...the PH credit upgrade 2014

S&P gives Phl another credit rating upgrade
            

By Kathleen Martin

The Philippine Star

May 9, 2014

 

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has received a one-notch credit upgrade to BBB “with a stable outlook” from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services – the highest the country has received so far from any credit ratings firm.

“We raised the ratings because we now believe the ongoing reforms to address shortcomings in structural, administrative, institutional and governance areas will endure beyond the current administration,” S&P said in a statement yesterday. Its previous rating for the Philippines was BBB-.

“In turn, we believe the resulting gains in government revenue generation, spending efficiency and the improvements in public debt profile and investment environment will at least be preserved in the medium term under the next administration,” S&P added.

Malacañang said it felt “gratified” by S&P’s upgrade and expressed hope it would “translate into increased investments and accelerated jobs generation.”

“The Aquino administration is committed to strengthen public institutions and build increased capacity among citizens and communities. This is the path that leads to sustained economic growth and the raising of the Filipino people’s quality of life,” Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said.

S&P gave the Philippines an investment grade rating in May last year, citing in particular the country’s stellar 7.2 percent growth as well as the reforms being instituted by the Aquino administration.

In its statement yesterday, S&P said that while a possible change of administration after the presidential elections in 2016 “represents some uncertainty for reforms,” the risks have shifted toward “maintaining the impetus and direction of the process, away from a potential reversal or abandonment of advances achieved to date.”

The debt watcher also said the latest upgrade reflects the country’s “strong external liquidity and international investment position” matched by an effective monetary policy framework.

S&P also cited the country’s manageable inflation, with interest rates remaining at low levels.

“The Philippines’ strong external profile is an important credit support. With a long track record of balance-of-payments surpluses, the Philippines has accumulated a substantial foreign exchange reserve buffer,” S&P said.

“That buffer affords an import coverage ratio above prudential norms and low refinancing risk,” the debt watcher added.

The country posted a BOP surplus of $5.085 billion in end-2013, a little more than half of the $9.236-billion surplus recorded in 2012.

At the same time, S&P said it sees foreign exchange-denominated earnings further improving on rising remittances and the bustling business process outsourcing sector.

“An improved monetary policy environment is another rating support. Philippines’ inflation has been low and fairly stable in the face of repeated external shocks, even as lingering structural and institutional shortcomings curb the effectiveness of its monetary policy,” S&P said.

“As a result, inflation expectations are well anchored, enabling a low interest rate environment to take hold,” it added.

But the debt watcher pointed out that the economy’s low income level remains to be a “key rating constraint.” Moreover, the ratings are hampered by a “moderate revenue-generating capacity” because of the narrow tax base and non-compliance. – With Aurea Calica

 

...the Whitley awardee

Filipino conservationist wins prize for 'rebranding' world's rarest crocodile

 

Jessica Aldred

theguardian.com

08 May 2014

 

 

Marites Gatan Balbas has won a Whitley award for her work involving local communities in the protection of the 'misunderstood' Philippine crocodile

 

Link to video: The activist saving the world's rarest crocodile

 

For Marites Gatan Balbas, saving the world's rarest crocodile has been as much about overcoming its image problem as more traditional conservation efforts.

Traditional stories depicted the Philippine crocodile as a large man-eater, farmers saw them as pests and the animal is frequently used as a symbol to represent corrupt politicians. But in reality, she explains, the species is relatively small, shy and friendly and does not attacked unless provoked.

It is her work to change this image through community initiatives that has seen Gatan Balbas recognised with a Whitley Fund for Nature award and helped to bring the Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis) back from the brink of extinction.

A juvenile Philippine crocodile in Dunoy Lake. The species is the world's rarest crocodile. Photograph: courtesy 2014 Whitley Awards

The 40-year-old will share the £280,000 prize money with seven other winners of the "green oscar" awards, which recognise individuals working in grassroots nature conservation in developing countries. This year's prizes range from schemes to encourage farmers to conserve the grassland hunting grounds of the imperial eagle in Bulgaria to a project to promote coexistence between local people and lions in northern Kenya.

Listed as critically endangered by the IUCN and found only in the Philippines, there are only 100 mature Philippine crocodiles estimated to be living in the wild. Little is known about the species, for example, how long an individual lives for, and Gatan Balbas's Mabuwaya Foundation is one of the only organisations to study it.

From world war two to the 1960s, crocodiles in the Philippines were heavily exploited for leather and the pet trade. Today the threats come from the loss of the crocodile's freshwater habitat of marshes, swamps and creeks that are converted for agriculture and the killing of the animals outside protected areas. Hatchling survival is also very low as the species is so sensitive and there are not enough unspoilt water bodies where juvenile crocodiles can mature safely.

Once widely distributed throughout the Philippines, the species is now restricted to northern Luzon Island and south-west Mindanao in the north-east of the archipelago.

"In our country there are organisations that are working to conserve endangered species like the Philippine eagle, the Philippine cockatoo, the green sea turtle and the Isabela oriole. But these are very beautiful species and do not have an image problem – nobody cared about the crocodile and that's why we set up our foundation, because we care. We don't want to crocodile to be extinct, we want to enjoy it," Gatan Balbas says.

Whitley award winner Marites Gatan Balbas. Photograph: Courtesy 2014 Whitley awards

Gatan Balbas is the deputy director and field project manager of the Mabuwaya Foundation(meaning "long live the crocodile"), set up in 2003, and also a member of the IUCN crocodile specialist group.
The staff of nine plus volunteers have managed to increase the wild population from 12 individuals in 2001 to 109 today, and reduced crocodile killings by humans from 13 in 1998 to just one in 2013.

"That's the power of involving the local communities in the protection programme – it's very effective because they see the ownership and the pride of being involved in the conservation of the species. They say: 'this is our crocodile and we are very proud of it'."

Gatan Balbas explains that a central part of the foundation's work is communication and education campaigns for local communities and government involving lectures, puppet shows, school field trips to crocodile sanctuaries and community consultations. "We believe that communication is the key to gain the respect or the people for the crocodiles. And we believe that campaigns should start from a young age."

Far from the scary monster depicted by the older generation, young children now have a friendly crocodile mascot, fun crocodile puppets and story books to help them understand that crocodiles are not a threat.

Such is the success of the image overhaul in some areas that the slogan in the municipality of San Mariano where the foundation works is now: "Philippine crocodile: something to be proud of."

Gatan Balbas says her work has been helped by a healthy attitude to conservation in the Philippines, where a national act protects all critically endangered species including the crocodile with a penalty of 100,000-1m pesos or a 6 to 12-year jail sentence. The species is also protected by local sanctuaries that prohibit catching, harming or killing the species. "People respect it because they are involved in the development of that law," she says.

Releasing a Philippine crocodile back into the wild. Photograph: Courtesy 2014 Whitley awards

As well as creating four locally managed crocodile sanctuaries, with plans for two more, the foundation also runs a "headstart" programme that involves nest-searching and 24-hour guard, collecting the hatchlings and bringing them to the rearing station for 18-24 months, then releasing them back into the wild.

"Winning the Whitley award will help us increase the population of the Philippine crocodile through head-starting and releasing crocodiles and nest-guarding. It will also to strengthen the community-based conservation effort that was initiated years ago so that we can have more nests in the future and more crocodiles in 10 years. Winning this award is a great, great opportunity for us," Gatan Balbas said.

She says Mabuwaya's target is to get the crocodile delisted from its critically endangered status and see a 10% increase in its population each year.

"If we can save the Philippine crocodile when people viewed them as very scary and something to be feared then I believe we can save all other critically endangered species in our country from extinction."

2014 Whitley award winners

All nine winners are being honoured at an award ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Thursday night that will be attended by the fund's patron, Princess Anne.

Gold award

• Jean Wiener – Haiti
"Lifetime achievement" award for 25 years conserving Haiti's coastal ecosystems and securing its first marine protected areas

Whitley Fund for Nature awards

• Shivani Bhalla – Kenya
Warrior Watch: enabling the coexistence of people and lions in northern Kenya

• Luis Torres – Cuba
Building a national movement to save Cuba's amazing plant life

• Fitryi Pakiding – Indonesia
Uniting coastal communities to secure the Pacific's last stronghold for nesting leatherback turtles

• Marites Gatan-Balbas – Philippines
Taking local action to save the world's rarest crocodile

• Melvin Gumal – Malaysia
Protecting Borneo's iconic great apes: conservation of orangutans in Sarawak

• Stoycho Stoychev – Bulgaria
The imperial eagle as a flagship for conserving the wild grasslands of south-eastern Bulgaria

• Paula Kahumbu – Kenya
Hands off our elephants: delivering African leadership to address Kenya's poaching crisis

 

...the PH economic freedom ranking 2014

Phl improves in economic freedom ranking

              

By Jose Katigbak

STAR Washington bureau

The Philippine Star

May 8, 2014

 

 

WASHINGTON – The Philippines made notable improvements in investment, business and monetary freedoms and control of government spending in the previous year, making its economy the 89th freest in the world.

In the 2014 Index of World Economic Freedom, the Philippines scored 60.1 points, 1.9 points higher than the previous year, and advanced in the rankings of 178 countries surveyed to 89th from 97th previously.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines ranked 16th among 42 countries.

The index, an annual guide published by The Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington and The Wall Street Journal, rates countries in 10 categories – business, trade, labor and fiscal freedoms, monetary, financial and investment freedoms, government spending, property rights and freedom from corruption – and the results are averaged to create an overall score.

A report issued on Tuesday said improvements in seven of the 10 economic freedoms, including significant gains in trade freedom, investment freedom and freedom from corruption, have been partially offset by deterioration in property rights.

With its third consecutive year of overall score improvement, the Philippines has risen back to “moderately free” in the 2014 Index.

The report said the government has pursued a series of legislative reforms to enhance the investment environment in the Philippines.

It said despite progress, lingering institutional challenges would not be overcome without a deeper commitment to reform.

Although the perceived level of corruption has declined, the report said corruption and cronyism are rife in business and government, with a few dozen leading families holding an outsized share of wealth and political power.

Only Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada, the top six countries in the index, were rated free.

The United States in 12th place was said to be mostly free.

ASEAN members listed in the index between runner-up Singapore and the Philippines were Malaysia (37), Brunei (40) and Thailand (73). The bottom dweller in the list was as usual North Korea.

 

...the most attractive cities for investment

'Young' Manila among most coveted cities for investors

 

ABS-CBNnews.com

05/01/2014

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Manila is among the most coveted cities for emerging market investors, according to real estate website Lamudi.

In its list of most sought-after emerging market cities for investors, Lamudi ranked Manila second to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Manila, Philippines

Lamudi said more investors have turned their attention to the Philippines’ capital as the country’s economy gains speed, citing the young demographic and a workforce culture comparable to the west.

“Manila is considered favorable to investors because it has a young demographic, as well as a similar workforce culture to the west,” the website said.

“Its residential, retail and office sectors all present strong investment prospects,” it added.

Manila is also “increasingly attracting multinational companies for outsourced services,” according to the site.

Lamudi also highlighted the growth of the real estate industry in Southeast Asia, particularly cities in the Philippines and Indonesia, which have strong prospects, thus “cementing Southeast Asia’s place as one of the world’s emerging property hotspots.”

“Investors searching for new opportunities in emerging markets should look to one of these cities. Countries right across the regions where Lamudi operates are experiencing a boom in real estate, fuelled by a growing middle class and strong economic performance,” said Lamudi co-founder and managing director Kian Moini.

Apart from Manila and Jakarta, also making the list are Mexico City, Mexico; Marrakech, Morocco; and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Lamudi, which operates exclusively in 22 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, has picked the top investment opportunities in these regions based on market trends for the past six months.

 

...the PH climb in World Bank economic ranking

PH is 28th largest economy

 

By Cai U. Ordinario,

BusinessMirror

05/01/2014

 

 

MANILA - The Philippines emerged as the world’s 28th largest economy in the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2011 study, results of which were released by Washington-based lender World Bank on Wednesday.

Taguig City, Metro Manila  Skyline

 

The ICP 2011 is a project undertaken through the authority of the United Nations Statistical Commission. It covered 199 economies and compared their shares to the global economy and expenditures. It also used the so-called purchasing-power parities (PPPs) in comparing the size and price levels of economies around the world.

The PPPs make it possible to compare gross domestic products (GDPs) of economies in real terms by removing the price-level differences among them.

“Six of the world’s 12 largest economies were in the middle-income category [based on the World Bank’s definition]. When combined, the 12 largest economies account for two-thirds of the world economy, and 59 percent of the world population,” the World Bank said.

The World Bank said the PPP-based world GDP amounted to $90.65 trillion in 2011, higher than the $70.29-trillion GDP measured in terms of exchange rates.

Data showed that the Philippines’s share in terms of global GDP was at 0.6 percent in PPP terms and 0.3 percent in terms of exchange rates. The 30 largest economies accounted for 84.1 percent of the global GDP in PPP terms.

The Philippines is one of the four Southeast Asia countries that made it to the 30 largest economies worldwide. Indonesia ranked 10th, followed by Thailand at 21st and Malaysia at 27th.

Globally, the world’s largest economy is the United States, with a share of 17.1 percent of global GDP. But China was a close second, with a share of 14.9 percent; with India a far third, with a share of 6.4 percent.

“The six largest middle-income economies—China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico—account for 32.3 percent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high-income economies—the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy—account for 32.9 percent,” the World Bank said.

“Asia and the Pacific, including China and India, accounts for 30 percent of world GDP; Eurostat-OECD 54 percent, Latin America 5.5 percent [excluding Mexico, which participates in the OECD; and Argentina, which did not participate in the ICP 2011]; and Africa and Western Asia about 4.5 percent each,” it added.

The Philippines also had a price-level index (PLI) of 53.2, which indicates it is not an expensive country but not the cheapest, either. The PLI is the ratio of a PPP to a corresponding exchange rate.

The World Bank said an index of over 100 means prices are higher than the world average; and 1 less than 100 means prices are relatively lower.

The most expensive economies in GDP terms are Switzerland, Norway, Bermuda, Australia and Denmark, with indices ranging from 210 to 185. The United States ranked 25th in the world, lower than most other high-income economies, including France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

But only 23 economies showed a PLI of 50 or below. The cheapest economies are Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, with indices ranging from 35 to 40.

Meanwhile, even if the Philippines is one of the largest economies in the world and one of the “not so expensive” places to live globally, it is still not the richest in terms of GDP per capita.

The Philippines’s GDP per capita in 2011 in PPP terms was only at $5,772 and $2,379 in terms of exchange rates. These are below the average GDP per capita in Asia and the Pacific, at around $7,621 in PPP terms and $3,527 in terms of exchange rates.

The five economies with the highest GDP per capita are Qatar, with a GDP per capita in PPP terms at $146,521, followed by Macao with $115,441; Luxembourg, $88,670; Kuwait, $84,058; and Brunei Darussalam, $74,397.

In contrast, around eight economies have a GDP per capita of less than $1,000. These are Malawi with $973, followed by Mozambique, $951; Central African Republic, $897; Niger, $852; Burundi, $712; Congo, $655; Comoros, $610; and Liberia, $537.

“Eleven economies have more than $50,000 per capita, while they collectively account for less than 0.6 percent of the world’s population. The United States has the 12th-highest GDP per capita,” the World Bank said.

The ICP implementation was led and coordinated by the ICP Global Office, hosted by the World Bank, in partnership with regional agencies overseeing activities in eight geographic regions.

These are Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Asia, Pacific Islands, and the countries of the regular PPP program managed by the Statistical Office of the European Communities and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Further, the World Bank explained that two “singleton” economies, Georgia and Iran, participated in bilateral exercises with partner economies, without being part of any regional comparisons.

 

...the Filip+Inna fashion

Distinctly Filipino brand makes a mark in NY fashion

 

By Don Tagala,

ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

04/26/2014

 

 

NEW YORK - The name itself screams creativity that is distinctly Filipino.

Filip+Inna, a play on the word Filipina, has made a mark at the annual 3-day shopping extravaganza called Indagare Souk in New York's Upper East Side.

"Souk" means Arab market - Indagare Souk is a market place of global finds, including intricately embroidered clothes and accessories by Filip+Inna.

Founder and creative designer Lenora Cabili said a line dress with mother of pearl bead work and traditional embroidery from the Philippines is one of her best sellers.

"These are basically shell beads, these are like hand stitched. They love the fact na it's an easy wear," Cabili said.

New Yorker Carol Mercer is one of Filip+Inna's loyal customers.

"I like it because it's pretty, also because it's handmade and it's very different. Yyou don't see it anywhere else. The colors are beautiful, and I just love the stitching, embroidery, it's just lovely and the prices are reasonable," said Mercer.

Filip+Inna is inspired by tradition yet designed for the contemporary woman-- a weave that creates timeless and unique piece of clothing and accessories.

From the northern to the southern Philippines, Cabili incorporates old custom weaving, embroidery and beadwork that is handmade by artisans from different indigenous Filipino tribes such as the T'boli.

"It's really getting inspiration from the Philippine culture and make it more relevant in our every day lives," Cabili said.

Cabili's love for promoting the Philippines began when she was exposed to the different indigenous tribes growing up in Iligan City in Mindanao. This was further enhanced by her experience as a Bayanihan Philippine Cultural dancer.

"It has to be part of our identity, so Filipinos should really be proud of the culture, our culture and I provided like a way to make it more wearable or more contemporary," she said.

New York real estate agent, blogger and Fashionista Samantha Lopez said wearing a Filip+Inna creation fits right into the Big Apple's fashion sense.

"Proven talaga, kasi I was lucky enough to be one of the first Filipina na nagsuot ng gawa ni Len dito sa New York," Lopez said, "Everywhere I go talagang napupuna."

 

...the PH cheerleaders

PHL places third in int'l cheerleading tilt

April 26, 2014

GMA NEWS 

 

 

The Philippines scored anew in the international stage on Saturday, with its team bagging the bronze in an international cheerleading competition in Florida.

Screenshot of a video of Team Philippines' performance in the annual World Cheerleading Championships' All Girl Elite tilt, as posted on the International Cheer Union website. International Cheer Union website

The International Cheer Union said the Philippine team copped the bronze in the All Girl Elite competition of the 2014 ICU World Cheerleading Championships.

Cheerleaders from New Zealand won the gold while Team Chile copped the silver.

On the other hand, the Filipinas managed to beat teams from Mexico, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Switzerland, Colombia, and Wales.

The competition was held at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida on April 24 and 25.

ICU was established April 26, 2004, and is the recognized world governing body of cheerleading. — Joel Locsin and Amanda Fernandez /LBG, GMA News