...urban street culture

Filipino-Belgian dancer makes waves in Europe

By Dheza Marie Aguilar, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

 12/15/2010

THE NETHERLANDS – A Filipino-Belgian dancer is making waves in the Netherlands for pioneering and taking contemporary urban street culture to a higher level through dance and theater performances.

Marco Gerris is popularly known as one of the members of the jury of the hit dance show “So You Think You Can Dance”. But he is also the founder and artistic director of “ISH”, a dance company which aims to train young people interested in underground disciplines like hip hop, break dancing, skating, martial arts and beat box. He adopts these disciplines and transforms them into dance and theater shows for the general public.

Gerris, who grew up in Belgium, is proud of being 100% Filipino. He was adopted by his Belgian parents from an orphanage in Cebu when he was only 3 years old.

Bringing street culture to the stage
Originally wanting to be an actor, Gerris got into dancing when he was kicked out of Antwerp’s Terleick School of Drama. Since moving to Amsterdam when he was 23 years old, he discovered street dancing and started his own company “ISH”.

“I felt that there’s too less hip hop and breakdance on stage and if you found it, it was always too little. And I said, I want to make a crew, a dance company, with all these underground skills like skating, martial arts,  beatbox, hip hop, breakdance, what comes from the street and make a show with it. 10 years later we are still doing it and we are still developing and inspiring a lot of youngsters,” said Gerris in an interview with Balitang Europe.

“ISH” quickly jumped to popularity after its first show in 2000, and has since then gathered several recognitions. Their shows were a hit, not only in the Netherlands but also in the United States and Canada, as well as other parts of Europe.

Gerrris' life also inspired the award-winning documentary “Wheels of Fortune,” and he has played in several dance movies.

With an initial crew of 7 young people, Gerris strived to develop his company, and in 2005 achieved his dream of playing in Broadway at the New Victory Theater in New York together with his crew.

Helping youth through dance
From the US, Europe, India and Africa, ISH has been touring their dance workshop all over the world to develop kids with the same interest and teach them the value of standing up for themselves.

“The concept with these workshops with kids is we ask the kids, what are you thinking, what do you think is wrong with this world and how do you think you can change that? And together with the teachers and the dancers, we create a performance about these with them.”

Gerris is proud of his former students from the slums of Bangalore in India, who started a dance company with the same concept as theirs. These achievements continue to inspire him to bring his work all around the world.

“The youngsters always get our philosophy about believing in yourself, stand up for yourself, you have a voice try doing something with that,” said Gerris.

Both in the studio and in his circle, Gerris is considered a friend and a mentor.

“Not only that he recognizes your talent but he also gives you the space and freedom to develop something in your own style. And of course he will lead you and give you his advice and he will guide you through the process,” said Abdelhadi Baaddi who has been training with Gerris for 5 years now.

Meanwhile, another friend and colleague also have the same compliment for the Pinoy dancer.

“He is a really great guy, he is a really good choreographer. You can really see the difference between him choreographing in ISH and him being a friend. Outside, he is really a cool guy, levels with everybody--colleagues, friends--but in the work space, when he is working something, then he is really a choreographer.”

Acknowledging his rootsWhen he was 25 years old, Gerris visited the Philippines for the first time. He said that a whole new world opened up to him, something that is very different from what he was used to. And although he was not able to find his biological parents, Gerris was happy to have visited.

“My biggest goal was to see where I grew up, that was the nicest thing for me. I want to go back one day again. I think every 5 years I want to go there.”

It was also during this visit that Gerris discovered where some of his talents came from.

Bringing his tools with him, Gerris played with some street kids. From there, he noticed how talented the Filipinos are.

“Filipinos are so creative, so talented. When I was there, I was playing with them and they pick it up in split seconds. Oh, so, there’s my talent from, I recognized it,” he said.

Gerris is also enthusiastic of bringing ISH’s dance workshops in the Philippines if there is an opportunity to collaborate with local companies.

“I think if we will ever have the opportunity to come to the Philippines with my concept, with ISH, I think we will blow them away. I think they will be very enthusiastic and will keep on doing it.”

...local investment

Filipinos working abroad fuel real estate boom at home

By Mynardo Macaraig
Agence France-Presse
12/15/2010

MANILA—The Philippines' famous diaspora of overseas workers is fuelling a boom in the real estate market back home as they snap up houses and apartments to safeguard their futures.

Property prices have recovered strongly since the global financial crisis of 2008, with investments from the nine million Filipinos toiling away in foreign lands a significant factor, industry figures say.

"Overseas workers are moving the market. Properties now are selling and when there is demand, prices go up," Emily Duterte, head of the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines, told AFP.

Industry sales nationwide this year are estimated to hit 300 billion pesos (6.9 billion dollars) compared with about 100 billion each in 2009 and 2008, according to Claro Cordero from Jones Lang La Salle, a global real estate consultancy firm.

"Nobody thought there would be such a quick recovery from the slump that began in 2008," said Cordero, research head of the company's Philippines' branch.

Filipino workers abroad have a reputation for working as lower-paid employees, such as construction workers, maids, sailors, and janitors.

But their sheer magnitude—they account for about 10 percent of the Philippine population—mean they have long been a major force in the economy.

In 2009, they sent home 17.3 billion dollars, making up more than 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, according to government data.

And Filipinos are increasingly moving into higher-paid sectors, such as medicine, engineering, and the media.
Overseas workers usually opt for houses costing about two million pesos (45,000 dollars), humble by foreign standards but well in the middle-class bracket for Filipinos, according to Duterte from the brokers' association.

Fifty-year-old merchant seaman Rodolfo Oliverio has spent most of his working life outside of the Philippines but he is an active player in the domestic real estate market.

Oliverio has used his overseas earnings to buy two small houses in the heart of Manila for his wife and children to live in, and he is paying for a third he recently bought just outside the nation's capital.
"If you work here, nothing will happen. The salaries are too small. The only way to afford a house is to become an overseas worker," Oliverio told AFP while on his annual vacation in Manila.
"Naturally, among overseas workers, the most important thing is a house and lot."

Oliverio said that as a ship's bosun—the crew's foreman—for a foreign company, he earned about 82,800 pesos a month, roughly four times more than he could earn doing the same job with a local cargo line.

With his salary, he said he was confident he could afford the repayments on his third house, a middle-class 42-square-meter (452-square-feet) place south of Manila which cost a little over 1.5 million pesos.
Industry observers said Oliverio's real estate goals were typical of many overseas workers.

"Most have left families back home so they want to have a home for their families. Their children, their parents, these are the ones who stay in the houses they buy," said Duterte.

Filipinos have traditionally preferred living in houses, no matter how small, over apartments, but living overseas has started to change preferences.

Overseas workers have revitalized the condominium market, said Manuel Serrano, head of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association.

"In the beginning, they were more interested in house and lots but in the last two years, the tempo has changed. The demand now is for condos," Serrano told AFP.

"Most of these people have gotten used to the lifestyle abroad and, in condos, they don't have to worry about doing a lot of cleaning, gardening, and watering of plants."

Even for the traditional housing market, living overseas has changed the tastes of many Filipinos.

"A lot of developments are incorporating designs that are inspired by architecture worldwide, with a Mediterranean or an American feel," said Jones Lang La Salle's Cordero

...the dynamic city

Metro Manila cracks top ten in Brookings' most dynamic cities

CARMELA G. LAPEÑA, GMANews.TV

12/14/2010

Metro Manila is the ninth most dynamic city in the world, according to an article in The Atlantic, citing data from Brookings' Global MetroMonitor on economic output and employment in 150 of the world's largest metropolitan economies from 1993 to 2010.

"Healthy tourism and demand for IT products helped Manila crack the top ten, in Brookings' rankings for the first time," wrote The Atlantic associate editor Derek Thompson. The list is based on income growth and employment as reported by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and London School of Economics (LSE) cities.

Istanbul topped this year's list, which is dominated by cities from Southeast Asia and Latin America. Also in the top ten are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (10th), Beijing, China (8th), Guangzhou, China (7th), Shanghai, China (6th), Santiago, Chile (5th), Singapore (4th), Lima, Peru (3rd), and Shenzhen, China (2nd).

Thompson noted there are no European cities in the top thirty, and no African cities outside Egypt in the top fifty. He also noted other trends emerging in the report, such as port cities with large trade sectors dominating, "due to their ability to put products in the hands of the world's healthier economies.

According to him, the Philippines "depends so heavily on remittances of Filipino workers that a 7-percent boost in mailed cash this year dramatically improved the country's economic projections for 2010."

Around 32.7 percent of the national GDP is from Metro Manila, with employment increasing 4.0 percent and income increasing 5.3 percent from 2009 to 2010, as shown in the Brookings report.

Metro Manila previously ranked 34th during the pre-recession period of 1993 to 2007, and 24th in the recession lasting from 2007 to 2009.

Last seen on the list of worst cities to drive in, it isn't often that the Metropolis finds itself on a positive list. However, Thompson warns that dynamism is a sword that cuts both ways.

"The key challenge for top emerging cities entering a period of global expansion is to expand to other industries. This helps them stay both dynamic and diversified – fast-growing and safe-growing," he writes.

Early this month, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to allocate a P1-billion “reintegration fund" from which OFWs may borrow to finance the start up of their own businesses.

“Una pa rin po sa ating listahan ang paglikha ng disenteng trabaho at oportunidad dito sa sarili nating bayan (Still on top of our list is the creation of decent jobs and opportunities here in our own country)," said the president in an earlier report. — LBG/TJD, GMANews.TV

...fiscal confidence

PHL to receive more credit upgrades — DBS Bank

12/13/2010

Because of better macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals, the Philippines will likely receive more credit upgrades from international credit rating agencies, Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd. said in a report Monday.

In “Emerging Markets Strategy for the First Quarter of 2011," DBS Bank economist David Carbon said the Philippines has come out of the global financial crunch stronger with a stable inflation, strong international liquidity position, and improving fiscal finances.

“Looking ahead, the door for more ratings upgrade should be opened if the Philippines succeed in maintaining its post-crisis positive momentum," DBS said in the report.

DBS Bank said the Philippine economy — as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) —would grow 6.2 percent on average this year before easing down to 5 percent next year.

The country’s GDP grew 7.5 percent in January-September this year from 0.7 percent in the same period last year.

From the current ratio of 3.9 percent, DBS Bank believes the administration of President Benigno Aquino III could trim the budget deficit to 2 percent of the GDP starting 2013 until his term ends by 2016.

“President Aquino appears to be fulfilling his campaign pledge of prudent spending," DBS Bank said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects the country to get another credit rating upgrade from New York-based Moody’s Investors Service before the year ends.

Last Nov. 12, Standard and Poor’s raised the country’s credit rating to BB from BB-, with a stable outlook.

BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said in an earlier interview with reporters the country deserves a credit rating upgrade from Moody’s after successfully surviving the onslaught of the global economic meltdown.

“We are hopeful that Moody’s for instance will improve the rating, at least on the outlook, because there’s been significant amount of progress in various areas. The market has really gone ahead of the ratings agencies, [and] there needs to be a catch up there," Tetangco said.

S&P's, Moody’s, and London-based Fitch Ratings are closely watching the fiscal and monetary developments in the Philippines.

Moody’s upgraded the country’s credit rating outlook to positive from stable as early as 2008. However, the firm has yet to upgrade its sovereign credit rating for the Philippines, which is currently three notches below investment grade.

Fitch Ratings, on the other hand, rates Philippine debt at two notches below investment grade with a stable outlook. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV

...rural empowerment

PHL rural banks are getting stronger, says RBAP

12/12/2010 |

The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) has frowned on the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.'s (PDIC) claim that the country's rural banking industry is growing weaker.

RBAP executive director Vicente Mendoza said in a statement this weekend that the industry is becoming stronger despite the closure of 23 rural banks as of end-October.

Mendoza pointed out that only 10 out of the 23 rural banks placed by PDIC under receivership were members of RBAP. RBAP has 599 members nationwide.

The PDIC's claim does not, in anyway, encourage investors to come in and buy banks under receivership, Mendoza said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the PDIC had launched the "Strengthening Program for Rural Banks" or SPRB to strengthen the country's rural banking industry through mergers and acquisition.

The program involves a P5-billion financial assistance and a grant of regulatory relief from the BSP and PDIC over two years.

Rural banks qualified to avail of the program have risk-based capital adequacy ratio below the BSP-mandated 10 percent and those that intend to merge or consolidate with eligible, strategic third-party investors.

Basel accord commitment

Mendoza pointed out that rural banks prefer to open new branches rather than acquire banks under receivership due to the tighter capitalization rules under the Basel commitment the BSP is implementing.

The Basel accords crafted in Basel, Switzerland is an international regulatory framework of banks.

"The reality in the industry is that rural banks would rather open new branches than take in troubled banks that would be hard to rehabilitate because of the tightened capitalization rules provided under the Basel framework that the BSP now requires banks to follow," he said.

Last month, the BSP increased the minimum capital requirement for rural banks by as much as 285 percent to help sustain the viability and competitiveness of major industry players.

It was but right to amend the capital requirement for rural banks last month, Mendoza said, noting that the last time the required minimum capital requirement was raised was in December 1999.

The BSP raised the minimum capital requirement for rural banks with head offices in Metro Manila to P100 million from P26 million.

The minimum capital requirement for Cebu City- and Davao City-based banks was increased to P50 million from P13 million.

Rural banks' minimum capital requirement in the first to fourth class municipalities was raised to P10 million from P6.5 million.

In the fifth to sixth class municipalities, the minimum capital requirement was increased to P5 million from P2.6 million.

Mendoza said the industry acknowledged the reforms as part of government measures and processes to strengthen banks, particularly after the global financial slowdown when even the mightiest financial institutions overseas had to fold up including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group.

"While this is considered a tough requirement particularly among banks, the industry recognizes the need to assure the stability of banks throughout the country," he said.

The number of banks in the country declined to 773 in the first half of the year from 804 in the same period last year, indicating the continued consolidation of banks as well as the exit of weaker players.

Central banks data showed that the number of universal and commercial banks was steady at 38 while the number of thrift banks was also unchanged at 74 in the same comparable period.

However, the number of rural banks fell to 661 from January to June this year compared to 692 in the same period last year, due primarily to the closure of several banks including those of the controversial Legacy Group.

The BSP reported that the number of branches of universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, and rural banks increased by 765 to 8,663 in the first semester of the year from 7,898 in the same period last year. — JE/VS. GMANews.TV

...film artistry

Emir cited for Best Artistic Contribution at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival

PEP - Sunday, December 12

 

 

 

The Filipino musical film Emir won the Youssef Chahine Award for Best Artistic Contribution at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt held last Thursday, December 9.

 

Director Chito Roño graced the closing ceremony held at the Opera House in Cairo to personally receive the trophy and plaque awarded by festival director Ezzat Abou Ouf.

This year's edition of the Cairo IFF screened 150 films from 70 countries in a span of 10 days.
This movie tells the story of an Ilocana nanny (played by Frencheska Farr) who risks her life to protect the son of a royal family in the Middle East.

Also starring Sid Lucero, Jhong Hilario, Dulce, Kalila Aguilos, Julia Clarete, and Beverly Salviejo, Emir was shot on location in Ilocos and Morocco.

This landmark film was produced by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The Philippines also fielded two entries in the digital competition section of the Cairo IFF: Joel Lamangan's period film about activists, Sigwa, and Danny Anonuevo's military film, Rekrut. However, Mike De Jong won the Golden Award in this category for the film Joy.

With the award that he won, Direk Chito is planning to direct an independent film next year.
Prior to Cairo, Emir was shown in Montreal, Canada last August for the 34th World Film Festival and in South Korea last October for the 15th Pusan International Film Festival.

It was included in the lineup of the "A Window on Asian Cinema" category along with other Filipino films Chassis, Magkakapatid, and Donor.

Direk Chito would like to share this award with the FDCP (former chairperson Rolando Atienza and Digna Santiago as producers), CCP (Nestor O. Jardin), Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the actors and his staff: writer Jerry Gracio, cinematographer Neil Daza, production designer Rodrigo Riccio, editor Jerrold Tarog and musicians Ebe Dancel, Vin Dancel, Diwa de Leon, Gary Granada and Chino Toledo.

The FDCP, headed by its new chairman Briccio Santos, supported the participation of the Filipino films in Cairo.

...matuwid na daan

IMF: PHL economy to grow 5% in 2011

12/10/2010

 

Multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday upgraded to 5 percent its 2011 growth forecast for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) from an earlier forecast of 4.5 percent.

IMF mission chief Vivek Arora said in a press conference that the Philippines emerged well from the global financial crisis as strong financial liquidity and a sound financial sector helped cushion the economy against the worldwide economic crunch.

The IMF, however, decided to retain this year’s economic growth forecast to 7 percent.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) sees the country’s GDP growing by 5-6 percent this year and by 7-8 percent next year.

Arora said that the Aquino administration needs to sustain the recovery and strengthen the pace and quality of sustainable growth.

The government’s focus on governance and investment has resulted in high investor confidence and improved growth prospects, he added.

“Doing so will require preserving macroeconomic stability by carefully managing the exit from crisis-related stimulus policies in an environment that is complicated by large capital inflows and fragile global economic recovery, and moving ahead with reforms," Arora said.

IMF said it already took into account the much-needed infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership initiative of the government in measuring the country’s economic growth forecast for next year.

Inflation

Meanwhile, Arora believes that the country’s inflation would remain within the target range of 3.5-5.5 percent for this year and 3-5 percent for next year as set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“Inflation should remain at around 4 percent this year and the next," he said.

The IMF acknowledged the BSP’s role in keeping inflation low while fostering economic recovery.

The multilateral lender reiterated that the central bank kept its key policy rates steady at record lows but lifted its crisis-related measures to support economic growth.

Since July last year, the policy-setting Monetary Board has placed the overnight borrowing and lending rates at 4 and 6 percent, respectively.

However, there is a need for monetary authorities to tweak its key policy rates as output gap is starting to close and prices are starting to rise in Asia, according to the IMF.

“With the narrowing output gap, it may be necessary to start normalizing the policy stance in the near term in order to forestall excess liquidity and inflation pressures. If the global environment were to worsen, or other downside risks materialize, the pace of policy normalization could be adjusted," Arora pointed out.

The IMF underscored that rising capital inflows need to be carefully managed by the BSP in order to avoid asset price inflation and macroeconomic volatility.

Efforts toward fiscal consolidation

Arora is confident that the Philippines would be able to achieve its budget deficit ceiling of P325 billion or 3.9 percent of GDP this year despite the collection shortfall from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

“The government’s efforts toward fiscal consolidation should help provide the budget with more space to respond effectively to future shocks. The authorities’ emphasis on strengthening tax administration is welcome and the [IMF] is committed to supporting these efforts with technical assistance," Arora said.

He also stressed the need of the government to rationalize fiscal incentives, address tax distortions, and reform excise taxes, particularly in sin products such as alcohol and tobacco products. — JE, GMANews.TV