...the Miss PH Universe

PH Miss Universe 2012 Bet Shines In Pre-Pageant Q&A

 

Manila Bulletin

Tue, Dec 11, 2012

 

 

MANILA, Philippines - The finals night of the Miss Universe pageant this year will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 19 but Philippine bet Janine Tugonon seems to be shining already based on the dry-run of the final question-and-answer portion as seen in a pre-pageant video released online.

 

 

 

Her solo Q&A video, along with those of the other contestants', were posted by user OfficialMissUniverse on the social networking site YouTube on Dec. 8.

With the description: "Get to know the contestants of 2012 MISS UNIVERSE® Pageant," each contestant's video, where they are shown answering three questions, runs for more than a minute. As of this writing, Tugonon's video already has more than 130,000 views, far ahead of the rest of the contestants.

Wearing a leopard top, Tugonon was initially asked about her favorite holiday traditions.

"Our family tradition is very simple, very fun, happy, because the whole family gathers in our house and we will just gonna eat, gonna dance and gonna sing together," the 23-year-old Tugonon said, adding that she missed such gatherings a lot.

Described on her Miss Universe profile page as possessing an "adventurous spirit," the morena beauty also related her "most interesting dating experience" -- and that is riding a cab whose driver ended up almost shooting another driver following a chase.

Asked what she'd do a "crazy thing" if the "world was going to end tomorrow," she said, ""I'll probably eat a lot. If it's end of the world, I would probably just go out and eat with my family and the people I love."

So far, the Philippines has produced two Miss Universe titlists in Gloria Diaz (1969) and Margie Moran (1973).

...the IFC investments

IFC to invest $400 million in Phl

 

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula

The Philippine Star

December 10, 2012
 

MANILA, Philippines - The International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector financing arm of the World Bank group, is planning to invest up to $400 million in the Philippines in 2013, a top IFC official said.

 

This is higher than the $200 million to $300 million allocated for 2012.

 

In a chance interview, IFC resident representative to Manila Jesse Ang said the projected investment would go to financial and infrastructure programs and projects.

 

In the financial sector, he said IFC hopes to continue working with the banking sector.

 

“We will focus on financial sector so you’ll see us continue to work with the banking sector. We are looking at working on distressed assets, cleaning up their balance sheets. You know Basel 3 will happen in 2014, banks will need to look at what capital they need to raise,” he said.

 

He said at present, they are also finalizing the creation of a special purpose vehicle for the Planters Development Bank.

 

IFC has stakes in other financial institutions such as BDO Unibank Inc. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Earlier, he said it is planning to increase its shareholdings in these two banks if opportunity arises.

On the infrastructure side, Ang said IFC would look at some projects in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program particularly those involving transport, tollroads, and water.

 

Ang earlier said they also have entered into advisory contracts with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for their respective PPP programs.

He said they would continue to look for opportunities in the power sector, particularly in the renewable energy projects.

 

In agriculture, Ang said IFC is working with the government through the Department of Agriculture for the DA’s grain silo project.

...the PH growth forecast 2012 (UBS)

UBS raises 2012 growth forecast for PH economy

 

ABS-CBNnews.com

 12/10/2012

 

MANILA, Philippines - UBS AG raised its 2012 growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.3%, after a stronger-than-expected third quarter.

 

In a report, UBS economist Edward Teather said the Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) may reach 6.3% by the end of 2012, above the bank's earlier forecast of 4.5 percent in April this year.

"The upward revision to second-quarter growth released along with the third-quarter GDP numbers does lead us to revise higher our 2012 forecast," Teather said.

The Philippines had revised its second-quarter growth from 5.9% to 6%. In the third quarter, the Philippines reported a 7.1% GDP growth, surprising many economists and analysts.

For 2013, UBS maintained the Philippines' GDP forecast at 4.5%. This is lower than the Philippine government’s official target of 6% to 7%.

"Our 2013 and 2014 real GDP projections are essentially unchanged because the surprisingly strong third-quarter expansion in real GDP of 7.1 percent on the year was largely because of a strong first-quarter and despite a sequential pace of expansion much closer the recent years," he said.

"We remain positive on the Philippine economy. A pick up in investment activity would be a plus for future growth. Also potentially positive are the government's reform efforts. We note the anti-corruption drive, a bill to raise (sin) taxes and the movement towards a peace deal in the southern Philippines."

...the UK's cake queens

Pinay duo's couture cakes win in UK baking contest

 

By Patrick Camara Ropeta,

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

12/10/2012

 

 

Christina Ong bagged bronze prize for a lace-inspired cake design/Patrick Ropeta

LONDON - Two Filipino bakers bagged the bronze and silver prizes at an international baking show with their luxurious and bespoke cake creations.

UK-based cake entrepreneurs Valeri Valeriano and Christina Ong won the awards for the multi-tier wedding cake category at the Cake International Show held at the NEC Birmingham in November.

Valeriano, who is from Manila, was given the silver prize for a stained glass cake design, while Ong, from Isabela, snatched bronze for a lace-inspired cake.

“It is just overwhelming. The competition displays were just across our stand and we could see everyone taking pictures of our cakes. The judges came back so many times to scrutinize our cakes, which were beside each other, and even the press were taking photos too. It was such a wonderful feeling,” recalled Valeriano, who attended the event with Ong to promote their joint baking business, Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes.

Ong added: “We were so busy talking to lots of people who came to our stand but when I saw the judges putting the decision cards on the winning entries, I dropped everything and ran towards our cakes. I was over the moon to see that we both have won. It is such an amazing feeling.”

The pair launched their very own cake service in June 2011, offering bespoke cakes and baking demonstrations to clients in the UK and beyond, specializing in the lost art of buttercream.

“Buttercream is made of butter and icing sugar. It’s very soft and it’s not easy to manage,” explained Valeriano, a self-taught baker who studied buttercream cakes through video tutorials on YouTube.

She continued: “We tried to have a little twist, because buttercream is usually known for simple flowers and swirls, very old school. We wanted to change it and show people that you can do something more with buttercream, and we gained popularity very quickly because of that.”

“We need to be different from the rest. Otherwise, we’ll be eaten alive by competition, especially in the UK where everyone is good at what they do,” said Ong, who is also a self-taught baker and cake designer.

She revealed: “We always have to stay one level ahead of everyone, and so we always aspire to do something that nobody has done before.”

Valeri Valeriano took silver prize for their signature stained glass cake/Patrick Ropeta

Starting from an experimental cake they intended as a gift for a friend on Mother’s Day in 2011, their baking and design skills quickly developed into a fully pledged start-up business.

“It was challenging at first, but it’s just like anything new. We had to learn everything rather quickly, and to top it all, we were doing it in a foreign land. We had to sell our concepts and make

demonstrations to foreigners. It was tricky at first, but we got through it,” recalled Valeriano.

Ong added: “When we started, no one was answering our emails, no one paid us any attention. We used to send letters to everybody, and we literally mean everybody, hundreds of people. We wanted to show what we can do and we even gave everything for free. But now people come to us and they even pay us. It’s a blessing and a bonus.”

The baking duo moved to the UK as nurses before discovering their talent for cake design through a “sweet accident.” They believe their “caring” background has helped them to drive the business forward.

“Our nursing background gave us the foundation and the patience. It’s the love and care. If you are looking after people you don’t know who are not related to you, but you need to have the passion and the love to take care of them. Same goes with the cake. At first it can be hard to handle, and if you don’t have the love, you will just give up,” Valeriano said.

The pair, has been long-time friends since a chance meeting at a restaurant in Manila, recently came back from the Philippines where they were commissioned to make a cake for a prominent commercial director.

“We’re really happy. It’s nice to wake up everyday reading good news about the business. We just can’t complain. It’s hard work but we’re happy,” said Ong.

Judges scrutinised every detail of the Filipino-made cakes from Queen of Hearts/Patrick Ropeta

On the secret of their success, Valeriano said: “Keep on innovating. If you started on something, say for example a business or a hobby or something, don’t just settle for what’s already there. Be resourceful, be more creative, appreciate the beauty around you, turn it into something, and just add a little bit of passion, patience and love. Put your heart into it and I’m sure you’ll succeed.”

The London-based Queen of Hearts Couture Cakes have been featured in numerous media outlets including Manila Bulletin and CNN iReport, as well as industry events like The National Wedding Show and Food Spectacular by Experimental Food Society, gaining an expanding client base around the world.

...the Pau International Filmfest Best Actress

Eugene Domingo is best actress

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

December 10, 2012

 

Filipino actress Eugene Domingo wins best actress at the 3rd Pau International Film Festival held in France, for her work in Marlon Rivera’s “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank.”

MANILA, Philippines—Comedienne Eugene Domingo won best actress honors at the 3rd Pau International Film Festival held in France over the weekend for her work in Marlon Rivera’s “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank.”

 

Domingo attended the festival with producer Joji Alonso, who announced her achievement on Facebook.

Domingo received the trophy created by sculptor Chahab.

“Septic Tank” competed with films from Romania (“Best Intentions”), Russia (“Chapiteau-Show”), Japan (“Himizu”), Ukraine (“House with a Turret”) and Sweden-Denmark-France (“Play”).

According to an online report, the Pau fest’s goal is to “introduce politically engaged films” to the French audience.

Earlier this year, Domingo topped an online poll and won the best actress award (People’s Choice) at the 6th Asian Film Awards held in Hong Kong—also for “Septic Tank.”

She is one of the honorees in “Indie Bravo: 3rd Inquirer Indie Tribute” to be held Monday night at the paper’s Makati office.

...the PH in global radar

Nomura: PH back on global investment radar screens

‘Strong economic momentum to continue’

By Doris C. Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Monday, December 10th, 2012

 

 

The Philippines is back on global radar screens for the first time since the mid-1990s due to its “compelling structural story” but the stock market is now “overpriced” relative to regional peers, Japanese investment banking group Nomura said.

“The economy is certainly in a sweet spot. Reform momentum in terms of improving competitiveness and reducing corruption has radically altered the macro-outlook. In addition, the Philippines has recently been utilizing new-found room for fiscal and monetary easing, further boosting activity,” said a Nomura equity research issued on Dec. 3.

The Asia-Pacific equity strategy report titled “A break in the overcast: Firmer demand, rising liquidity” said a number of clouds were lifting for the region, with US and Chinese political transitions complete, growth in both economies finally picking up (and in Asia more broadly), and Europe getting its ‘tail risks’ sorted.

Overall, the report said capital inflows to Asia have significant scope to accelerate in the months ahead, enticed by the demand recovery and expected appreciation of most Asian currencies—and fueled by both US Federal Reserves’ third phase of quantitative easing (QE3) and a sizeable shift out of low-yielding US treasury bonds.

But for the Philippines, the report said the valuation premium assumed a worsening environment in the rest of the region. Nomura said Philippine stock valuations were among the highest in the region, as market capitalization-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio was over 100 percent and credit spreads even lower than those in Thailand and Malaysia).

Given Nomura’s “generally opportunistic” medium-term view on equities, the Japanese firm recommended “underweight” positions (a suggestion to reduce exposure relative to the benchmark index) for emerging Southeast Asian markets in general, citing comparatively pricey valuations and the “defensive” characteristics inherent in these markets’ smaller size, low operating leverage and what it saw as a “typically more visible government propping-up of share prices.”

For 2013, the strong economic momentum is likely to continue, with Nomura economists looking for GDP growth at an above-potential 6 percent, driven by more progress in infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme and higher fiscal spending ahead of the mid-term elections in May 2013. Private consumption is also seen to remain robust, with resilient remittances and buoyant consumer sentiment.

Similar to several countries in the region, Nomura expects Philippine inflation to rise in the second half of 2013 to average at 4.4 percent for the whole of next year from 3.2 percent this year as demand-side pressures strengthen.

“While this is still within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 3-5 percent target, risks are to the upside, in our view, with above-trend growth and measures pending such as legislation to increase taxes on ‘sin’ products (such as alcohol and tobacco),” the report said.

A likely slowdown in momentum by the second half of next year was seen making the Philippine market relatively unattractive, Nomura said. “Already large capital inflows are also a risk, with macro-prudential measures currently under consideration to curtail the rapid pace of foreign buying,” the research said.

But overall, Nomura said the Philippines scored well on each of what it saw as important drivers of medium-term emerging market equity performance—strong reform momentum, reducing cost of capital, strong foreign exchange fundamentals, structural productivity gains and positive foreign investor sentiment.

“After two years in office, President Aquino’s reform agenda continues to remain popular,” the report said, citing high satisfaction ratings on the government.

Nomura also favorably noted that the cost of capital had come down rapidly in the Philippines as rating agencies and foreign investors came to appreciate reduced risks and higher potential growth.

“Space on the foreign exchange front is also helpful. Moderately higher and stable inflation is probably one of the biggest sources of emerging market stock performance. Given the Philippine peso is still undervalued (by more than 25 percent as per IMF’s latest purchasing power parity calculations), we think it can likely withstand an extended period of relatively higher inflation without depreciating significantly. With a small funding gap in terms of balance of payments and external borrowing, the peso is also less vulnerable to external shocks,” the report said

...the EU's outlook

EU cites PH’s improved disaster preparedness

By Volt Contreras
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Sunday, December 9th, 2012

 

 

BRUSSELS—Despite the high death toll of Typhoon “Pablo,” the European Union’s coordinating body for humanitarian aid lauded the Philippines’ preparedness for the latest killer storm to hit the country.

Officials of the European Community Humanitarian Office (Echo) on Friday cited an improvement in the government’s response, noting that it “saved a lot of lives,” compared to what was seen a year ago when Tropical Storm “Sendong” devastated parts of Mindanao, also days before Christmas.

Echo officials in the Belgian capital, host city of EU institutions, also said a team from its Bangkok office flew to Davao on Friday to assess how it can help in the emergency relief effort. The team is expected to make a report to Brussels on Sunday.

“When ‘Bopha’ (the typhoon’s international name) or Pablo hit, I think the government was more prepared than it had been in the past,” said Jenny Correia Nunes, Echo’s team leader for Southeast Asia.

Nunes was referring mainly to the preemptive evacuation of residents in areas that were in Pablo’s path.

Dominique Gryn, Echo’s desk officer for the Philippines, added: “Today the technology is so sophisticated that we can actually predict very precisely when and where the landfall will hit. And in the Philippines we’ve seen that the preparations the government made in anticipation of the storm in Mindanao were extraordinary. And that saved a lot of lives in itself.”

“And we have a clear comparison that we can draw with last year’s ‘Washi’ (international name of Sendong) which hit very similar areas and the devastation caused was much larger. Of course we’re still seeing what the impact of Bopha is. We have to be careful not to underestimate the damage. But still, we can already say that the disaster awareness and preparedness had saved a lot of lives,” she added.

Asked how she could still make this positive assessment despite Pablo’s death toll climbing to over 300 and with about an equal number of people still missing as of Friday, Gryn explained:

“Yes, the death toll is rising, nobody is countering that. What we’re only saying now is that the government has taken certain measures that probably saved a lot of lives. We know this because a year ago the death toll was a lot higher.”

The United Nations had made a similar observation.

Gryn also said Echo’s partner nongovernmental organizations in the region had also “prepositioned” themselves before the storm made landfall in the areas expected to be hit, and had begun assessing where the EU could help.

She said the EU’s assistance could fill “gaps” in the government-led relief effort.

The Echo officials spoke in a briefing with Southeast Asian reporters who were in the Belgian capital on a EU-hosted press tour.

The EU poured in some 7.6 million euros to assist storm- or flood-affected people in the Philippines in 2011. This year, it released 700,000 euros for communities affected by the floods that hit Luzon in August.