Warning against a strong peso

I’ve been talking about how devastating a strong peso for exporters like us is. Last Sunday at Philippine Star, Sen. Roxas, an economist himself aired the same caution:

Roxas, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, warned that the situation – if not promptly addressed – would result in the displacement of thousands of workers in the export and production sectors.

“Walk the talk. Where’s the ‘social payback’ due our people?” he asked. “OFWs and exporters have been complaining for months about decreased incomes, and have been demanding action from their government to ease their plight,” Roxas said.

“The government could not afford to be oblivious not just to the immediate hardships of our eight million OFWs and 3.5 million exporters but also to the real threat of lost incomes and jobs in local industries due to this continuing trend,” he said.

Again, contrary to what the Arroyo administration claims of a growing economy based on the strong peso, it should be properly noted that the peso is strong only because the dollar is getting weaker and weaker by the second.

Plant a tree for $1

Here’s a cool way to send an e-greeting and be an environment advocate at the same time. Postreach, creators of those popular instant commenting blog plugin, just launched Mokugift. According to the email sent by it’s advocates:

 nstead of sending an ecard you can send an eTree to a
friend.  Unlike ecards, eTrees are fun online gifts that you can display
all year round on an e-Island webpage.  For every eTree purchased,
mokugift will plant a tree in the real world. You can add the e-Island to
your blog and other sites where you can paste code.

The United Nations(UN) Billion Tree campaign has started the largest
environmental initiative ever. By sending friends eTrees via mokugift, you
can be a part of history, while making friends smile when they receive
your eTree gift.  Mokugift’s goal is to plant 1M trees in the real world
and send 1M more smiles.

Here’s a video of a sample eTree.

Christmas tech gadget wishlist

Christmas is the season when it is legitimate to dream about having stuff that you know you might not be able to get — yet. So here’s my simple Christmas tech gadget wishlist.

* iPod Touch 16GB
* iMac
* Nikon D40

What’s yours?

“Swerving is NOT a violation”, and other petty MMDA abuses

This information is circulating on emails lately. I find this very informative especially if you drive along Metro Manila and has been abused by MMDA, MAPSA and other local traffic kotong operatives.. It’s originally entitled “How you can challenge petty abuses of MMDA personnel…”

I just reached my limit last week-end, and decided to take action against the abusive MMDA enforcers. I basically called up the MMDA head office and inquired from the Personnel Officer, Antonio Pagulayan, to clarify their policies. Here is what I got.

If any of these abuses seem familiar to you, Mr. Pagulayan has asked that you call either the MMDA hotline (136) or call the METRO BASE at 0920-938-9861 or 0920-938-9875 and ask for an Inspectorate. They will send inspectors to the place where these MMDA officers are extorting, even while you are arguing out of your apprehension.

1. MMDA officers are not allowed to group together in order to apprehend.

They are not even allowed to stand together in groups of 2 or more. The only time they are allowed to work together is for special operations (probably when they apprehend groups of buses for smoke belching);

2. Swerving IS NOT a traffic violation. Moving one lane to the left or right is not swerving, no matter where on the road you do it. And it is even less of a violation when you do it with a signal. Swerving is defined as shifting 2 or more lanes very quickly. So you can argue your way out of this, and call the Metro Base for help;

3. Sadly, using the yellow lane is a traffic violation and will get you a ticket. However, buses are really not allowed to go out of the yellowlane, so if you see selective apprehension of private cars only, you may complain;

4. MMDA has confirmed that your license MAY NOT BE CONFISCATED at a traffic apprehension. The only time they can do so is if you are part of an accident, or it is your third violation and you have not settled your fines yet. They are only allowed to give you a ticket, which you can contest. He recommends actually receiving the ticket in some instances, so that you can report the officer who did it.

Also, you are free to ask any of these officers for their “mission order”, which is written by their supervisor. If they apprehend you for a violation that is not in their mission order for the day, you can report them and they will receive disciplinary action.

So go out and enjoy! And drive safely!!!

Weakening dollar: Is it time to go local?

A little less than 2 years ago, a dollar is Php56. As of writing, it’s Php42.30 — a huge 25% drop.

We are into web development, outsourcing business. It’s our bread and butter. And, just like most of the Philippine’s web development teams, most of our businesses come from abroad, largely from the US. The 25% drop definitely hurts. We couldn’t charge more for existing clients but we pay increasingly more each year for salaries and wages. The sad news is, according to experts, the drop will continue until early next year.

In the midst of this predicament, another prospect is seen — the local market. Internet usage here in the Philippines is on the rise. Internet cafes are all over the place. Broadband is aggressively marketed. I’m not sure about the household penetration figures. But what I’m sure of, literacy and internet penetration is definitely higher than, san 5 years ago when we started the company.

Tough question for local web developers: Is the Philippine market huge enough to become your bread-and-butter market?

Further reading:
Yugatech
Sassy Lawyer