessities though? Only 12 percent is being spent for daily necessities while the rest is being infused to my small family business and real estate investments.

Snotty Someone ask...
What did you do Ate Mely? Nagbakasyon ka na ba sa Pilipinas? Bumibili ka ba ng mga Pinoy products na nasa US? Nanghihikayat ka ba sa mga kasamahan mo sa trabaho na maging turista sa Pilipinas? To all Filipinos living abroad, we can do alot for the Philippines by promoting our country as one of the most beautiful tourist destination in the world. Share pictures of beautiful places of the Philippines to your friends, officemates,or relatives. Share your stories and experiences of the beautiful tourist spots of the Philippines. Iyon mga hindi pa nauwi for 5 years, aba eh its time to visit the Philippines na po. Enjoy na kayo sa bakasyon, makaktulong pa kayo sa ekonomiya ng pilipinas. Tayo na kabayan, balikan natin ang matatamis na mangga, lanzones, kaimito, buko at ibpa. Mga kamag-anak at kaibigan na matagal ng di nakita. Makipagpuyatan tayo sa mga gimikan sa mga siyudad. Manguna sa mga banyagang turista sa pagpunta sa magagandang tanawin at pasyalan. Panahon na para magbakasyon sa Pilipinas!!

The following post became heated a little bit.
I am a recent convert, practicing capitalist! I own a business involving pesos. I am minority partner in a corporation in Manila which took almost a year to set up. I have dual citizenship to facilitate corporation application but did not really facilitate. Strong, weak, up or down of peso price does not affect my business.
Researching for my business mission statement, I stumbled into economic theories of Adam Smith, Hayek and Milton Friedman.
More Filipinos must be capitalist. Friedman wrote in 'Free to Choose' that in capitalism true economic freedom are achieve because of voluntary exchange between individuals guided by price, labor and profit only. Economic freedom is necessary for political freedom. Filipinos rally in the streets because they don't have political freedom. We have freedom of speech. Our political freedom is limited if our economic freedom is limited. To acquire economic freedom, more than a few Filipinos must use capitalism as an economic model. To be a capitalist, we must compete with other individual real or pseudo capitalist.
more coming...

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Tiger Woods wins again...

Four in a row, at WGC-Bridgestone in a play-off.
previous post, Tiger Woods watch...
1. British Open
2. Buick Open
3. PGA Championship
4. WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Akron, Ohio, August 24-27,2006
Commentary:
Tiger Woods focused his brain to command his body to take the lead when Cink and Furyk physically faltered on the back nine, allowing Casey to lead. No way will Tiger Woods let a European Ryder Cup player win this tournament, a WGC tournament he can win blindfolded, a tournament he won in the dark. No way will Tiger Woods booster a European Ryder Cup player's confidence weeks before Ryder Cup team competition.
Prediction:
Tiger Woods will not break golf record 11 tournament wins in a row until Byron Nelson's passing.
He will break Nicklaus record 18 majors first with 4 consecutive majors in the same year, a real Grand Slam, plus 2 more majors before his 33rd birthday.
Next tournament at Deutsch Bank Championship next week, in New England.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Tiger Woods said it again...

at after his third round interview Saturday. He bogeyed four holes in a row and still end up one shot from the lead at WGC-Bridgestone
“My body took me out of the tournament, and my mind will bring me back in it,” Woods said. “That’s what I tried to do today. I didn’t hit the ball good, and my speed wasn’t good early. That was all physical mistakes. “But the mind is powerful enough to tell the body what to do, (and) it’ll do it.”

Brain power too needs practice, practice, practice 'to tell the body what to do'.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Tiger Woods says...

Tiger Woods interviews are illuminating. Every PGA tour pro competing against him should read his physio-psychological analysis of his actions. Full of tid-bits on how he manages autonomic responses of his body to crisis and stress at hand.
Transcipt of Tiger Woods Press Conference: WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL, Wed Aug 23, 2006 here.
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that your mind will carry you. The mind controls the body, so if the mind tells the body what to do, it'll do it; just a matter of getting the mind under control to make your body respond. And under the most extreme circumstances when the competition is that fierce and that heightened and my concentration is that high, yeah, I feel like I can make things happen. It doesn't always happen, though, but yeah, I feel like I can.
Over the course of my golf career I've had it happen enough times where I can always say to myself, "I can do this, I've done it before." That in itself gives you a lot of confidence.

In other words, practice, practice, practice. Practice golf swing, strokes and winning. Every win is practice for the next tournament win.
A model for everyone, golfer or otherwise.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Steve Centanni, Fox News journalist abducted 8/14/06

Steve Centanni bio here abducted on August 14, 2006 with cameraman, Olaf Wiig. by masked Palestine gunmen. No news has been released since by Fox News or any media outlet except blogs.
Michelle Malkin request a blogburst today.
LORD God, shield them from harm.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Tiger Woods watch!

Successive tournament won...
1. British Open at Liverpool, England, July 20 - 23, 2006
2. Buick Open Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich., July 31 - August 6, 2006
3. PGA Championship, Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Ill., Aug. 17 - 20, 2006

From www.Townhall.com
Dean Barnett, a political blogger FAQ on Tiger Woods here
'the secret to his success is what’s between his ears.'
What’s special about Tiger is the way he stands up to the maddening game of golf. That’s why serious golfers almost uniformly love Tiger – he refuses to bend to the games disappointments and various sundry cruelties. Golf aficionados appreciate this, and are consistently astonished by it.

Tiger Woods website here.
Tiger Woods Foundation website here.
next tournament Akron, Ohio. WGC-Bridgestone, Aug 24-27, 2006 as defending champion.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

too many holidays in Manila!

Monday, August 21 is a non-working holiday (whatever that means) in Manila.
What is the difference between a working holiday and a non-working holiday?
For a business owner, do you pay your employees on non-working holiday?
What does that say about productivity?
Human nature dictates that our body and brain also goes on extended holiday every one declared holiday. Thus the popularity of 3 day weekend holiday attachment.
Business survival, profit and loss motivates business owners to reactivate their body and brain after a holiday.
Employees by job retention and paycheck.
How many working holidays and non-working holidays are there in the Philippines?

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Tiger Woods watch on wins in a row

Successive wins on tournament he enters.
1. British Open at Liverpool, England
2. Buick Open Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich., July 31 - August 6, 2006
next is PGA Championship, Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Ill., Aug. 17 - 20, 2006

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Unacceptable passing rate for Filipino nurses!

This news article in The Manila Times Online is disturbing. Less than 50% of nurse examinees passed the board. Even with leakage of exam questions, only 17,871 passed, out of 'some 43,000 graduates'.
What does that tell you? More would have failed without the leakage?

All nursing schools with failure rate over 10% must be close immediately! High failure rate is a disservice to the nursing profession, individual nurses, Philippines school system and the nation as a whole.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Leakage leaves examinees sitting on pins and needles By Francis Cueto

For two successive days last June, some 43,000 graduates of various nursing schools in the Philippines trooped to the testing centers throughout the country to take the board examinations supervised by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The PRC announced the results of the exams on July 19. Only 17,871 passed.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Better than WTO!

Forget about DOHA! GFTA is better

Global Free Trade Alliance

Much like free trade itself, a GFTA would be beautifully simple. No one has to sign a treaty, because the alliance is voluntary. Countries join by passing laws that guarantee their commitment to free trade, open investment, property rights and minimal regulation. Congress would give GFTA members access to the U.S. market -- with no tariffs, quotas or other trade barriers -- provided they grant the same access to the U.S. and other GFTA members.

Best of all, a GFTA wouldn't compete with the WTO. Both encourage countries to embrace free trade. But as the WTO expands, it has become more difficult to get a deal, since each country has a form of veto power.

Instead of forcing dozens of countries to green-light identical language before a deal takes effect, a GFTA puts the language out there so willing nations can meet those conditions. As new members join, the organization would grow increasingly attractive; neighboring countries would see the benefits of belonging and say, "I want to join, too." That would encourage non-member countries to make market-friendly reforms.

Plus, unlike bilateral or regional free-trade agreements, a GFTA wouldn't be limited to a small number of partners or a specific region. In theory, it could include all nations. However, unlike the WTO (leader of the Doha Round), it would be based on true free-market practices rather than a slow decrease in trade barriers.

We live in an innovative country and an innovative era. If we want poorer countries to enjoy the prosperity and promise of globalization, we need to think creatively about expanding free trade.

Winston Churchill switched parties in 1904 -- joining the Liberals when the Conservatives wavered in support for free trade. Today's conservatives also should be willing to change their approach. It's time for a Global Free Trade Alliance -- one that enables any country to join us in our race to the top.

Ed Feulner is president of The Heritage Foundation and co-author of the new book “Getting America Right.”