...the art of lighting

Pinoy parols light up Bangkok, two other foreign cities

12/19/2010

The native parol (Christmas lantern), like the talented Pinoy, is well on its way to conquer the world, with some 100 parols from Pampanga province now lighting up Thailand's capital Bangkok even as two other foreign cities are getting set to light up their own Pinoy parols this Christmas season.

The colorful lanterns, which were simultaneously lit in a lighting ceremony in Bangkok last December 9, were provided by the office of San Fernando city, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, who was the special guest at the ceremony.

San Fernando city, which boasts of a major Christmas lantern industry and holds an annual Giant Lantern Festival every December, is considered as the country’s parol capital.

Philippine Ambassador Linglingay Lacanlale joined officials of the Royal Thai government, members of the diplomatic corps and the Filipino community in Thailand, at the lighting ceremony — a historic first in Bangkok according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in its website.

It is not the first time that the parol has been used in other countries.

In 2006, the Philippine Embassy in Vienna held a ceremonial lighting of 60 parols in the Vienna City Hall Square. Parols can now be seen in the annual Vienna Christmas Market. In San Francisco, California, an annual Parol Festival has been held since 2003.

Although its name comes from the Spanish farol, the parol is recognized as the Philippine Christmas lantern.

The star-shaped paper lantern, in part times popularly used to light the path for the ritual dawn mass called Misa de Gallo, is now a favorite local Christmas decoration hung in homes as well as public places, and now not just in the Philippines but increasingly, wherever there are Filipinos.



Proud to be Filipino

At the Bangkok ceremony, Lacanlale explained to the guests what the parol means to Filipinos, saying the parol is an excellent example of Filipino creativity and ingenuity.

The DFA quoted a Filipino teacher who came all the way from the northeastern province of Pithsanulok to witness the event as saying, "I have never felt proud as a Filipino as I do now."

"For the first time in my more than 20 years of living in Thailand, the Embassy shines so brightly with the parols serving to remind us and our Thai friends about a unique aspect of our Christian tradition," the unnamed teacher said.

After the lighting ceremony, the guests were treated to a reception that featured traditional Filipino dishes like lechon (roast pig) and favorite delicacies like puto bumbong (rice cakes baked in bamboo tubes).

The Embassy plans to make the parol-lighting ceremony a yearly event.

Next year, it hopes to display the lanterns in Sukhumvit Road, the main thoroughfare fronting the Embassy.—With Carmela G. Lapeña/JV, GMANews.TV

...power-breaking

Django’ now ranked as world’s No. 1 in pool

abs-cbnNEWS.com

12/18/2010

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino billiard legend Francisco “Django” Bustamante is now ranked No. 1 in the world of pool according to the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).

The power-breaker from Tarlac City rose to the top of the world pool ranking after winning this year's WPA World 9-Ball Championship in Doha, Qatar.

Bustamante has garnered a total 1142 points, 170 points ahead over second place Karl Boyes of Great Britan (972 points).

Sharing the limelight are:
· No. 3 Antonio "Nickoy "Lining (940 points)
· No. 5 Jeffrey "The Bull" de Luna (841 points)
· No. 7 Ronato "Volcano" Alcano (784 points)
· No. 8 Vinancio "Tukao" Tanio (759 points)
· No. 9 Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo (732 points)
· No. 10 Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza (704 points)

Rounding up the top 10 are No.4 "The Little Monster" Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese-Taipei (848 points) and No. 6 Niels "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands (600 points). – By Marlon Bernardino

...ingenuity

Inventor develops electric car

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO

December 18, 2010

MANILA, Philippines — Calling on the Department of Energy: A 54-year-old man in Navotas City claims to have the technology on hand to turn the Philippines into a hub of electricity-powered automobiles.

“It’s very efficient, emission-free and most of all, it’s cheaper compared to other electricity-run cars,” Inventor Ismael Aviso said of his favorite creation, the
At the heart of the Aviso Electric Car is the inventor’s “conversion kit,” which, when outfitted to other vehicles, would ditch a diesel or gasoline-chugging engine altogether. A DC motor and a custom-designed capacitor box, which is the size of two desktop computer central processing units (CPUs) side-by-side, comprise the conversion kit.

“If we can implement this, within three years we can convert every jeep, taxi and bus out there into electric vehicles,” Aviso boldly claimed. “Millions of jobs will be created and the government would no longer need to spend p25 billion a year to combat smoke-related diseases due to pollution.”

Although very confident of the technology that he has created, Aviso’s hopefulness is somewhat tempered by a bit of desperation. He readily admits that he is too cash-strapped to take the next step — mass-production of conversion kits — and seeks government help to change all that.

“I don’t have that much funding. This to me is a diamond, and I’m not going to keep it, I’m showing it to everyone.” The technology, which he began working on part-time in 1992 and full-time in 2003, has already cost him P11 million to develop, thE inventor said.

Inside his shop Thursday in Tumana, Navotas, Aviso keeps a test rig composed of vehicle chassis with four wheels; a simple galvanized iron body (fashioned like a passenger jeep’s); an old, rusty DC motor; a dozen capacitors; six 12-volt batteries (the ones used by tricycles) and cable wires galore. “There’s no engine. Just the capacitors and batteries,” he pointed out.

He ordered an assistant to step on the pedal, causing the wheels to turn quickly and the galvanized iron to rattle rather noisily. “This will run even if I remove the batteries. They’re just there to support the capacitors which have already been charged.”

“This is my breakthrough…to have the capacitors function in place of batteries,” Aviso said.
When compared to the electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys) that have been a familiar sight in Makati City’s Central Business District (CBD) for a couple of years now, Aviso said that his electric car is far more efficient.
“My car can travel up to 10 kilometers for every 1,000 watts, which is more than half of what the e-jeep can travel with 1,000 watts,” he said, adding that charging the capacitor, which can be done at home, will take eight to 10 hours.

As for costs, he said that the capital for each Aviso conversion kit is only $2,100, a fraction of the price of international conversion kits which could reach between $12,000 and $25,000.

...Filipino fashion and creativity

Those Nine West bags? They’re by Rafe Totengco

By Cheche V. Moral
Philippine Daily Inquirer

12/17/2010

Filipino designer is now creative director for handbags of this global brand
KISMET.

That’s how Rafe Totengco describes how he bagged his gig as Nine West creative director for handbags.

The New York-based Filipino designer had been meaning to take a break as he put his eponymous accessories brand on hiatus (he’s not rolling out a Spring 2011 collection). Rafe New York has been a casualty of the bad economy, so that Totengco had entered into a licensing agreement with another company to keep afloat.

“But sustaining it was like pulling teeth,” says the designer. His boutique at Greenbelt, franchised by Tina and Ricco Ocampo, had closed after less than two years.

Deciding to put everything on hold for the brand as he regrouped, Totengco, 42, was introduced “over coffee” to the president and CEO of The Jones Group’s branded businesses, Richard Dickson, in August. The following month, Dickson announced Totengco’s appointment.

The Jones Group owns brands such as Nine West, Jones New York, Anne Klein, Boutique 9, Vintage America, Stuart Weitzman, Enzo Angiolini, as well as licensing agreements with Rachel Roy, Brian Atwood, Jessica Simpson.

“I wasn’t looking for a job,” says Totengco, who’s in town to receive the Pamana ng Filipino Presidential Award from President Aquino. “But I’m glad I took it. It has been incredible.”

Totengco’s initial directive is to steer the handbag businesses of Nine West and Vintage America. For Nine West, which is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Stores Specialists Inc., it’s to get the woman who buys the shoes to buy the handbag as well.

“I think I made a compelling argument about what I thought Nine West should look like,” he says of his first meeting with Dickson. “Nine West is a global brand, and Rafe sold globally as well. So I know it’s the same woman [who buys both the Nine West shoes and Rafe handbag]. She reads the same magazines.”

The challenge, he adds, is “having that crossover” when the girls buying the shoes also start looking at the bags, “because it’s not like that right now.”

Totengco thinks the current consumer no longer believes an item is special based merely on the price point.

“Everybody shops high-low now,” he notes. “I’ve learned that it can be done even if it’s of a certain price point.”

Pocket collection

Transitioning from a high-end label to a mass brand isn’t much of a stretch for Totengco. Before designers jumped on the bandwagon, he created a pocket collection for Target in 2006. At first it was a move many thumbed their noses at, but he proved everyone wrong: The collection was a huge hit, and it generated attention for his brand as well.

Soon enough, every designer of note had a high-street collaboration.

“That’s what piqued my interest for mass actually... If the [Nine West] shoe [business] is as big as it is, there’s no reason the bags can’t be that, too. [The Nine West customer] likes Nine West because she buys the shoes. It’s not like, Ewww! No reason she shouldn’t buy the bag as well. My goal is to give the bags a clear identity.”

The first handbag collection under his direction will roll out in April. It will distinctly be “chicer, cleaner, more polished, more lady,” he says. For Nine West, he has two senior and two associate designers working on the collections.

While he’s not directly involved with manufacturing, unlike with Rafe, Totengco says his responsibilities go beyond the creative to the back end as well, including cutting costs.

Totengco says he will revive Rafe soon, under a new licensing agreement with The Jones Group. With the recovering economy, he believes the market will soon be ready again for smaller designer brands. “I would never sell my company,” he stresses.

Breather

Totengco, who’s Ilonggo, left the country in 1989 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 1997, he launched his namesake handbag brand, and was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America the following year.

In 2001, he received the Best Accessories Designer (Accessories Council Excellence) award from the Accessories Council. He was a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines award in 2002.

“When the economy was bad, people wanted names that are secure. But people will be ready for [younger] names again. I could’ve continued, but sustaining it would’ve been difficult. I’m happy to have a breather. The bigger challenge is Nine West. If I’m able to affect that, that’s huge.”

Totengco knows he will need more than kismet for that.

...economic optimism

OECD upbeat on Philippine business

By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:31:00 12/15/2010

THE PHILIPPINES got the highest score among selected emerging Asian economies in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest business growth projections.

According to the latest “Asian Business Cycle Quarterly” of the OECD, an international organization pushing for policies and measures that promote economic and social development, indicators point to expansion of businesses in the Philippines in the very short term that is in the next quarter.

“A strong recovery is ongoing in the Philippines driven by strong exports and improving business sentiment,” the OECD said in the paper.

This forecast is consistent with projections by the Philippine government that the economy would sustain growth in 2011.

Results of the OECD study showed the Philippines getting the highest score in terms of leading-composite indicators among selected emerging Asian countries.

The leading composite indicator for the Philippines stood at 103.3 points for the fourth quarter of 2010. Indonesia’s was 100.8; Malaysia, 99.1; Singapore, 100.7; Thailand, 103; China 101.9 and India 100.6.
Leading composite indicators—which include consumer demand, commodity prices, corporate profits, capital investments, stock prices and business expectations surveys—show the potential state of an economy and its business sector.

The OECD said a general expectation of expanding businesses was fit for the Philippines.
The outlook for developing countries in Asia is generally rosy, taking into account their performance so far this year. Unlike industrialized countries in the West, emerging Asian economies have posted robust growth rates this year, thus leading the world’s recovery from the global economic turmoil that peaked in 2009.

In the case of the Philippines, it grew by 7.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2010. Economic officials credited this to improved export income, rising remittances that fuel household consumption, and increase in investments.

The optimistic outlook on emerging Asian markets is the reason for the surge in foreign capital inflows to Asia.

...urban street culture

Filipino-Belgian dancer makes waves in Europe

By Dheza Marie Aguilar, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

 12/15/2010

THE NETHERLANDS – A Filipino-Belgian dancer is making waves in the Netherlands for pioneering and taking contemporary urban street culture to a higher level through dance and theater performances.

Marco Gerris is popularly known as one of the members of the jury of the hit dance show “So You Think You Can Dance”. But he is also the founder and artistic director of “ISH”, a dance company which aims to train young people interested in underground disciplines like hip hop, break dancing, skating, martial arts and beat box. He adopts these disciplines and transforms them into dance and theater shows for the general public.

Gerris, who grew up in Belgium, is proud of being 100% Filipino. He was adopted by his Belgian parents from an orphanage in Cebu when he was only 3 years old.

Bringing street culture to the stage
Originally wanting to be an actor, Gerris got into dancing when he was kicked out of Antwerp’s Terleick School of Drama. Since moving to Amsterdam when he was 23 years old, he discovered street dancing and started his own company “ISH”.

“I felt that there’s too less hip hop and breakdance on stage and if you found it, it was always too little. And I said, I want to make a crew, a dance company, with all these underground skills like skating, martial arts,  beatbox, hip hop, breakdance, what comes from the street and make a show with it. 10 years later we are still doing it and we are still developing and inspiring a lot of youngsters,” said Gerris in an interview with Balitang Europe.

“ISH” quickly jumped to popularity after its first show in 2000, and has since then gathered several recognitions. Their shows were a hit, not only in the Netherlands but also in the United States and Canada, as well as other parts of Europe.

Gerrris' life also inspired the award-winning documentary “Wheels of Fortune,” and he has played in several dance movies.

With an initial crew of 7 young people, Gerris strived to develop his company, and in 2005 achieved his dream of playing in Broadway at the New Victory Theater in New York together with his crew.

Helping youth through dance
From the US, Europe, India and Africa, ISH has been touring their dance workshop all over the world to develop kids with the same interest and teach them the value of standing up for themselves.

“The concept with these workshops with kids is we ask the kids, what are you thinking, what do you think is wrong with this world and how do you think you can change that? And together with the teachers and the dancers, we create a performance about these with them.”

Gerris is proud of his former students from the slums of Bangalore in India, who started a dance company with the same concept as theirs. These achievements continue to inspire him to bring his work all around the world.

“The youngsters always get our philosophy about believing in yourself, stand up for yourself, you have a voice try doing something with that,” said Gerris.

Both in the studio and in his circle, Gerris is considered a friend and a mentor.

“Not only that he recognizes your talent but he also gives you the space and freedom to develop something in your own style. And of course he will lead you and give you his advice and he will guide you through the process,” said Abdelhadi Baaddi who has been training with Gerris for 5 years now.

Meanwhile, another friend and colleague also have the same compliment for the Pinoy dancer.

“He is a really great guy, he is a really good choreographer. You can really see the difference between him choreographing in ISH and him being a friend. Outside, he is really a cool guy, levels with everybody--colleagues, friends--but in the work space, when he is working something, then he is really a choreographer.”

Acknowledging his rootsWhen he was 25 years old, Gerris visited the Philippines for the first time. He said that a whole new world opened up to him, something that is very different from what he was used to. And although he was not able to find his biological parents, Gerris was happy to have visited.

“My biggest goal was to see where I grew up, that was the nicest thing for me. I want to go back one day again. I think every 5 years I want to go there.”

It was also during this visit that Gerris discovered where some of his talents came from.

Bringing his tools with him, Gerris played with some street kids. From there, he noticed how talented the Filipinos are.

“Filipinos are so creative, so talented. When I was there, I was playing with them and they pick it up in split seconds. Oh, so, there’s my talent from, I recognized it,” he said.

Gerris is also enthusiastic of bringing ISH’s dance workshops in the Philippines if there is an opportunity to collaborate with local companies.

“I think if we will ever have the opportunity to come to the Philippines with my concept, with ISH, I think we will blow them away. I think they will be very enthusiastic and will keep on doing it.”

...local investment

Filipinos working abroad fuel real estate boom at home

By Mynardo Macaraig
Agence France-Presse
12/15/2010

MANILA—The Philippines' famous diaspora of overseas workers is fuelling a boom in the real estate market back home as they snap up houses and apartments to safeguard their futures.

Property prices have recovered strongly since the global financial crisis of 2008, with investments from the nine million Filipinos toiling away in foreign lands a significant factor, industry figures say.

"Overseas workers are moving the market. Properties now are selling and when there is demand, prices go up," Emily Duterte, head of the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines, told AFP.

Industry sales nationwide this year are estimated to hit 300 billion pesos (6.9 billion dollars) compared with about 100 billion each in 2009 and 2008, according to Claro Cordero from Jones Lang La Salle, a global real estate consultancy firm.

"Nobody thought there would be such a quick recovery from the slump that began in 2008," said Cordero, research head of the company's Philippines' branch.

Filipino workers abroad have a reputation for working as lower-paid employees, such as construction workers, maids, sailors, and janitors.

But their sheer magnitude—they account for about 10 percent of the Philippine population—mean they have long been a major force in the economy.

In 2009, they sent home 17.3 billion dollars, making up more than 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, according to government data.

And Filipinos are increasingly moving into higher-paid sectors, such as medicine, engineering, and the media.
Overseas workers usually opt for houses costing about two million pesos (45,000 dollars), humble by foreign standards but well in the middle-class bracket for Filipinos, according to Duterte from the brokers' association.

Fifty-year-old merchant seaman Rodolfo Oliverio has spent most of his working life outside of the Philippines but he is an active player in the domestic real estate market.

Oliverio has used his overseas earnings to buy two small houses in the heart of Manila for his wife and children to live in, and he is paying for a third he recently bought just outside the nation's capital.
"If you work here, nothing will happen. The salaries are too small. The only way to afford a house is to become an overseas worker," Oliverio told AFP while on his annual vacation in Manila.
"Naturally, among overseas workers, the most important thing is a house and lot."

Oliverio said that as a ship's bosun—the crew's foreman—for a foreign company, he earned about 82,800 pesos a month, roughly four times more than he could earn doing the same job with a local cargo line.

With his salary, he said he was confident he could afford the repayments on his third house, a middle-class 42-square-meter (452-square-feet) place south of Manila which cost a little over 1.5 million pesos.
Industry observers said Oliverio's real estate goals were typical of many overseas workers.

"Most have left families back home so they want to have a home for their families. Their children, their parents, these are the ones who stay in the houses they buy," said Duterte.

Filipinos have traditionally preferred living in houses, no matter how small, over apartments, but living overseas has started to change preferences.

Overseas workers have revitalized the condominium market, said Manuel Serrano, head of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association.

"In the beginning, they were more interested in house and lots but in the last two years, the tempo has changed. The demand now is for condos," Serrano told AFP.

"Most of these people have gotten used to the lifestyle abroad and, in condos, they don't have to worry about doing a lot of cleaning, gardening, and watering of plants."

Even for the traditional housing market, living overseas has changed the tastes of many Filipinos.

"A lot of developments are incorporating designs that are inspired by architecture worldwide, with a Mediterranean or an American feel," said Jones Lang La Salle's Cordero

...the dynamic city

Metro Manila cracks top ten in Brookings' most dynamic cities

CARMELA G. LAPEÑA, GMANews.TV

12/14/2010

Metro Manila is the ninth most dynamic city in the world, according to an article in The Atlantic, citing data from Brookings' Global MetroMonitor on economic output and employment in 150 of the world's largest metropolitan economies from 1993 to 2010.

"Healthy tourism and demand for IT products helped Manila crack the top ten, in Brookings' rankings for the first time," wrote The Atlantic associate editor Derek Thompson. The list is based on income growth and employment as reported by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and London School of Economics (LSE) cities.

Istanbul topped this year's list, which is dominated by cities from Southeast Asia and Latin America. Also in the top ten are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (10th), Beijing, China (8th), Guangzhou, China (7th), Shanghai, China (6th), Santiago, Chile (5th), Singapore (4th), Lima, Peru (3rd), and Shenzhen, China (2nd).

Thompson noted there are no European cities in the top thirty, and no African cities outside Egypt in the top fifty. He also noted other trends emerging in the report, such as port cities with large trade sectors dominating, "due to their ability to put products in the hands of the world's healthier economies.

According to him, the Philippines "depends so heavily on remittances of Filipino workers that a 7-percent boost in mailed cash this year dramatically improved the country's economic projections for 2010."

Around 32.7 percent of the national GDP is from Metro Manila, with employment increasing 4.0 percent and income increasing 5.3 percent from 2009 to 2010, as shown in the Brookings report.

Metro Manila previously ranked 34th during the pre-recession period of 1993 to 2007, and 24th in the recession lasting from 2007 to 2009.

Last seen on the list of worst cities to drive in, it isn't often that the Metropolis finds itself on a positive list. However, Thompson warns that dynamism is a sword that cuts both ways.

"The key challenge for top emerging cities entering a period of global expansion is to expand to other industries. This helps them stay both dynamic and diversified – fast-growing and safe-growing," he writes.

Early this month, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to allocate a P1-billion “reintegration fund" from which OFWs may borrow to finance the start up of their own businesses.

“Una pa rin po sa ating listahan ang paglikha ng disenteng trabaho at oportunidad dito sa sarili nating bayan (Still on top of our list is the creation of decent jobs and opportunities here in our own country)," said the president in an earlier report. — LBG/TJD, GMANews.TV

...fiscal confidence

PHL to receive more credit upgrades — DBS Bank

12/13/2010

Because of better macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals, the Philippines will likely receive more credit upgrades from international credit rating agencies, Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd. said in a report Monday.

In “Emerging Markets Strategy for the First Quarter of 2011," DBS Bank economist David Carbon said the Philippines has come out of the global financial crunch stronger with a stable inflation, strong international liquidity position, and improving fiscal finances.

“Looking ahead, the door for more ratings upgrade should be opened if the Philippines succeed in maintaining its post-crisis positive momentum," DBS said in the report.

DBS Bank said the Philippine economy — as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) —would grow 6.2 percent on average this year before easing down to 5 percent next year.

The country’s GDP grew 7.5 percent in January-September this year from 0.7 percent in the same period last year.

From the current ratio of 3.9 percent, DBS Bank believes the administration of President Benigno Aquino III could trim the budget deficit to 2 percent of the GDP starting 2013 until his term ends by 2016.

“President Aquino appears to be fulfilling his campaign pledge of prudent spending," DBS Bank said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects the country to get another credit rating upgrade from New York-based Moody’s Investors Service before the year ends.

Last Nov. 12, Standard and Poor’s raised the country’s credit rating to BB from BB-, with a stable outlook.

BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said in an earlier interview with reporters the country deserves a credit rating upgrade from Moody’s after successfully surviving the onslaught of the global economic meltdown.

“We are hopeful that Moody’s for instance will improve the rating, at least on the outlook, because there’s been significant amount of progress in various areas. The market has really gone ahead of the ratings agencies, [and] there needs to be a catch up there," Tetangco said.

S&P's, Moody’s, and London-based Fitch Ratings are closely watching the fiscal and monetary developments in the Philippines.

Moody’s upgraded the country’s credit rating outlook to positive from stable as early as 2008. However, the firm has yet to upgrade its sovereign credit rating for the Philippines, which is currently three notches below investment grade.

Fitch Ratings, on the other hand, rates Philippine debt at two notches below investment grade with a stable outlook. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV

...rural empowerment

PHL rural banks are getting stronger, says RBAP

12/12/2010 |

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) has frowned on the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.'s (PDIC) claim that the country's rural banking industry is growing weaker.

RBAP executive director Vicente Mendoza said in a statement this weekend that the industry is becoming stronger despite the closure of 23 rural banks as of end-October.

Mendoza pointed out that only 10 out of the 23 rural banks placed by PDIC under receivership were members of RBAP. RBAP has 599 members nationwide.

The PDIC's claim does not, in anyway, encourage investors to come in and buy banks under receivership, Mendoza said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the PDIC had launched the "Strengthening Program for Rural Banks" or SPRB to strengthen the country's rural banking industry through mergers and acquisition.

The program involves a P5-billion financial assistance and a grant of regulatory relief from the BSP and PDIC over two years.

Rural banks qualified to avail of the program have risk-based capital adequacy ratio below the BSP-mandated 10 percent and those that intend to merge or consolidate with eligible, strategic third-party investors.

Basel accord commitment

Mendoza pointed out that rural banks prefer to open new branches rather than acquire banks under receivership due to the tighter capitalization rules under the Basel commitment the BSP is implementing.

The Basel accords crafted in Basel, Switzerland is an international regulatory framework of banks.

"The reality in the industry is that rural banks would rather open new branches than take in troubled banks that would be hard to rehabilitate because of the tightened capitalization rules provided under the Basel framework that the BSP now requires banks to follow," he said.

Last month, the BSP increased the minimum capital requirement for rural banks by as much as 285 percent to help sustain the viability and competitiveness of major industry players.

It was but right to amend the capital requirement for rural banks last month, Mendoza said, noting that the last time the required minimum capital requirement was raised was in December 1999.

The BSP raised the minimum capital requirement for rural banks with head offices in Metro Manila to P100 million from P26 million.

The minimum capital requirement for Cebu City- and Davao City-based banks was increased to P50 million from P13 million.

Rural banks' minimum capital requirement in the first to fourth class municipalities was raised to P10 million from P6.5 million.

In the fifth to sixth class municipalities, the minimum capital requirement was increased to P5 million from P2.6 million.

Mendoza said the industry acknowledged the reforms as part of government measures and processes to strengthen banks, particularly after the global financial slowdown when even the mightiest financial institutions overseas had to fold up including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group.

"While this is considered a tough requirement particularly among banks, the industry recognizes the need to assure the stability of banks throughout the country," he said.

The number of banks in the country declined to 773 in the first half of the year from 804 in the same period last year, indicating the continued consolidation of banks as well as the exit of weaker players.

Central banks data showed that the number of universal and commercial banks was steady at 38 while the number of thrift banks was also unchanged at 74 in the same comparable period.

However, the number of rural banks fell to 661 from January to June this year compared to 692 in the same period last year, due primarily to the closure of several banks including those of the controversial Legacy Group.

The BSP reported that the number of branches of universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, and rural banks increased by 765 to 8,663 in the first semester of the year from 7,898 in the same period last year. — JE/VS. GMANews.TV

...film artistry

Emir cited for Best Artistic Contribution at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival

PEP - Sunday, December 12

 

 

 

The Filipino musical film Emir won the Youssef Chahine Award for Best Artistic Contribution at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt held last Thursday, December 9.

 

Director Chito Roño graced the closing ceremony held at the Opera House in Cairo to personally receive the trophy and plaque awarded by festival director Ezzat Abou Ouf.

This year's edition of the Cairo IFF screened 150 films from 70 countries in a span of 10 days.
This movie tells the story of an Ilocana nanny (played by Frencheska Farr) who risks her life to protect the son of a royal family in the Middle East.

Also starring Sid Lucero, Jhong Hilario, Dulce, Kalila Aguilos, Julia Clarete, and Beverly Salviejo, Emir was shot on location in Ilocos and Morocco.

This landmark film was produced by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The Philippines also fielded two entries in the digital competition section of the Cairo IFF: Joel Lamangan's period film about activists, Sigwa, and Danny Anonuevo's military film, Rekrut. However, Mike De Jong won the Golden Award in this category for the film Joy.

With the award that he won, Direk Chito is planning to direct an independent film next year.
Prior to Cairo, Emir was shown in Montreal, Canada last August for the 34th World Film Festival and in South Korea last October for the 15th Pusan International Film Festival.

It was included in the lineup of the "A Window on Asian Cinema" category along with other Filipino films Chassis, Magkakapatid, and Donor.

Direk Chito would like to share this award with the FDCP (former chairperson Rolando Atienza and Digna Santiago as producers), CCP (Nestor O. Jardin), Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the actors and his staff: writer Jerry Gracio, cinematographer Neil Daza, production designer Rodrigo Riccio, editor Jerrold Tarog and musicians Ebe Dancel, Vin Dancel, Diwa de Leon, Gary Granada and Chino Toledo.

The FDCP, headed by its new chairman Briccio Santos, supported the participation of the Filipino films in Cairo.