...the talent competition winner

Phl wins int’l talent competition

 

 

The Philippine Star

January 19, 2013

 

MANILA, Philippines - A team from the Philippines represented by Global-Link MP Events Int’l, Inc.came out as champions at this year’s Pico’s Got Talent global competition. The other teams were from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Pico’s Got Talent was the highlight at the annual Pico Group International Conference that brought out the competitive streak of its various offices worldwide.

Receiving the trophy and cash prize from SL Chia, founder of Pico International Group, are members of the winning group, who represented their company in a dance routine that told the story of how dance evolved in the Philippines — from native to hip-hop — and left the audience in awe. Global-Link MP is into organizing and managing trade events.

...the Filipino workforce

Kiwi builder defends Filipino workforce

 

 

 

Bangkok Post (Thailand)
18 Jan 2013

A director of a New Zealand construction firm has defended his company’s decision to recruit Filipinos to help rebuild earthquake-damaged Christchurch.

Large areas of the city on New Zealand’s South island suffered earthquake damage in 2010 and 2011.

Phil Cooper of Christchurch construction firm Buildtech is in the Philippines to hire about 20 workers and claims that his company has advertised locally for builders for two years with little success.

"Lately, it's been dismal; just less and less," Cooper told Fairfax NZ News.

"There's the argument of, 'Why aren't you using local builders?' Well, fine, you get us 20 local builders tomorrow and I'll employ them. As long as they're employable, no problem at all.

"I would love to take some of these critics to the Philippines and some of these countries to see how these people live and the huge sacrifice these guys make. They send so much money back to support their families."

Cooper compared the process of hiring workers from the Philippines to a television talent show audition.

"They're all in this room, with their names on them, and me and my wife interview each one," he said.

"It's like them winning Lotto. There are tears and people crying. It blows me out of the water every time; their appreciation at actually having the ability to come and work in our country."

Cooper added that his recruitment drive was not limited to the Philippines but said he appreciated the loyalty and work ethic Filipino workers had offered in the past.

He added that local labour was preferred but he was not prepared to "wait 20 years for Christchurch to be rebuilt".

...the booming PH real estate

EXPERTS’ 2013 FORECAST

Bullish PH economy to rouse real estate industry

By Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Friday, January 18th, 2013

CENTURY Properties’ Acqua Private Residences is expected to do well this year since residential demand will stay strong across all subsectors.

What’s in store for the country’s property industry this year?

Going by the fearless forecast of five property analysts, the outlook for 2013 is rosy.

Julius Guevara, associate director for advisory services and head of consultancy and research of Colliers International, said that in general, “the bullish performance of the economy is seen to continue” in 2013. He said 2012 “proved to be a very good year for the Philippine economy and specifically for real estate.” He continued that “an end-of-year GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate between 6 and 7 percent has been forecast by various analysts, and we saw the stock market hit all-time highs during the past few months.”

Guevara added, “the residential condominium market has also exceeded historical sales levels this year, as low interest rates and record overseas remittances continue to fuel the housing boom.”

Colliers International recently released 10 forecast statements on the economy and property sectors for 2013—a collection of insights from various industry experts and Colliers.

“Similarly, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry continued to drive the office property sector, and current vacancy rates in the major CBDs are in low single digits. The retail sector has also done tremendously well; occupancy rates in regional and superregional malls in Metro Manila are in the 90s. All in all, 2012 exceeded most of our expectations,” Guevara added.

Best real estate market

Rick Santos, CBRE founder and chair, noted: “We are now experiencing the best real estate market in the Philippines in the last 20 years. The Philippine real estate sector will have bright prospects in 2013. We see sustained growth in the BPO/office, residential, gaming and leisure sectors.”

Enrique Soriano, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, said: “Five years after the financial crisis triggered by a housing bubble, the global economy is convalescing. The Philippine economy is poised to move up. Real estate markets in all segments will grow. Some developers will fail and others will do better because they have a strategy and they have found exactly the right position.”

Claro dG. Cordero Jr., Jones Lang LaSalle’s head for research, consulting and valuation, said an estimated 11,200 units is expected to be completed within 2013 for the residential segment. He also explained that, though “the residential demand will stay strong across all subsegments, there are also various externalities which may challenge the growth of demand over the near- to medium-term.”

The first indicator cited by Colliers showed the Philippine economy would grow by around 6 percent in 2013. The forecast was made by Japanese financial services group Nomura and the World Bank.

 

The World Bank raised its forecast for the Philippine GDP in 2013 to 6.2 percent, up from 5 percent. Nomura also raised its forecast for the GDP to 6.6 percent in 2013. “Growth is expected to tick even higher in 2013 because of the impact of the elections, fiscal improvement and governance reforms in private investments,” Nomura said.

Karlo Pobre, Colliers International’s analyst for research and advisory services, explained that the recent growth in GDP indicates that economic activities in the country have further expanded.

“The higher the GDP is, the more attractive we become, specifically to foreign investors. Investment opportunities should reflect on the property industry, considering the recent developments in the market. This should preferably materialize in the office and industrial sectors,” he said.

Sector contribution

Pobre added that currently the construction sector contributes roughly about 8 to 9 percent of the GDP, while real estate services is at 11 percent.

Soriano said: “the long anticipated growth trajectory will happen this year; something that we have not felt for a long time. We have had growth spurts in the past years but never a real, sustained momentum. This time it’s for real. Our economic fundamentals are getting better. The housing and construction market has assumed the lead role in this trajectory, domestic demand is growing, PPP (public-private partnership) infrastructure will continue its aggressive pace and the midyear local elections will boost spending.

“Overseas remittance will grow as the US economy continues to improve, albeit at an annualized rate of 1 percent and Europe’s crisis is apparently showing some signs of remission. With this I expect the economy to pick up steam and grow to 6.8 percent.”

...the sharks of Donsol

Donsol, Philippines: Up close to whale sharks

The Lonely Planet Adventure: There's no need for a cage when you share the water with these giant creatures

 

The Independent (UK)
Saturday 19 January 2013
 

 

Suddenly an onlooker spots a dark shadow and the shout goes up: "Shark! Everybody get in the water!" At Donsol, the whale-shark capital of the Philippines, the aim is getting close to sharks, not getting away.

Fishermen have known about the butanding that gather in the watery depths off the coast of Bicol for centuries, but the transformation of Donsol from sleeping fishing village to whale-shark spotting centre is a more recent phenomenon. In 1998, a Filipino dive team spotted startling numbers of whale sharks and alerted the World Wildlife Fund, and it set the wheels in motion for one of the most successful community tourism projects in Asia.

 

Historically, butanding were viewed with fear by local fishermen, who noted their resemblance to deadlier denizens of the deep. However, the involvement of marine experts led to an official ban on fishing for whale sharks, and a new-found respect for them among Donsol residents. With money coming in from managed shark dives, butanding suddenly had a greater value alive than dead, providing a powerful incentive for conservation.

From the outset, diving at Donsol was promoted with the welfare of the whale sharks in mind. Scuba diving was banned – sharks are spooked by the noise of bubbles from diving equipment – and swimmers were allowed to enter the water only with a mask and snorkel, in small, managed groups.

 

Without tanks and regulators, the encounter is more intimate; you are a visitor in their world.

While Donsol is firmly on the international diving map, this is not your average diving hub. It remains a sleepy fishing village – aside from the visitor centre, a scattering of Filipino-style resorts and the occasional jeepney, there is little to disturb the peace. In the evening, nightlife takes the form of beers on the balcony and firefly-spotting cruises on the local creek.

The adventure unfolds

There's a tangible excitement in the air as the pump boat chugs out from Donsol. For one thing, there's the knowledge that you have to be ready to leap into the water at a moment's notice when the attending butanding interaction officer (BIO) spots a cruising whale shark. Then there's the thrill that comes from knowing you'll be sharing the water with the world's biggest fish.

As the boat skips across the waves, everyone is on tenterhooks, scanning the surface of the water for telltale eddies or fins … then the call goes up: "Jump!" You grab your mask and leap into the water. First there's the jolt that comes from sudden immersion, then your heart skips a second beat as a fish as long as a bus glides beneath you. You maintain a respectful distance, but the shark seems unperturbed by the strange flapping creatures from the surface.

Whale sharks may be filter feeders, but they're unmistakably sharks. Fears evaporate as the graceful ballet unfolds, however. The opening and closing of the giant mouth. The rippling of the gills. The steady sweep of the gigantic tail. Then the shark turns, drops out of view, and melts back into the deep, dense blue.

The focus at Donsol is not on spotting whale sharks, but on "interactions". On a good day, swimmers can encounter a dozen. To put that into context, the great marine explorer Jacques Cousteau saw just two in his lifetime. It's a wild encounter, and there's an element of chance, but in peak season, when sharks gather to feed and breed, sightings are almost guaranteed.

Making it happen

Jeepneys and air-con mini vans run to Donsol from Legaspi, which is served by regular flights and buses from Manila. Peak season for whale sharks is February to May when plankton provide ample food. No dive certification is needed; you just must be able to swim. There are resorts (Giddy's Place is the pick) and centres in Donsol for dives elsewhere along the coast.

Essential Experiences

* Feeling the spray on your face as the pump boat skims across the waves.

* Glimpsing your first butanding gliding through the silent depths.

* Getting up close and with manta rays off Ticao Island.

* Scouting for fireflies on the Ogod River.

* Admiring the symmetry of Mount Mayon, the world's most perfect volcano, in nearby Legaspi.

Location: Donsol, Sorsogon, Bicol, the Philippines.

Ideal time commitment: Three days.

Best time of year: February to May.

Top tip: Bring your own mask and snorkel for a watertight fit.

...the top BPO sites in the world

Manila, Cebu Up the List of Preferred BPO Sites

 

By Malou M. Mozo

Manila Bulletin

January 18, 2013

         3  Manila       70  Davao        93  Ilo-ilo       94     Bacolod  
       8   Cebu        84  Sta. Rosa (Laguna)          99     Baguio


 MANILA, Philippines --- Manila and the Cebu City again carved their name as among the top preferred outsourcing destinations in the world, ranking third and eighth in the list of emerging business process outsourcing (BPO) sites based on a study by investment advisory firm Tholons.

Manila’s ranking improved by a notch from last year, an indication of the improving status of the country in terms of being a preferred BPO site around the world.

“Cebu is now ranked 8th in the Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations Report for 2013, which is a rank higher than in 2012,” said Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) Managing Director Joel Mari Yu.

“This means Cebu City continually displays its great competency in the global outsourcing industry,” he said.

Yu added that the improvement is a “big thing” to celebrate in the face of challenges in manpower availability.

Apart from Cebu and Manila, Tholons cited five other cities in the Philippines – Davao, ranked No. 70; Sta. Rosa, Laguna, No. 84; Iloilo City, No. 93; Bacolod City, No. 94; and Baguio City, No. 99.

Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology Inc. (Cedf-it) Executive Director Jun Sa-a said Cebu deserves to be promoted in the 2013 Tholons list as it has proven it could scale and improve the quality of its manpower.

“This is a proof that the Philippines is giving India a serious challenge in this industry,” Sa-a said.

Jerry Rapes, chief executive officer of Exist Global, shared the sentiment. He attributed Cebu’s improved ranking to the hard work and collective effort of industry players, government and the academe.

“This is a validation that what we are doing is good but we should not just maintain that standing, we should move forward,” Rapes said.

Availability and quality of workers were among the criteria in selecting the top outsourcing destinations. CIPC estimates that there are about 95,000 people employed in the BPO industry in Cebu.

It also said that the average of 24,000 college graduates produced every year, complemented by skilled young individuals who want to start their careers in the BPO industry, has helped Cebu strengthen its reputation as a BPO destination. “The primary roadblock for Cebu to advance higher is the lack of qualified manpower,” Yu said. He admitted that while Cebu City has good infrastructure, demonstrated its capability in almost all IT spectrums, it still falls short in providing the industry with qualified IT/BPO workers.

Yu said that in 2012 alone, about 20,000 to 25,000 jobs were generated by new companies that set up businesses in Cebu.

“Cebu continues to have challenges to face before it can become the top business process outsourcing destination, especially because the competition in many surrounding areas of Asia is fierce. Cebu will have to work to continue to build its reputation as an outsourcing leader to make it to the top,” Yu concluded.

 

...the Japanese investment in PH

PH to reel in $20B in foreign investments from Japan, says economic analyst

By Gil C. Cabacungan

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, an economist, said that Japan’s fear of China’s increasing military and financial might would likely trigger the second massive outflow of Japanese direct investments. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is well poised to profit from Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s move to steer clear of China and move to Southeast Asia for capital expansion.

Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “I agree we will benefit, we are already seeing some of it now.”

Japan is the country’s biggest business partner with total trade and investments of $13 billion and the third biggest source of tourists.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, an economist, said that Japan’s fear of China’s increasing military and financial might would likely trigger the second massive outflow of Japanese direct investments.

Salceda noted a repeat of the effect of the 1987 Plaza Accord where the United States, France, West Germany, United Kingdom and Japan agreed to force the appreciation of the yen from 248 to 78 per US dollar to help the American economy recover.

“The Philippines was not able to optimize the benefits due to coup-driven political instability post-EDSA and aggressive competitive marketing by Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. We cannot afford to lose out again on this FDI (foreign direct investment) bonanza which I consider to be the single most important economic factor in the Philippine horizon,” said Salceda.

Salceda said that if the Philippines played its cards right, it could haul in at least $20 billion in Japanese investments in manufacturing over the next six years.

“I started to be an analyst during 1989, one year after the Plaza Accord. I remember quite distinctly that this was the number the analysts community were projecting,” said Salceda.

“This is the most benevolent economic and external discrete factor ever to happen in favor of the Philippines, only the Asian pivot of the US geopolitics comes second,” said Salceda.

Salceda suggested that given this massive opportunity, the Aquino administration should push for “more articulate ambition in infrastructure and more aggressive visioneering and faster execution.”

Another major concern of Japanese investors is the high cost of electricity in the country.

“Since power rates are even higher here than Japan’s — making us the highest in the world — so definitely it must be lower than Japan but the comparison should be with our competitors (not with China) like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia on the first tier and on the second tier – Vietnam and on the 3rd tier — Myanmar, Laos PDR and Kampuchea. On my many trips to Japan for our JICA project, I think we would have a normalized market share at P7.50 per kilowatt hour,” said Salceda.

...the potential global advergaming leader

Philippines can be a global leader in advergaming

 

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

Bazinga technopreneurs Zes Martinez and Homer Nievera

Who doesn’t know Angry Birds? It was one of 2012’s biggest buzzwords, a hugely successful smartphone video game that got millions of people worldwide, across all age groups playing like crazy.

This year, the Philippines is on the cusp of becoming a world leader in video-gaming as a proudly made Pinoy video game aims to surpass what Angry Birds has reached in terms of popularity and dollar payback.

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

From a $140,000 investment, Angry Birds returned with $70 million in revenues. The blockbuster hysteria that it created is a great case study for the growing importance of video games as new media highway for forward-thinking advertisers.

A case in point is the rapidly evolving online, social and mobile game markets. They all have captured the hearts of Asian and world gamers.

Huge untapped market

Video game is a $48-billion industry and is expected to grow to $68 billion this year. The two-year-old online social gaming is worth $600 million and will jump to $1 billion by 2013 alone.

Let’s focus our eyes on Asia.

There are more than 180 million online gamers in China and the industry outperforms the national GDP growth.

According to the 2011 China’s games industry annual and five-year forecast report, published by Niko Partners, a leading research firm specializing in Asian games market, the 2011 growth rate reached 21.4 percent, or a revenue of $5.8 billion.

The World Bank has projected a growth rate of 9.3 percent for China’s gross domestic product for the same year. Southeast Asia follows China’s lead, predicted at $1.7 billion with 100 million gamers by 2014. To make the good news even better, paying gamers are now a majority.

A cinemablend.com report declares the Asia-Pacific region as the largest gaming market in the world.

 

It is expected to be the fastest-growing region within the next five years.

By 2015, there will be more than 100 million gamers throughout the emerging markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Asia-Pacific also dominates the mobile games industry, accounting for over 60 percent of the $13.4-billion global market. This has been driven primarily by Japan and South Korea, and now China, the world’s biggest mobile market.

Fun media

Nike, Nestle, McDonald’s are some of the biggest brands that have utilized video gaming to connect to its core target more intimately and in a fun way.

Called Advergaming, it is a fun marketing way using a downloadable video game that advertises a product by weaving the brand as part of the game.

Gil de Palma of Palmagick Entertainment

“The beauty of it is that it gives you not only online and offline consumer interaction but also results in real time with real metrics,” says Homer Nievera, the man at the helm of Bazinga Inc., largely responsible for marketing Pinoy digital ingenuity to the world.

As cool as the video games he markets, and a social media expert down to e-commerce and e-wallet, Nievera, “Homerun” to many, prefers to call himself a serial global technopreneur.

Nievera’s prime advocacy is helping start-ups succeed through multiple streams of revenues.

As an expert business developer who has helped local and global tech companies achieve hypergrowth, Nievera is a sought-after consultant and speaker. He currently does the rounds of meetings and conferences for topics such as social entrepreneurship, gamification and hyper-sales growth.

Endless possibilities

“In Advergaming, you might see a character having a soft drink, a car driving past a snack food billboard, teeners chatting on their tablets, a gang hanging out in a mall, a dad making a bank transaction, a housewife indulging in a beauty salon, etc. The possibilities for branding and, most importantly, consumer engagements, are infinite,” Nievera says.

Along with his business and marketing director August Martinez III, Nievera is gungho about selling Pinoy video games to the world—even ‘crazy’ with a cool promo idea offering a brand-new Audi for a soon-to-be launched online game on social media.

As for Martinez, “We are an enabling techno-Pinoy company whose main focus is to market world-class Pinoy digital work through innovative technologies and creative solutions.”

Martinez is proud of Bazinga being a digital entertainment company engaged in providing fun to the public through casual and social gaming.

“Starting with our flagship offering, Bazinga World is ready to help talented Pinoys in monetizing their digital ideas,” Martinez says.

Bazinga World

Bazinga came from the word used by celebrity Sheldon Cooper in the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” meaning “gotcha” or “eureka.”

The dynamic company has immensely talented, young and innovative people, experts in their respective fields with proven track records. It has grown so fast that it now has offices in California and Texas, which help market Pinoy video games and entertainment content worldwide.

“We support local game programmers and developers by providing the right ecosystem to realize their dreams of having their software programs and games see the light of day,” Martinez explains the company’s mission.

Bazinga is poised to be a major global player in digital entertainment. In fact, it is all set to launch a bunch of Philippine-made video games globally: WordTrotter and about a dozen exciting more.

All of them created in partnership with, undoubtedly, the Philippines’ top digital gaming developer, Palmagick Entertainment, whose wizard is Gil de Palma, a UP graduate, writer, artist, filmmaker, and creator of WordTrotter, “the world’s coolest word game,” as described by online video game diehards.

In 2001, the University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, one of the most prestigious writing fellowships in Asia, awarded De Palma its first fellowship for screenplay.

De Palma was also a finalist in 2007 Asian Television Forum SuperPitch (Singapore); 2003 Moondance International Film Festival (Hollywood); 2002 Cinemanila International Film Festival; semifinalist, 2001 Paramount Pictures-Chesterfield Film Company: The Writer’s Film Project (Hollywood) and 1999 Big Australian International Screenplay Competition.

Apart from WordTrotter, De Palma also was the creator of the superhero pack Taekwondoggs. He is currently co-developing a video game with an international brand of health and beauty products. The game allows players to build a business empire using product purchases built-in to enhance the total gaming experience.

PH: World capital for video games

Just like Pinoy world-class animators used by Hollywood and other filmmakers around the world (Hanna Barbera, Walt Disney, Pixar), the Philippines is slowly becoming one of Asia’s biggest sources of online video games to the world.

In WordTrotter, De Palma brings into play the technique of word retention by familiarization-multiplied a thousand fold by the thrill of casual gaming.

It is designed with the nonviolent play-and-learn casual gaming model to reach practically all demographic sectors worldwide.

“WordTrotter is unlike any online word game you have played. Here, you’ll meet characters that are able to walk upside down and sideways,” De Palma says.

“The amazing thing about it is you get to build your English vocabulary in the process—whether you like it or not. And you’re going to have so much fun doing it,” he adds.

Want to share the game? Easy. One click and your friends will get it. Want the world to know your top score? Just click. Want to send a free game, power-up gifts, and other game freebies? WordTrotter on Facebook will handle it all for you.

With the continued gamification of media and humans getting wired for fun and games, the troika of Nievera, Martinez and De Palma is poised to put the country on centerstage of world advergaming.