...the world's top performing home sales

Phl home prices among world’s fastest growing

            

By Louella D. Desiderio

The Philippine Star

March 23, 2014

 

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines was among the top performers in terms of growth in housing prices worldwide, according to a survey by research house Global Property Guide (GPG).

In GPG’s global house price survey for 2013, the Philippines was the fourth top performer with the average price of three-bedroom condominium units in the Makati central business district rising 10.56 percent in 2013 following annual increases of 4.85 percent in 2012 and two percent in 2011.

“Demand remains strong, as indicated by soaring real estate loans,” the research house said.

It noted that based on data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the volume of real estate loans rose 38.5 percent year-on-year to P776.65 billion in September last year.

Citing real estate advisory services firm CBRE Philippines, GPG said the Philippine housing market is expected to accelerate this year, to be supported by the rising number of foreign investors as well as growing business process outsourcing industry.

The growth in the local housing market is seen amid the country’s favorable economic conditions.

 

The economy grew 7.2 percent in 2013, faster than the 6.8 percent expansion posted in 2012.

 

For this year, the government has set a 6.5 to 7.5 percent economic growth target.

Topping GPG’s list of countries with rising housing prices was United Arab Emirates with average prices of housing units in Dubai growing 21.52 percent in 2013.

This was followed by Estonia with average housing prices up 16.55 percent, while Taiwan came in third with average housing prices increasing 14.46 percent last year.

China placed fifth on the list as the average cost of housing units in Shanghai climbed 10.13 percent in 2013.

Out of the 42 countries covered by GPG’s survey, 27 markets showed housing price increases
“House prices are rising in many more countries than not, and the momentum trend is strongly upwards,” GPG said.

GPG which provides information on residential property development covers market trends in 101 countries.

 

...the PH internet freedom rank

Philippines ranks 11th in world internet freedom


Sun Star
Friday, October 4, 2013

THE Philippines ranked 11th in terms of internet freedom, according to a group's global assessment of internet freedom for 2013.

Freedom House's "Freedom on the Net 2013" gave the Philippines a "free" freedom-on-the-net status and a score of 25, though it fell slightly from last year's 23.

Iceland topped the list with a freedom score of 6, with Estonia second with 9. Germany and the United States were tied with 17.

Australia (18), France (20), Japan (22), Hungary and Italy (23 each) and United Kingdom (24) rounded out the top 10.

In Asia, the Philippines ranked second to Japan as the most free in the region. Japan had a score of 22.

In its profile on the Philippines, Freedom House said the Philippines had an internet penetration in 2012 of 36 percent, though no apps or social content was blocked.

However, it noted the Philippines passed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, now suspended by the Supreme Court, allows authorities to block online content without a warrant.

It also facilitates government surveillance and punishes online libel with up to 12 years' imprisonment.

Also, it said eight bills had been filed in the Senate seeking regulation of online child pornography, gambling and phishing, "which could add to overbroad restrictions on cybercrime." (JK/Sunnex)

 

...the Choir gold medalist in China

Muntinlupa choir wins gold medal in intl competition in China

 

KARLA MAQUILING

GMA News

November 14, 2012

 

 

The Muntinlupa Science High School (MSHS) Chorale brought home the gold medal in the

Mixed Youth Choirs category at the Guangzhou International Open Competition held from

November 8 to 14 in Guangzhou, mainland China.

 

 

With conductor Ivy Rose Casiguran-Puri, the chorale group received 24.78 points for its 15-

minute, three-choral-piece performance.

 

 

The MSHS Chorale bested nine other choir groups from Indonesia and mainland China,

including Exodia Youth Choir, Gita Swara Nassa Indonesian Youth Choir, Sixers Voice Choir,

SCAU New Voice, Xinghai Further Education College Festival Chorus, Enharmonic Singers

SMAN 1 Pandaan, Zhong Yuan High School Choir, Guangdong Zhaoqing Middle School

Chorus, and Student's Mixed Choir of Zhongshan Overseas Middle School.
 

The Guangzhou Open was the group’s first international competition. Five other Philippine

choral groups joined the contest.

 

 

The other Pinoy groups that competed were the Calasiao Children’s Chorus, Coro San

Benildo, Novo Concertante Manila, Tarlac State University Chamber Choir, and the Lipa Choral

Ensemble.

 

 

The Guangzhou International Open Competition attracted more than 70 lay and amateur choirs

representing Indonesia, Estonia, mainland China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Slovenia, Thailand,

Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Russia.

 

 

Participants can choose to join any of the seven categories. The winners of the Guangzhou

International Open Competition who get more than 23,00 points would then go on to compete in

the 1st Xinghai Prize International Choir Championships on the same week.

 

 

Award-winning chorus

The MSHS Chorale, which was included in the top 1,000 choirs around the world by

international music organization Interkultur, has won numerous awards locally.

 

 

This year, the group won two awards: the championship at the Outstanding Show Choir Tilt

in Muntinlupa held in February, and the first prize at the Eco-Chorale Competition at the 23 rd

Philippine Travel Mart in September.

 

 

The group won the fourth place in the National Choral Competition organized by the Manila

Broadcasting Company in December 2011 and was named champion at the Hallmark Music

and Memories Chorale Competition and Voices in Harmony 2010.

 

 

The group’s other awards include the grand championship prize at the Ang Aming Munting

Handog chorale festival in December 2008 and at the SM Malls Singing Makabayan Choir

Competition; Best in Choice Piece at the 2008 Musikapella; and third place at the NAMCYA for

two consecutive times.

 

 

According to the group’s conductor, the MSHS choir’s members not only excel in the performing

arts but also in the sciences. - VVP, GMA News

...the World's budget English Teacher

BBC report: PH drawing thousands of foreign students for its affordable English classes

By Lawrence de Guzman
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Monday, November 12th, 2012

 

 

MANILA, Philippines — The world’s “budget English teacher.”

This is how the Philippines was called in a recent BBC News report  highlighting the country’s relatively cheap access to education compared to other English-speaking nations.

The report, written by Kate McGeown and posted online on Monday, noted the surge in the number of foreign students attracted by the country’s competitive rates for English education, which costs only a fraction of the tuition in schools in the United States or Canada.

Aside from language students, the number of foreign graduate and post-graduate students in the country is reportedly on the rise, apparently recognizing that local universities are at par with global standards.

A check with the Bureau of Immigration Student Desk indicated that as of October 2012, a total of 24,680 foreigners had applied for study permits, which was more than thrice the applications in 2008 totaling 7,569.

The agency also expects the applications for full student visas to reach at least 23,000 by the end of the year, which is over four times the 2008 figure of 5,336 applications.

A major advantage for Filipinos is having a clear American accent, according to the report, “partly because the Philippines was a US colony for five decades, and partly because so many people here have spent time working in call centers that cater to a US market.”

But studying in the Philippines has presented some challenges to students, the report pointed out.

“Living here means coping with the bureaucracy and corruption, and if you’re in Manila, the heavy pollution,” it said.

Moreover, foreigners may find it difficult to understand Taglish, a mix of Tagalog and English which Filipinos use in informal communication.

“But for an increasing number of people, these are small obstacles compared with the benefits of studying in the Philippines,” added the report.

This is not the first time the country has been recognized for its English proficiency.

Last April, the Philippines topped 75 other countries in the Business English Index 2012 prepared by the GlobalEnglish Corp., a California-based company that aims to advance business English among global organizations.

Only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, a “level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks,” GlobalEnglish said in its release.

The Philippines is joined in the top five by Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19).

Noting that a country’s business English capability is an indicator of its economic growth and business success, GlobalEnglish said that “it is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway—the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012—are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank.”

...the internet's 6th most free country

Internet use in PH among world's most free

 

By Kim Arveen Patria

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

26 September 2012

Internet use in the Philippines is among the most free in the world, a report said Wednesday, amid Pinoys' worry over of a newly approved law that critics say threaten online rights.

"People in the Philippines enjoy nearly unrestricted access to the Internet and other ICTs," independent watchdog Freedom House said in a report dubbed "Freedom on the Net 2012."

The Philippines was rated "free," scoring 23 points in the report where a score of zero means "most free" and 100 "least free".

This placed the country 6th out of 47 in the list, a spot it shared with Australia.

Performing better were Estonia, with a score of 10 points; U.S., 12 points; Germany, 15 points; Australia, 18 points; Hungary, 19 points; and Italy.

In Asia, the Philippines is the only country deemed "free."

South Korea was a far second with a score of 34 points. It was followed by India, 39 points; Indonesia, 42 points; and Malaysia, 43 points.

"To date, the [Philippine] government has steered clear of blocking access to any type of online content," said the report, which covered the January 2011-May 2012 period.

During the survey period, however, the report noted eight proposed measures on the "regulation of online content."

Such proposals have raised concerns the government is seeking to institute a "filtering infrastructure" which "could be potentially used for political and social censorship," Freedom House said.

Cry vs. cybercrime

"The law can be invoked to restrict access to and use of the Internet," Kabataan (youth) party-list Rep. Mong Palatino said in a phone interview.

Although the intention of the measure is to "protect rights," it may be misconstrued to support censorship, he added.

"The law will also definitely have a 'chilling effect' on press and Internet freedom," Palatino told Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

Although written before the enactment of the anti-cybercrime law, the report seems to echo Palatino's fear, as it cited the tendency of self-censorship in the Philippines.

"[G]iven that many news websites are online versions of traditional media—-many of whom self-censor due to the high levels of violence against journalists in the country—-it is fair to surmise that self-censorship is reflected in the content of online outlets as well," the report said.

This, even as it noted that "the Filipino blogosphere is rich and thriving."

"In 2010, the Philippines together with Indonesia led blog growth in Southeast Asia with an 18 percent increase from
the previous year," Freedom House said.

"Both state and non-state actors actively use the internet as a platform to discuss politics, especially during elections," it added.

Palatino, for his part, urged Filipinos to further heighten online engagement on policy issues, particularly the Cybercrime Prevention Law.

"If netizens will oppose the absolute implementation of the law, then the measure may actually serve its intention," Palatino said.

Palatino added that instead of moving to regulate the Internet in the Philippines, the government should strive for a policy environment that will spur its growth, he added.

"One possible step is the implementation of an Internet Bill of Rights," Palatino said.

Stifling Internet growth in the Philippines are "mergers and acquisitions amid the country's market liberalization initiatives during the 1980s and the absence of anti-trust laws," Freedom House said.

It particularly cited the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) whose recent acquisition of Sun Cellular operator Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. gave it 70 percent of the country's telco market.

"The slow growth of the broadband industry is mainly due to the dominance of the privately-owned PLDT that has maintained a stronghold since the late 1920s," the report said.

...the best country for business English

PH: World's best country in business English

By Shielo Mendoza

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

25 April 2012

Well, people will now have to think twice before mocking Pinoys' use of the English language.

The Philippines was named the world’s best country in business English proficiency, even beating the United States, according to a recent study by GlobalEnglish Corporation.

GlobalEnglish has released early this month the results of its annual Business English Index (BEI), the only index that measures business English proficiency in the workplace.

For 2012, results showed that from 76 represented countries worldwide, only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, "a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks."

“This is particularly interesting because the Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the population of India, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers. Over 400,000 Filipinos are now employed in call centers, roughly 50,000 more than in India,” the study said.

The Philippines, which scored 7.11 and the lone country in the intermediate level, were joined by Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19) in the top five.

GlobalEnglish noted that a country’s business English capability is an indicator of its economic growth and business success.

“It is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway—the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012—are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank,” it added.

Meanwhile, struggling economic powers (Japan, Italy and Mexico) and fast-growth emerging markets (Brazil, Columbia and Chile) scored below a 4.0 in business English proficiency, placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace, the study said.

It also pointed out that shifts in global talent have put even English-speaking countries at risk.

“Surprisingly the BEI score for global workers in the U.S. declined from 6.9 to 5.09 since the original 2011 BEI benchmark, which is attributed to a majority of test takers being foreign-born engineers and scientists,” the report said.

Rest of the world ranked beginner and basic level

Based on a scale of 1-10, the average 2012 BEI score across 108,000 test takers around the world is 4.15 which is lower than last year’s 4.46.

Nearly four out of 10 (38.2 percent) global workers from 76 countries were ranked as business English beginners, meaning that, on average, they can’t understand or communicate basic information during virtual or in-person meetings, read or write professional emails in English or deal with complexity and rapid change in a global business environment, the study said.

Meanwhile, the majority of global workers (60.5 percent) from the represented countries scored between a 4.0 and 7.0, below an intermediate level, indicating an inability to take an active role in business discussions or perform relatively complex tasks such as presentation development and customer or partner negotiations, it added.

GlobalEnglish stressed that the 2012 BEI which showed a lack of business English proficiency is threatening the productivity of companies, industries and country-specific economies this year.

“Poor Business English skills are bad for global businesses and this year’s Business English Index suggests that many companies will be hard-pressed to achieve their desired performance goals during 2012,” said Tom Kahl, GlobalEnglish President.

“Addressing English skills gaps and ensuring that employees can immediately perform at the necessary proficiency level should be viewed as a strategic imperative for multinational businesses, as Enterprise Fluency, the ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate within global organizations, can deliver significant financial upside,” Kahl added.

Headquartered in Brisbane, California, GlobalEnglish works with multinational companies – including Cisco, Procter and Gamble, HSBC, Phzer – to support performance in business English across the workforce around the world.

Here's the list of the 10 best and worst countries in the world for business English proficiency based on GlobalEnglish's 2012 BEI:

10 Best Countries:
Philippines
Norway
Serbia
Slovenia
Australia
Malaysia
India
Lithuania
Singapore
Canada

10 Worst Countries:
Armenia
Cote d'Ivoire
Taiwan
Honduras
Columbia
Chile
El Salvador
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Brazil

...the Cardinal choir

Mapua Cardinal Singers win in Asian choir contest

abs-cbnNEWS.com

08/07/2011

 

 

The Mapua Cardinal Singers won the gold diploma for their overall performance at the Hong Kong International Youth and Children's Choir Festival held last July 18 to 19. Photo courtesy of Mapua

MANILA, Philippines - The Mapua Cardinal Singers made their school and country proud after winning at the Hong Kong International Youth and Children's Choir Festival (HKIYCCF) held last month.

They bagged the gold diploma for their superb overall performance at the event held last July 18 and 19, beating 60 Asian and 2 Philippine choral groups.

They also won gold and silver awards fro the Folklore and Youth Choir categories, respectively.

"Apart from our passion for choral music, as Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) goes global, we also have to step up to be known internationally. This belief led us to the decision of joining more international competitions such as the HKIYCCF," said John Ramiel Feliciano, who sings Bass 2 in the group.

"We are delighted to bring honor not only to our institute but also to our country."

The Mapua Cardinal Singers trained for 4 months for the HKIYCCF, MIT said. They previously won gold diplomas and olympic silver medals at the 4th World Choir Games in China in 2006, and gold prizes at the 3rd A Voyage of Songs International Choral Festival in Thailand in 2007.

They consider the HKIYCCF the biggest event they have joined so far. The said competition was first organized in 2006 and has been participated in by choirs from Estonia, Romania, United States, Congo, South Africa, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, North Korea, New Zealand and Macau.

Meanwhile, the Mapua Cardinal Singers are now preparing for the Takarazuka International Choral Competition, which will be held in Japan in July next year.