...the UK billboard contest winner

Young artist's painting unveiled on UK billboards

 

by Patrick Camara Ropeta,

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

05/03/2012

 

 

LONDON - A painting by a young Filipino artist from The Netherlands has been unveiled on billboards in England after winning an international art competition.

Antonio Perez, a high school student based in Amstelveen, was among the winners of the ‘Who Are You?’ competition hosted by the Arts University College at Bournemouth (AUCB) and JCDecaux.

The 17-year-old aspiring artist visited the UK to view his winning artwork on giant billboards, and attended the exhibition launch of the Top 10 winning entries at the AUCB Gallery in southwest England.

“Winning the competition is overwhelming. It makes me feel speechless, especially after I saw my art on billboards. I had nothing to say. I was just struck and shocked at the same time. It’s a great opportunity for me, and it’s a once in a lifetime thing,” said Perez, whose winning entry was inspired by pop art.

“Before I did the piece, I looked at different artists, and the one that caught my eye was Roy Lichtenstein, who is a pop artist. I saw one of his pieces and that’s where I got the inspiration from. I also wanted a comic feel to my piece.”

Beyond its bold colors and daring style, Perez’s work caught the attention of judges and viewers due to its passionate patriotic theme.

“Most of the feedback is about it being different, because every other piece were about themselves while mine is about my country. I really wanted to express ‘me’ with my country too," he explained.

“I had nine other pieces before, and I asked myself ‘Who am I?’ I thought about expressing myself as busy, or even flying, because I would like to fly, but then it hit me - what about the Philippines? If I want to express myself, I should also express every other Filipino in the world.”

Perez is studying art, math, English, Japanese and IT at the International School of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, where his parents currently live due to work commitments. Originally from Pasig and Davao in the Philippines, the family lived in Singapore before moving to Europe in 2010.

“Everyone at school was commenting about my painting and the competition. They were telling me it was great, even people I didn’t know. It shocked me how technology can simply mass communicate,” he recalled.

“Who Are You?” is an international art competition providing a platform for upcoming young artists chosen by a panel of judges from the creative industries. Twenty five entries are selected and entered into a public vote on social networking site Facebook, where 10 winners will emerge to join an art exhibit at the AUCB Gallery and on billboards across England.

“The biggest platform we can think of for artists, designers, and photographers as a 48 sheet billboard. It’s a medium I love coming from advertising, and it’s very traditional, but it’s very impactful. It’s part of our lives whether we like it or not,” explained Simon Pride from AUCB, organizers of the competition.

“We mixed it with online, because that’s where young people are living and communicating. With this campaign, we’ve brought the two things together. We created a community and project online, but the end result of it was the posters we’re seeing now.”

Winning entries from the competition, including Perez’s work, was exhibited on billboards in Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Brighton, Guildford, Oxford, Bath, Bristol and Exeter.

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...the ADB recipients

Students, teachers in three PHL colleges to gain from $650,000 ADB grant

 

May 3, 2012

GMA News

 

 

The Asian Development Bank has forged with the Philippines a $650,000 technical assistance grant to improve teaching and learning in colleges that supply information and communications technology graduates to the business process outsourcing industry.
 
According to the memorandum of understanding signed between Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and ADB country director Neeraj Jain, 900 faculty and 3,000 students will benefit in at least three colleges that will serve as ICT hubs funded by the grant.
 
“The IT-BPO sector has been one of the sunshine industries in the Philippines and sustaining its performance has been the priority of this government as we believe on its potential to generate jobs and in the process, boost demand and growth in the country,” Purisima said.
 
While, $500,000 of the grant will come from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund by the ADB. The Philippine government will provide the remaining $150,000 in the form of “in kind contributions.”
 
The ADB said it worked out the grant, because “national competitiveness, moving into knowledge-based services, and achieving and maintaining rapid economic progress, would require an educated workforce equipped with skills that meet the demands of high-growth industries.”
 
According to the MOU, at least three hubs will be established: one each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each hub will be ICT-enabled and provide “online training” to teachers and “digitized learning modules and study guides” for students.
 
Implementation will be monitored by a steering committee chaired by the Finance Department and with members from the Commission on Higher Education, National Economic and Development Authority, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, among others.
 
Citing Board of Investment figures, the ADB said” IT-BPO revenues grew by 24 percent to roughly $11 billion with the industry employing 638,000 people as full-time employees.”
 
The Aquino administration has set a $25-billion industry revenue goal by 2016. —Earl Victor Rosero, GMA News

...the ADB host

Phl's hosting of ADB meeting to create positive image for the country: official (philstar.com) May 02, 2012

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' hosting of the 45th Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting could be a chance for the country to highlight its gains under the Aquino administration for almost two years and to create more positive image for investors, a senior government official said Wednesday.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said it was timely that the focus of this year's ADB's annual meeting is on inclusive growth, which is also the platform of the current government.

"The fact that it is being hosted by the Philippines after several decades, is a recognition also of where the Philippines has gone over the last two years in terms of trying to get the economy started, renewing democratic values and basically getting the country on a positive footing," he said.

Carandang said the government hopes that the four-day ADB event, which started on Wednesday, could lead to a "more positive image" of the Philippines overseas and "more business deals" that will help the local economy move forward and create more jobs.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda, in a press conference on Wednesday, said that about 4,300 are participating in the annual event.

...the "FUN" slogan airs on CNN

‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ TVC premieres on international news channel

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

May 2, 2012

Manila Bulletin

The first two TV ads launched by the Department of Tourism consisted of memes, such as this one, that tell why it's 'more fun in the Philippines' (Screen grab courtesy of DOTPhilippines' YouTube page)

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism’s “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign takes off and goes international as its TV ads debut in one of the world’s premiere news cable channel, the CNN (Cable News Network), on Monday, April 30.


The announcement of its airing was made by DOT Sec. Ramon Jimenez Jr. himself on his Twitter account the same day.


“Gusto nating ipakita na talagang it's more fun in the Philippines. Kaya ang ginamit nating music, ginamit nating mga images, even the pacing of the music, and the timing, it's fun,” DOT Asec. Domingo Ramon Enerio III told “24 Oras” in a taped interview aired on Tuesday.


The 30-second ad features photos not only of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, but also of its people and things that are uniquely Filipino. The images used were shot by regular Filipinos, depicting variations of the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” slogan and flashed one after the other accompanied by an upbeat song in the background. Parts of it were reportedly sung by Apl.de.Ap, the Filipino-American member of the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas.


A second ad that runs for 15 seconds was released also on Monday, featuring a clip of a tarsier perched on a tree branch with the slogan, "Staring contests. More fun in the Philippines."


Incidentally, CNN has put the Philippines on the spotlight through its “Eye On” series. For a whole week, from April 30 to May 4, the news channel will run special reports about various topics such as the people, culture, politics, and business.


Meanwhile, Enerio stressed that this ad campaign “is everybody's campaign.”


“Tourism is the Filipino people's business. We want them to be part of this campaign. We want them to embrace it and call it their own,” he added.


Celine Clemente, President of the Tourism Congress, commended this latest initiative of the DOT.

“This is a very, very long awaited welcome from the [Tourism Congress] stakeholders. It's now time, this is a very huge project and a very welcomed initiative. We should reach the world, and CNN is one way of reaching to the world,” she said.

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...the Benham rise

PH claim to Benham Rise arises

ABS-CBNnews.com

05/02/2012

MANILA, Philippines - An area just off the coast of Aurora province that could be rich in natural gas and mineral deposits now officially belongs to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the UN has verified that Benham Rise, the a 13-million-hectare area, belongs to the Philippines' continental shelf and territory.

"We were awarded the extension of continental shift in that area of Luzon which actually is believed to have lots of minerals and therefore would help for the development. We are happy that shows UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] supports our plans with regard to the continental shelf," Hernandez said briefing.

The Philippines' extended continental shelf was approved 3 years after the country filed an official claim on the area.

Scarborough dispute

Meanwhile, Hernandez  confirmed on Wednesday that China has around 23 boats at Scarborough shoal just off Zambales province.

He said the boats include 4 government ships, 8 fishing vessels and 11 service boats.

 The Philippines has 2 ships in the area -- the  BRP EDSA and a vessel sent by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

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...the new Japanese confidence

Gaining Ground On Japanese Investments

 

Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez Mission

By MYRNA M. VELASCO

April 30, 2012

Manila Bulletin

 

 

Banking on the revived interest of investors, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez is embarking on a new and lofty mission – to make great strides in attracting foreign capitals that can help lift the country’s economic stature.

It is some sort of a ‘role-shift’ for him – considering that he is one of the ‘big boys’ in the Philippine business scene, and has always been a private sector player at that. Prior to his diplomatic assignment, he has been chairman and chief executive officer of the country’s biggest power distribution utility – the Manila Electric Company.

But in a sit-down interview with him at his office at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, one could easily forget his elite background back home once he starts talking emphatically about his job of convincing Japanese investors to put their money in the Philippines and as he narrates the routine task of looking after the welfare of the Filipinos working and residing there. And yes, he is relishing the fact that he is doing such mission as a service to his country and people.

During his watch, at least he’s reassuring that the Philippines will not sit idle and let itself surpassed by other countries when it comes to cornering its share of those Japanese yen investments.

“For some time, we have been losing out to our neighbors. We are being forgotten, so we have to regain some lost grounds. Thankfully, the Japanese investors are looking at the Philippines again with renewed interest and a lot of that has something to do with the promise of good governance plus transparency,” he stressed.

There have been myriad of in¬terests when it comes to Japanese investments in the country – includ¬ing the opportunities being offered via the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements (i.e. those for rail system, energy projects, road network, water and even disaster management systems); semicon¬ductor and electronics; small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and tourism-related ventures.

While it is still falling behind Asean neighbors, the Philippines is certainly on a “rebound path” when it comes to foreign direct investments (FDIs) from Japan. Of the 771 billion yen worth of investments flowed to Asean countries last year, the Philippines cornered 80.7 billion yen in the pie (and mainly funneled to invest¬ments in the semiconductor and electronics sector). That registered an increase of 86.4% from 2010 level of 43.3 billion yen.

Focus on core competence

Mr. Lopez emphasizes though that the prudent step is “to focus on our core competence” – which he be¬lieves are in the areas of electronics, SMEs and tourism.

“The big boys like Marubeni and Mitsubishi are already familiar with the risks and how to do business in the Philippines … they will invest according to their assessments of risks and opportunities and the set of incentives being offered, so it would be less of a worry for us. What I’m telling my trade attaché is to concentrate on areas where we can be competitive,” he said.

The envoy is particularly latching on the experience of Japanese firms which already etched their own success stories as to their investments in the country – such as in the case of Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, a medium-sized firm which is into parts manufacturing, design and engineering service for shipbuilding industry that set up its business office in Cebu.

“Tsuneishi first put up its office in an abandoned area, and now they’re employing 12,000 to 13,000 Filipinos. They’re happy with their experience so they are now planning to expand. So it is one of the success stories that we can build up on,” Mr. Lopez noted. The others are Terumo Medical Cor¬poration at the Laguna Technopark; and Yazaki-Torres Manufacturing Inc. which is into the manufacturing of automotive wiring harness sets and is also sited in Calamba, Laguna.

Mr. Lopez shared that a recent investment roadshow to Osaka by Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s (PEZA) Director General Lilia de Lima may also generate additional investments for the country. He tipped off that four firms have committed to relocate in the country – two of which are into toys manufacturing.

The other FDIs they are counting on are the interest of Japanese inves¬tors to join the biddings for railway projects; and the recently-sealed contract with Takenaka Corporation for the civil works of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 3 terminal; among others. The bit of good news on the Takenaka deal was on the project cost reduction won over by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), which according to Mr. Lopez, was pared to $45 million from $85 million originally.

Another area that Mr. Lopez is passionate about is positioning the Philippines as a tourism destination – primarily for the divers and golf en¬thusiasts. These ventures are being coupled with discussions of increasing airline flights between key cities of Japan and the Philippines.

“We are coordinating with the DOT (Department of Tourism) for them to do promotional activities here to raise awareness among the Japanese that we have excellent golf courses and diving spots,” he stressed.

As to sustaining the interest of the “big-ticket Japanese investors”, the envoy noted that the Keidanren mission who called on President Aquino last March has been an affirmation to that. Major league players such as Toyota Motor Corp., Sumitomo Corp.; Toshiba Corp.; Marubeni; East Japan Railway Company; Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.; Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line); Showa Denko, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., and All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. were all there scouring for new investment opportunities.

Dealing with ‘VIPs tough competition’

Not all investment-economies are created equal, so cornering the attention of the Japanese investors would not be easy, Mr. Lopez has admitted, noting that “we will be most challenged by our own Asean neighbors.”
“When it comes to competition, Thailand is the first choice for Japanese investors, so it’s difficult wrestling with them given the set of incentives that they can offer,” he averred.

Interestingly though, he rates that the country can still gain com¬petitive advantage against other Asean countries – or at least, it can be on a head-to-head race with Vietnam and Indonesia.

“We cannot compete with Thailand anymore. But the real compe¬tition is with the V-I-Ps,” he said, referring to Vietnam-Indonesia-Philippines. “Thailand is already saturated and Vietnam has been increasing its wages, so we might as well take advantage of those develop¬ments by making our own investment offers more attractive,” he stressed.

In a separate interview with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), they acknowledged that “companies which have subsidiaries in the Philippines still find value in in¬vesting or expanding,” hinging more on the incentives being offered at the PEZA zones as well as the country’s highly-educated labor market. But the Japanese investors still complain of hurdles in the country’s “changing tax system” as well as the state of infrastructures which are relatively inferior to others.

The market size (or the lack of purchasing power because of smaller middle class base) may also serve as deterring factor, especially for companies which are gearing up for bigger sales. Such that when car parts manufacturing firms had to relocate because of the Thai floods, they have chosen Indonesia over the Philippines because of the former’s “richer” middle class.

The OFWs in the value chain

While reinvigorating investor confidence takes up a significant portion of the Tokyo embassy’s work, dealing with the needs of the Filipino workers in Japan is definitely not too low in the totem pole.

The ambassador ostensibly discussed the “policy matters” they have been taking up with the Japa¬nese government to improve the working conditions of Filipinos deployed there – including those that will be included in the fine-tuning of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA.

“The bulk of our OFWs here are seafarers, about 70%. And that may even increase to 75% because of higher demand,” Mr. Lopez has disclosed.

In the coming years, he is expecting that deployment of Filipino nurses and caregivers will also rise – yet there are hurdles that have yet to be addressed, including the overseas workers’ proficiency of the Japanese language.

A display of ‘selfless dedication to duty’ of at least four Filipino nurses when the double whammy of earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan last year, which caught even the attention of the Japanese Prime Minister, has somehow been chang¬ing the ‘opportunity landscape’ for Filipinos in the profession, according to Mr. Lopez.

“It is what we’re telling the government of Japan, through their Foreign Ministry, that there is more to the nursing care than just passing the examinations – the extra care from the Filipinos and the loyalty,” he stressed.

In that same period when Japan was at its lowest point, there were other Filipino workers who were altruistic in extending their service even when confronted with extreme disasters – the information technology (IT) professionals who have not abandoned their jobs so they can help ensure some systems work – includ¬ing the banks’ automated teller machines (ATMs) because of the heavy withdrawals resorted to by people for survival.

“It’s a story that IBM told me. Many nationalities left, but the Filipinos stayed and they made the system work at the height of the calamity – especially those for the ATMs. You really have to expect those kind of chaos, but the Filipinos were there working,” he said.

The ambassador admitted “that has always been my lament that in everything that came out in the me¬dia, the dedication and the efforts of our Filipino workers in the face of the disaster were never highlighted – it should have been something that we should be proud of.”

Whether levering for investment flows or advancing opportunities for the overseas Filipino workers, Mr. Lopez noted that ultimately, the goal would be to move the Philippines out of obscurity and into the fast lane.

...the growth forecast (PH gov't)

PH officials optimistic on 5-6% economic growth

By: Riza Olchondra
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

 

 

MANILA, Philippines–The country’s top officials are optimistic that the Philippine economy would grow 5 to 6 percent in terms of gross domestic production (GDP) for 2012.

 

Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of the 45th ADB  Governors’ Annual Meeting (Manila 2012) that government’s expenditure program is getting on track and economic indicators are looking “good.”

Public Works Sec. Rogelio Singson said “strong spending” and government’s “strong resolve on good governance” ensure that spending is done efficiently.

Both officials also cited business confidence and “strong international support” for the Philippines.

In early 2011, slow government spending and sluggish global trade resulted in 4.6 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011.

Manufacturing and other services, real estate, renting and business activities, and the recovery of agriculture drove economic activity in the first quarter of 2011. Increased investments in fixed capital and household spending also helped offset some of the slowdown.

The domestic economy must grow by an average of 7 to 8 percent annually to generate enough employment and income opportunities for a larger number of Filipinos, according to the Philippine Development Plan 2010-2016. In 2011, contraction in the electronics-heavy Philippine exports pulled down services and other growth drivers.