...the techno upgrade

Palawan hospital, furniture manufacturer get business upgrade from Microsoft PH

By: Matikas Santos
INQUIRER.net

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

 

 

The three awardees of Microsoft’s “Upgrade your Business” promo, Doctor Melvyn Orbe of Palawan Adventist Hospital (second from left), Ian Uynicky of Furniture Contractors Inc. (far right), and the owner of PC Health Computer Sales and Services (second from right), pose with Microsoft Philippines General Manager John Bessey (center) and Isa Aviles, Commercial Marketing Lead of Microsoft Philippines (far left).

MANILA, Philippines—A hospital in Palawan and a furniture manufacturer that previously caught fire were the top two companies given a boost in their business through Microsoft Philippines’ “Upgrade My Business” promo.

The Palawan Adventist Hospital in Barangay (village) San Pedro, Puerto Princesa City won the top prize in the online contest; 10 Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus programs, two laptops with Windows 7 Operating Systems, a server hardware complete with Small Business Server Essentials software, and a P40,000 office Makeover Package.

Doctor Melvyn Orbe, President of the Palawan Adventist Hospital, said in an interview after the awarding ceremonies held Tuesday that they started as a clinic back in the late 70′s and only grew to a hospital in 1988.

They are now a tertiary level hospital that is modern and up-to-date in terms of services, he said.

“We needed to upgrade our system to meet our daily requirements in the hospital’s operations. We are very grateful that Microsoft has chosen us to get the upgrade that we really need,” Orbe said.

He said that before, they had to do the patient records and paperwork manually, which led to patients being discharged after two or three hours. Now with the technology boost given to them by Microsoft, they will be able to upgrade their patient records, billing and accounting processes, and link the different hospital departments together. They are able to discharge their patients in as fast as 30 minutes, Orbe said.

Palawan Adventist Hospital currently has a bed capacity of 54 but will be able to increase it to 70 to 80 once their new building is completed, Orbe said. They record around three to four thousand patients going through the hospital monthly with as much as seven thousand patients during peak seasons, he added.

The hospital was also the chosen referral hospital of the United States Armed Forces who visited Palawan during the Balikatan Exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines this year, Orbe said.

Rising from ashes

The second place winner was Furniture Contractors Inc., a family-owned furniture manufacturing company that is more than 30 years old and which lost its facilities with all their stocks in a fire in November 2008.

Ian Uynicky, President and Owner of Furniture Contractors Inc. said that the fire “happened Saturday night, so our warehouse was full of furniture that are ready to be delivered on Monday and our other suppliers had also just made their deliveries. So it was really full.”

He said their entire production facility with all the stocks “were completely wiped out.”

They were able to get back on their feet because their customers and suppliers decided to extend them credit for their recovery, Uynicky said.

It also helped that their at least 150 strong employees stayed with them. “Since we are a 100 percent local manufacturer it’s the people that make the business grow,” he said.

“It’s the skill of the people that make the business move,” he added.

“Microsoft helped us in the recovery [because] we were using Microsoft products already as interim tools,” Uynicky said.

He said that they use Microsoft programs for their inventory management, accounting, finance, cost analysis, products database, timekeeping records, etc.

“Right now our IT team is very limited, but there are plans to expand. When we get more people, [we] would need additional licenses so they can work on multiple tools at the same time,” he said. Microsoft’s prizes will be of great help to the company, he added.

The third place winner was PC Health Computer Sales and Services in Tacloban City. Microsoft was able to boost their business which “lacked the right facilities for its clients, project development and services they offer.”

Boosting SME businesses

Microsoft’s “Upgrade my Business” promo is part of their “Transform your Business” campaign which “serves as an avenue for Microsoft to help fellow Filipinos make smart investments to continuously sustain productivity and growth,” it said in a statement.

“Microsoft has always empowered start-ups and small and medium businesses through cutting-edge technologies, enabling them to manage and grow their organizations in today’s knowledge economy,” John Bessey, Microsoft Philippines Managing Director, said in a statement.

The online contest was done from February to June 15. Contestants submitted a video or an essay explaining why their business needed an upgrade. An internal panel of judges would then decide who are the most deserving to get a business upgrade based on a criteria that was posted online.

“We were happy about the split between participants coming from the Metro and the provinces,” Isa Aviles, Commercial Marketing Lead of Microsoft Philippines, said in an interview.

She said the cash prize “office makeover package” was an additional “fun factor” in the contest. “Winners will have a free hand in choosing how [they] can apply the fund to upgrade [their] facilities,” Aviles said.

“We’re happy with the kinds of business that we were able to attract, very diverse,” she said. “We’re glad that our campaign has reached different profiles [and] different geographies.”

Aviles said they were very pleased with the success of the promo and will very likely do “fun contests like this” again.

...the polvoron connection

Pitching Philippine tourism via ‘polvoron,’ mangoes

By Jocelyn R. Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

SEOUL—Don’t belittle the unpretentious “polvoron.”

Fashioned out of flour, powdered milk and sugar, it is one of the native Philippine delicacies, along with dried mangoes, offered in a one-stop shop set up on a street in this bustling South Korean capital to attract more Korean tourists to the Philippines.

On the shop’s glass window, an eye-catching poster greets passersby: “Outdoor cafés. More fun in the Philippines.”

Guests at the shop are offered mango juice or coffee and Filipino delicacies, such as dried mangoes and polvoron, while they browse through brochures detailing holiday packages to the Philippines.

The shop’s staff is a mix of Filipinos and Koreans.

The Department of Tourism on Saturday opened its first ever international one-stop shop and showroom to pump up the already growing tourist traffic from South Korea.

“Korea is our No. 1 market so it is only right that we set up our first ever showroom here,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said at the opening.

He said the launch was a milestone for the Philippines, the first Asian country to have such a showcase in South Korea. “This is where the Philippines has many friends,” he told guests.

Present at the opening of the one-stop shop were Philippine Ambassador Luis Cruz, Korea’s Mode Tour president Hong Ki-jeong, Assistant Tourism Secretary Domingo Ramon Enerio III, tourism attaché Maricon Ebron and other VIPs. Representatives from airlines and tour operators also graced the event.

Nestled in Euljiro Jung-gu district, the showroom is flanked by hotels, banks, malls, the subway and historical spots, such as ancient royal palaces.

“This is a perfect place because this is a very busy area and there is a huge traffic of potential tourists coming from the subway station, the malls, restaurants, banks and offices,” Enerio said.

From its signage bearing the slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines,” down to its brightly decorated glass windows, the showroom is eye-candy amid a tangle of concrete and steel.

Its interior showcases Filipino culture: The walls are painted bright yellow and orange and the shelves are arrayed with colorful picture frames made from indigenous materials, porcelain dolls dressed in the traditional baro’t saya and books on fiestas, ancestral weaving, Jose Rizal, birdwatching, golfing and cookbooks.

A flat screen on the main wall plays videos of the Philippines’ white, sandy beaches, blue waters and other tourist destinations. Two huge posters showing Bohol’s tarsiers and festival costumes also embellished the walls.

Hundreds of brochures feature prime destinations—Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, Manila, Davao, Subic and Clark. Tour packages offered by Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air are on hand.

“This is a one-stop shop for your travel plans … you can book your travels here,” Ebron said. “There is free coffee and mango juice every time you visit us.”

...the boat builder's paradise

Australian boat builder transfers manufacturing center to PH

By: Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

 

Australian military and commercial boat builder Austal has chosen the Philippines as the future center of its global manufacturing operations, taking advantage of competitive labor costs that do not sacrifice the quality of work.

The company, which leads globally in the production of high-speed catamarans, said it would soon start exporting state-of-the-art vessels out of its newly acquired facility in Balamban, Cebu.

“It has become uncompetitive for us to build these ships in Australia. It’s our intention to systematically and progressively transfer the technology from Australia into the Philippines so it is our center of excellence for all things commercial,” Austal CEO Andrew Bellamy said in a recent interview.

The Balamban shipyard is the company’s third location.

“We chose the Philippines because of its high level of growth, the English-speaking population that has the right skill set and work ethic, and the country’s location is also an obvious take-off point for our Asian-centric expansion,” Bellamy said.

The company’s oldest facility is in Perth, Australia, where the bulk of commercial vessels are made.

Among the notable ships the company has delivered are the passenger ferries used for trips between the Chinese cities of Macau and Hong Kong.

The company also has car and passenger vessels operating inter-island routes in Greece.

Austal’s second location is in Mobile, Alabama, by the Gulf of Mexico. The United States shipyard focuses on ships for defense. The company has been building warships for the US Navy since 2006.

The company specializes in catamarans and “trimarans,” which have several thin hulls that are able to cope with rough sea conditions.

The company has about 200 employees working in Balamban, with a firm plan to hire 150 more people.

Being built in Balamban today is a 27-meter three-hull trimaran—the first of its kind Austal has ever built—that will be used by wind-farm operators in Europe.

Bellamy said the Balamban facility, which the company bought from the Aboitiz group for $8 million last year, could end up employing thousands of employees, if demand stays strong.

“This is about building a long-term manufacturing capability in the Philippines that will be industry-leading and sustainable,” Bellamy said.

...the PH young workers

Philippines Leads In Demographic Dividend Of Supply Of Young Workers

 

 

By KARL LESTER M. YAP,

KEIKO UJIKANE and SHAMIM ADAM/Bloomberg

July 25, 2012

Manila Bulletin

 

 

“The Philippines is a 'standout' among countries set to benefit from a bigger labor pool, with its rate of economic expansion likely to rise as much as 1.5 percentage points during the next decade." -  Chua Hak Bin, an economist in Singapore at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch division.

 

 

MANILA, Philippines — Jose Winylito Tanquis has reason to be proud as he raises a flag to signal the launch of the 58,000-ton “Ocean Symphony” in the Philippines. Not only did he help build the cargo vessel, his son John now works at the yard.

“Now, he can buy his own stuff, like shoes and clothes,” said Tanquis, 47, a foreman at Tsuneishi Holdings Inc.’s yard in Balamban on Cebu Island. At 21, John is the eldest of six siblings who will enter the workforce in the next decade.

The so-called demographic dividend from a rising supply of young workers is one reason Japan’s second-largest shipbuilder expanded in the Philippines, where workers are on average half the age of its Japanese employees. Tsuneishi is considering Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar for another shipyard, said Hitoshi Kono, chief of the company’s local operation.

Asia’s manufacturing powerhouses – Japan, South Korea and China – are among the fastest-aging countries in the world, while developing nations in Southeast Asia are among the youngest in the region. As factories, jobs and investment flow south to tap cheaper labor, growth in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is poised to accelerate, propelling the area’s currencies and fueling consumer and property booms, Bank of America Corp. says.

“The demographic dividend is over for Japan and Korea, and it will be over for China soon,” said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief economist at Itochu Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading company. “It’s happening now in the ASEAN area, and it will continue for some time.”

For Cebu, famous for its luxury beach resorts, that means regional authorities are building another four 10,000 square-meter (108,000 square-foot) factories this year. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. unveiled its first outlets on the island in October, while 7-Eleven Inc. chose July 11 to open its first two Cebu convenience stores.

Two hours’ drive from the Shangri-La Mactan Resort & Spa – where tourists enjoy parrotfish fillet and black-pepper squid overlooking the ocean – Tsuneishi has launched 11 ships this year, supporting more than 15,000 workers. The company has two shipyards in Japan and one in China.

Mitsumi Electric Co., with more than 14,000 staff on Cebu, is among businesses looking to move more manufacturing out of China, said Yoshitsugu Murakami, a spokesman in Tokyo for the electronic-parts maker.

“Labor costs in China have been rising,” Murakami said. “It’s good for us to shift production to the Philippines little by little. It’s easy to recruit talented workers.”

“The Philippines is a 'standout' among countries set to benefit from a bigger labor pool, with its rate of economic expansion likely to rise as much as 1.5 percentage points during the next decade, according to Chua Hak Bin, an economist in Singapore at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch division.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts China’s growth will slow to 8.5 percent by 2017 from 9.2 percent last year, while the Philippines will expand 5 percent compared with 3.7 percent, and growth in Vietnam will reach 7.5 percent from 5.9 percent, according to projections published in April.

“Domestic demand will more likely grow at faster rates if the labor force is going to grow more quickly, and that will spur the exchange rates as well,” said Chua, who previously led the Singapore central bank’s external economies division.

Standard & Poor’s this month raised the Philippines’ credit rating to one level below investment grade, its highest since 2003. In January, Moody’s Investors Service elevated Indonesia to investment grade for the first time since 1997.

The demographic dividend – a term popularized by economists David E. Bloom, David Canning and Jaypee Sevilla in a 2001 National Bureau of Economic Research study – happens when most of a country’s population is in the 15-to-64 working-age range. This increases productivity if supported by policies that promote health, family, labor and financial and human capital, the study concluded.

The Philippine labor force will expand by almost 18 million, or 31 percent, to 75 million by 2020 compared with 2010, Merrill Lynch projected in an April 27 note. Malaysia will grow by 19 percent, to 22 million. Indonesia will see a gain of more than 18 million, to 180 million.

China’s workforce will peak at around 970 million in 2020 as the population’s median age rises by more than three years, to 37.8, Merrill Lynch forecasts. Japan’s median age will increase to 48.5 and South Korea’s to 43.4, compared with 23.9 in the Philippines and 28.4 in Malaysia.

India has the biggest potential dividend of all, with a projected labor-force expansion of 95 million by 2020, Merrill Lynch estimates. Even so, businesses from Larsen & Toubro Ltd., the nation’s biggest engineering company, to Leighton Holdings Ltd., Australia’s largest builder, say a lack of skills means there aren’t enough trained workers to build the roads, railways and ports India needs.

The South Asian country’s expansion skidded to a nine-year low in the first quarter, and the rupee tumbled to a record low against the dollar in June, as investors lost confidence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ability to revive the economy.

“An increasing labor force is definitely a plus point,” Sri Mulyani Indrawati, a World Bank managing director and former Indonesian finance minister, said in a May 24 interview in Tokyo. “But it’s not necessarily going to become an economic gain if they’re not trained and skilled.”

Adult literacy is above 92 percent in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, while in India it is 63 percent, according to the United Nations 2011 Human Development report.

Other impediments to realizing the potential from demographic shifts include lawlessness and delays in implementing governments’ ambitions for infrastructure.

The Philippines ranked 130th of 142 countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest survey on the cost to business of terrorism, and 112th in terms of crime and violence – the worst in Southeast Asia. Fifty-four percent of mining companies said issues such as attacks by terrorists, criminals and guerrilla groups are a strong deterrent for investors, a Fraser Institute poll released in February showed.

The nation also has lagged behind on government construction projects, with its fiscal deficit last year below projections mainly because public capital spending had fallen, the IMF said in March.

One advantage for Southeast Asia, astride one of the busiest maritime arteries, is proximity to Japan and China, the world’s largest net creditor nations.

“Investments in Asean will continue for the next decade,” said Jan Oosterveld, former head of Royal Philips Electronics NV’s Asia Pacific operations and now a senior lecturer at the University of Navarra’s IESE Business School in Barcelona. “Simple manufacturing will go to the cheapest countries: It’s going now from China to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. More advanced industries will go to Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines.”

Japan’s foreign direct investment to Asean more than doubled in 2011 to $19.6 billion from the year before, surpassing the $14.2 billion to China and Hong Kong, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
“Asean labor costs are becoming relatively cheaper because China’s wages are rising,” said Satoshi Osanai, a Daiwa Institute of Research economist in Tokyo. Migrant workers’ average pay rose 21 percent in China to 2,049 yuan ($322) a month in 2011, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The Philippines lured $6 billion last year in pledged foreign investment, led by Japan, where the average wage for a nonagricultural worker is more than 26 times higher, government and International Labor Organization data show.

Credit Suisse Group AG in March boosted its estimated trend-growth rate for the Southeast Asian country to about 5 percent, from 4.5 percent to 4.75 percent previously, citing President Benigno Aquino’s $16 billion infrastructure program and improved transparency. Aquino, 52, said in a May interview his nation’s dream to lure manufacturing “is happening now.”

“What was once the sick man of Asia now brims with vitality,” Aquino said in his state-of-the-nation speech in Manila today. “Until recently, we had to beg for investments; now, investors flock to us.”

Electronics accounted for about half the Philippines’s $48 billion exports last year and more than 10 percent of the economy. Investment in the nation’s economic zones, which primarily comes from abroad, almost doubled to 16 billion pesos ($384 million), according to the Trade Department.

Rising economic growth enriches young spenders, a boon to companies such as Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food maker, and Unilever NV, provider of products from Dove soap to Knorr soup, according to Amlan Roy, head of global demographics and pensions research at Credit Suisse in London. He also favors Procter & Gamble Co., the world’s largest consumer-products company, and insurers including Samsung Life Insurance Co.

In the Antipodean Cafe in Kuala Lumpur’s ritzy Bangsar neighborhood, diners in their 20s relax on a Sunday morning over all-day breakfasts and 9 ringgit ($2.80) lattes. New Zealand owner Alun Evans, 43, says he opened his first outlet in Jakarta five years ago to serve expats. Now the six branches he has in the Indonesian and Malaysian capitals serve mostly locals, and he’s looking at adding venues in Singapore and Manila.

Investment has transformed the village of Balamban, which got its first shopping mall last year, quadrupling its population since the 1980s to about 80,000.

“There were practically no jobs before, none; nothing was happening until Tsuneishi came,” said Renold Macasi, 34, a general foreman at the shipyard. Tanquis, whose next two eldest children are in college, said he hopes all his sons and daughters will get their first jobs there.

The Balamban works built its first vessel in 1997, and the company forecasts the yard will have 35 billion pesos in sales in 2012, more than double five years ago.

In many ways, the town mirrors the port in Japan after which the company is named, where its original yard began building wooden boats in 1917.

“Tsuneishi was a very small town just like Balamban,” said Kono, 52, who was born in a house overlooking the docks. “Balamban now, too, is a shipyard town; everybody gets their happiness from the ships.”

 

...the Scientist

Cebu scientist wins Magsaysay award

By Tina G. Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Romulo Davide. Photo taken from dost.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino scientist who has devoted his life to addressing problems that confront the agriculture industry is among this year’s winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Romulo Davide is being recognized for “his steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of farmers in the Philippines, who have consequently multiplied their yields, created productive farming communities, and rediscovered the dignity of their labor.”

Davide is hailed as the “Father of Plant Nematology” for his many years of teaching and groundbreaking research on nematode pests that infest, debilitate, and destroy agricultural crops.

Apart from Davide, individuals from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan will receive Asia’s premier prize, which is often described as Asia’s Nobel Prize, according to the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

The award, named after the immensely popular Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, who was killed in a 1957 plane crash, aims to honor people who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity.

...the US teen tennis champ

'Shy' Pinay teen rises to become champion tennis player in US

ANDREI MEDINA,

GMA News

July 25, 2012

Her mom describes her as a shy person, who loves to sit in a quiet corner, listening to music. Now, sixteen-year-old Marian Jade Capadocia has become a celebrity of sorts after becoming the single and doubles tennis champion for the 18 and under categories of the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

In an interview with GMA News Online on Wednesday, Charito Capadocia, Marian Jade’s mom, said, “Tahimik lang siya lagi, hindi mo aakalaing tennis player kasi lagi lang siya nasa gilid at nakikinig sa music.”

“Mabait din siya, disiplinado, masipag at ayaw niya mag-home study,” Charito added.

Charito said Marian Jade, who recently graduated from high school at the Arellano University Mabini Campus, has been playing tennis since age eight.

Charito and her husband Joenito were the ones who encouraged Marian Jade to play tennis, being former tennis players themselves.

Charito said they are weighing their options on whether to let Marian study abroad or in the Philippines.

“Maraming offers and invitations kahit sa America pero focus muna kami sa tennis for now kasi nasa peak pa siya. Yung schooling nandiyan lang naman yan,” Charito said.

US champion

Marian Jade  became the 18 and under single and doubles tennis champion for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Canyon Crest Summer Junior Open Tournament held from July 14 to 15 and July 21 to 22 in Riverside, California.

Marian Jade is currently #1 in the 18 and under and women singles category in the Philippines.

She partnered with Marian Ante for the doubles match, eventually winning the championship.

According to Charito, Marian Jade's achievements include:

• winning gold in the “Palarong Pambansa” thrice, with the most recent being last year

• 2011 South East Asia tournament bronze medalist, one of youngest at 16

• 2011 Champion of Women’s Udon Dhani Open in Thailand, March 12 to 15

• 2012 Cainta Open Champion, April 9 to 15

One of the highlights of her career was when she won the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open last December 5, 2011 when she defeated Clarice Patrimonio during the finals becoming the youngest winner in PCA history.

Patrimonio is the daughter of Philippine basketball legend, Alvin ‘The Captain’ Patrimonio and is currently the # 2 of the women’s single category in the Philippines. - VVP, GMA News

...the rating goal

Invest grade rating within reach - BSP chief

Philstar 

25  July 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Investment grade rating is within reach for the Philippines given the economic achievements mentioned by President Aquino during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, the central bank chief said.

“Consecutive rating actions on (the Philippines) indeed recognize the efforts towards fiscal consolidation, the continued strength of the country’s external position and the strides the government has made on improving governance,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. told reporters in a text message late-Monday.

“As we continue on the economic reform agenda, we can expect investment grade sooner rather than later,” he added.

President Aquino last Monday delivered his SONA before the 13th Congress, detailing his administration’s achievements for the past two years, including the 6.4 percent economic growth posted in the first quarter and the eight positive credit rating actions earned during his term.

This enabled the Philippines to attain its highest credit rating in 13 years at one notch below investment grade.

Officials however are lobbying for the country to be granted investment status, a position that is expected to bring in more investments and lower the Philippines’ borrowing costs.

“We are pleased that the President has also noted in his speech the country’s strong external position that is enabling the country to commit funds towards regional and global cooperative efforts—efforts to limit contagion from weaknesses in the advanced economies to our part of the world,” Tetangco said.

Aquino said the Philippines’ $1-billion loan to the International Monetary Fund is a sign that the Philippines, formerly a borrower, is now the one extending assistance to more developed nations struggling to contain a debt crisis for about three years now.

Tetangco said more investments will soon flock to the Philippines as the government continues with its reform agenda.

“We are confident that as the governance reform agenda goes into full swing and leakages are better plugged, we would see each dollar (or peso) invested in the Philippines ‘work harder,’” the BSP chief said. - By Prinz P. Magtulis (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)