DOT launches national tourism blueprint

THE Aquino administration is planning to spend some P74 billion beginning this year in an effort to reach its targeted arrivals of some 10 million international, and 35.5 million domestic travelers by 2016.

The amount will be poured into infrastructure, improvement of tourist sites and marketing support, over a four-year period until 2016, according to the recently unveiled National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).

As this developed, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said initial promotion efforts of his agency have already started bearing fruit. In the first quarter of 2012, inbound tourism jumped by 16 percent to 1.15 million. This, he told a gathering of industry stakeholders on Thursday, brings the agency closer to its 4.6 million arrivals target for the year.

The increase is the market’s “quick response to promotion initiatives,” he said: arrivals from China grew by 77 percent, Korea 16 percent, Taiwan 37 percent, Australia 18 percent, the United Kingdom 21 percent and Germany 18 percent.

Under the NTDP, about P50 billion will be spent by the government to build roads and bridges, according to Rolando Canizal, director for the Office of Tourism Planning, Research and Information Management of the Department of Tourism (DOT).

For this year, P3 billion has been allotted to construct roads and airports, and P17 billion in 2013, he told the BusinessMirror.

The NTDP was presented by the DOT on Thursday (May 3) at an agency-hosted parallel forum during the 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank.

The government investment under the NTDP, however, is only 29 percent of the P266-billion total investments needed by the tourism sector to reach its goal of increased visitor arrivals, and boost its contribution to the country’s total economic output.

Canizal explained that most of the investments, or P191 billion, under the master plan, would still have to be coughed up by the private sector.

“The balance comprises private-sector investment in hotels, resorts, leisure-entertainment-shopping, health and wellness, convention, event/exhibition, cruise and transportation facilities,” according to the NTDP.

An additional 50,867 hotel and resort units are being eyed for construction from 2012 to 2016.

During his welcome remarks at the forum, Jimenez said the plan lays out the strategies to be undertaken by the government to reach its tourist-arrivals targets.

Industry stakeholders, including representatives from the accommodations, transport, and conventions sectors, as well as travel agencies, attended the forum.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. unveils the National Tourism Development Plan, a P266-billion strategy aimed at increasing international tourist arrivals to 10 million, and domestic travelers to 35.5 million by 2016, at an agency-hosted forum on May 3, 2012. (DOT Photo)

The plan “cuts up” the country into 20 clusters, nine of which have been identified as priority clusters for investment and development, based on the “identification of secondary gateways as premier entry points” to these areas, explained Tourism Undersecretary Daniel Corpuz, for Tourism Planning and Promotions, during his presentation.

The nine priority clusters include Central Visayas, Metro Manila and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Central Luzon, Palawan, Western Visayas, Davao Gulf and Coast, Northern Mindanao, Bicol and Laoag-Vigan.

Corpuz noted that prior to the NTDP’s implementation, the goals of the tourism sector were hampered by “uncompetitive tourist destinations and products; limited flights and seat capacities, including the poor quality and limited capacity of international and domestic transportation and infrastructure destination, as well as other restrictions that have limited market access; and weak public-sector tourism governance and human-resources development policies and practices.”

To overcome these challenges, he said, the DOT will undertake strategic directions and programs—such as the development and marketing of competitive tourist products and destinations; improvement of market access, connectivity and destination infrastructure; and improvement of tourism institutional, governance and industry manpower capabilities.

The DOT said the implementation of the NTDP would raise the contribution of the tourism sector to 8.1 percent of the gross domestic product from the current 5 percent; and “directly employ 6.8 million that will account for 17 percent of total employment.”

Most of these tourism workers will come from the poor sector, based on the cluster destination framework of the master plan.

In addition, according to the NTDP, the planned investments versus the projected increase in tourist expenditures will result in an economic internal rate of return of 21.05 percent, and a net present value of P24.1 billion.

The NTDP cluster development plans will be undertaken in close coordination with relevant government agencies like the departments of Public Works and Highways, and of Transportation and Communications, as well as local government units.

Meanwhile, Jimenez defended the agency’s slogan—“It’s more fun in the Philippines”—against critics who said that the problems of the sector couldn’t be solved with just a tagline.

“Those who say that have limited knowledge of the persuasive power of words, of communications,” he said.

In his speech, he said the slogan “makes a compelling argument for choosing the Philippines as one of the world’s top tourist destinations. It is rooted in our competitive advantage, a ‘deliverable,’ where Filipinos put genuine value in being able to participate to make their guests feel at home.”

It is second nature to Filipinos, he said, “to be hospitable and seize every opportunity to make guests’ every visit to his home successful.”

The slogan has “energized” the system and “contains one thing that works so well in an open competition…it is the truth. It is about Filipinos and their infectious love of things the world tends to forget‚family, friends and communion with God and Nature,” he said.

The Aquino administration has just undertaken a P63-million advertising campaign over CNN. The DOT, and the departments of Budget and Management, Finance and Trade and Industry, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will shoulder the funding for the campaign. (See DOT starts intl tourism ad campaign on CNN.)

The DOT said the 30-second spots on CNN cost about P19,000 each. The rollouts of the ads was timed for the ADB meet and CNN’s special Eye on the Philippines programming. It will run in key international markets until August.

The 30-second ad, inspired by the memes generated by the slogan, is aided by music from Boney M’s “Gotta Go Home,” whose rights were secured by the DOT for worldwide use.

The agency also clarified in a press statement that Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas was not involved in the ad soundtrack.

“However, [he] is a very strong supporter of Philippine tourism as he reaches out to Filipino-Americans with various projects,” it added.

With close to 4 million tourist arrivals in 2011, the country still ranks way behind its neighbors—Malaysia (25 million), Thailand (19 million), Singapore (13.2 million), Indonesia (7.6 million) and Vietnam (6 million).

(Originally published in the BusinessMirror, May 6, 2012.)

Pioneering techpreneur creates 'angel fund'

MYLA VILLANUEVA may not have invented the thinnest computer, the smallest smartphone, or a faster way to transmit data over the Internet, but among her peers she is considered every inch tech royalty.

After having successfully sold the idea of networking computers via an Internet protocol in the late ’80s, a time when most companies still relied on clunky mainframe computers for data storage, she is now on her fifth startup and focused on mass-marketing technology. (She calls herself a “serial entrepreneur.”)

As co-founder and managing director of Novare Technologies, she is developing products, software and architecture for local and foreign mobile operators in the field of “Fixed-Mobile-Internet convergence.”

Basically these are mobile applications and solutions for clients which include Globe Telecom, GSM Association, Meralco, PLDT, Philippine Savings Bank, RCBC, Smart, Standard Chartered Bank, Sun Cellular, and Norway’s Telenor, to name a few. Among Novare’s partners are IBM, Oracle, Research in Motion, Sybase, Tata Consultancy, etc.

She is now setting her sights on expanding Novare’s footprint in Southeast Asia and China.

“Our next goal as a group of companies is to hit China and other southeast Asian countries, which is made possible through partnerships with telcos and Internet companies localized and establishing there.... I feel this is a wave bigger than that of the last two decades of the Internet’s exponential influence and growth.”

Ever on the forefront of tech breakthroughs, Villanueva has launched what could be described as her best innovation to date.

Last January 11, she announced her personal advocacy called “Wireless Wings”, a P111-million angel fund which aims to support deserving information technology ideas from colleges and universities nationwide.

“I am trying to ignite a culture that I think is very ‘thin’ right now. I want to encourage people to innovate. I want them not to be just builders. I want them to build their own companies, craft their own models and be successful.”

Aside from funding ideas, Villanueva says her team will also provide beneficiaries with mentoring sessions from seasoned IT executives, as well as link them up with multinational companies and major players in the IT industry.

This way, “we will be able to expose them to the corporate setting, and to the type of thinking that businessmen have, because it has always been my dream to find emerging innovations that we can send outside the country.”

She adds: “We want them to think forward and realize that their ideas and products could also be used in Asia, in Indonesia and China.”

Villanueva also invites “other companies who have the same advocacy” to contribute to the angel fund to be able to boost the chances of these new techpreneurs in the international market.

It’s easy to understand why she has chosen this particular advocacy, having once grappled with the challenges of breaking into new markets dominated by the big boys of technology.

Flushed with idealism and inspired by the tech boom in Silicon Valley where she had studied and was living (and no less inspired by Apple’s Steve Jobs’s success), Villanueva, then just 21, came home to the Philippines in 1988, set up MDI Group Holdings, and introduced the idea of networking computers via Internet protocol.

Back then, most government agencies and the top Philippine firms shared and stored data using those clunky mainframe computers.

“It is so old tech today, but I cannot understate the challenges that came along, starting a new company to sell this concept, and competing against the IBMs and Digital Equipments of the world, in a male-dominated industry which was then very conservative and comfortable with the status quo,” Villanueva now recalls. But she pressed on, knowing that computer networking would soon be the norm.

Her very first deal was with the Social Security System which saw the value in decentralizing its members’ contributions system. This was soon followed by projects with Meralco, ABS-CBN Corp., PLDT and other private firms.

More pioneering efforts in the local tech sector followed.

With her husband Jun, she introduced consumer electronics equipment, gadgets and design software to a mass market via Microwarehouse (1995); created Wolfpac (2000), a mobile applications and content provider which was subsequently sold to Smart Communications; then set up Meridian Telekoms (2003), the first wireless broadband firm in the country (later sold for $50 million to Smart and now rebranded as SmartBro). All these breakthroughs earned her the first Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2003) under Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year program.

At the GSM Association, where she is a member of the executive management committee, Villanueva had pushed for the globalization of Mobile Money Transfers. It now benefits millions of migrant workers, especially Filipinos, who easily send money home to their families just using their cell phones.

Looking back on her very first networking project, and her subsequent achievements, Villanueva says the key to her success is that she has “never been afraid of hiring people who are much better than me.” Also, she is able to spot the major trends in her field because she has a voracious reading appetite and a constant curiosity about everything around her.

When she isn’t thinking up more ways to break ground in yet another tech field or indulge in her advocacies, Villanueva, now 45, loves chilling with her husband and their two kids: Blanca, 17, and Luis, 10. Usually they are out sailing and discovering the Philippines via their catamaran, the TutuTango. “We also love to travel the world anytime we can. I guess we are a family of gypsies.”

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday at the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Jan. 27, 2012. Photo courtesy Myla Villanueva.)

PAL needs more cash for refleeting program

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines believes 2012 will be crucial and will determine whether it could carry out a strong refleeting program, expand its routes, and return to better fiscal health.

Airline President Jaime Bautista said in an interview with select reporters on Wednesday evening that “from a management point of view, we need higher capital” to pursue a refleeting program and keep the carrier competitive.

But he said he could not determine how much new capital would be needed because this would all depend on whether the planes would be purchased or leased.

“Refleeting is a challenge. Wide-bodied aircraft are needed. You need to pay delivery fees [about 15 percent to 20 percent of plane cost], that’s where the cash is needed,” he said. This is why “management welcomes new investors,” he said.

Businessmen Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. and Manuel V. Pangilinan of the First Pacific Group are reportedly both keen on investing in PAL and help it carry out its refleeting and modernization effort. PAL is 94-percent owned by PAL Holdings Inc. which is led by taipan Lucio Tan.

Of the 36 aircraft currently in the PAL fleet, it has five Boeing 747-400s that were purchased during the carrier’s first refleeting program as a privatized company. “These five B747s are aging. By 2015 they have to be replaced as they will be 21 years old already. They’re still good airplanes, but the maintenance costs are higher.”

Bautista said while the carrier could, on its own, push its refleeting program, “our capacity to compete [with other carriers] would be limited.” Delivery of new aircraft takes about two or more years after ordering so PAL’s new refleeting program needs to be finalized in the new fiscal year, which begins on April 2012 and ends in March 2013.

Other than the five B747s, PAL’s fleet also includes two B777-300ER, four Airbus 340-300, eight A330-300, 13 A320-200, and four A320-319.

The carrier is also counting on the US Federal Aviation Authority to upgrade the country’s safety status Category 1 status by November, which will enable it to expand its routes in the United States.

“We will back to Category 1 [status] Timing nalang. Maayos na,” the PAL president said. “Many of the needed reforms have been instituted by relevant government agencies. PAL itself will be undergoing a technical review then a technical audit by the FAA.”

A team from the FAA will be in town next week to assess the safety measures and equipment installed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (which replaced the Air Transportation Office). The Aquino administration has predicted an upgrade in the country’s safety status to Category 1 by June.

Bautista said the carrier is considering an expansion in routes to San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington State; and New York, which hopefully can be mounted within the year. He added that once the country is back to Category 1 status, PAL can also resume its services to Europe, using its Boeing 777-300ER. The carrier will be taking delivery of two more Triple 7s and four Airbus A320s are arriving this year.

Following the FAA downgrade in 2008, the European Union had also banned Philippine carriers from flying there.

Bautista predicted a loss in fiscal year 2011 (April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012), a reversal of the $72.5-million profit recorded in FY 2010.

Bautista said the loss was due to the higher fuel costs, the labor strike, and lower passenger revenues from the Japan earthquake and tsunami as well as the floods in Thailand. The carrier reported a loss of $39.4 million from July to September 2011.

He said the carrier’s operations were “back to normal,” after flight disruptions were felt initially after it implemented its much-needed but controversial outsourcing program in October 2011. About 2,400 employees were affected by the outsourcing program.

(My piece was published on Jan. 20, 2012 in the BusinessMirror.)

Marc Faber on the global economic meltdown

DR. Marc Faber of Marc Faber Ltd,. has been a favorite guest on many business shows on cable TV because of his often shoot-from-the-hip comments and contrarian investment advice. He was in Manila last Thursday as keynote speaker of the 8th annual Asia Pacific Regional Investment Conference which I attended. His often tongue-in-cheek humor about the global crisis sent many conference tittering. It was of course, pure entertainment. Faber also publishes a regular newsletter called the Gloom, Boom, Doom report available on the web.

Here are a few choice quotes from Dr. Faber regarding the global sub-prime credit meltdown:

WHO TO BLAME: "The Federal Reserve's highly expansionary monetary policy in 2001 to 2007 led to strong money supply growth and storng credit growth.... 70% went to housing and real estate investment. Home prices rose steadily and went way above the trend."

THE DOMINO EFFECT: "Regardless of policies followed by the U.S. government and its agencies, the consumer is in recession and the recession will deepen. Trade and current account deficits will shrink further and diminish international liquidity. The shrinkage of global liquidity is bad for asset prices, including commodities. Also, deleveraging is occurring among financial intermediaries. This is extremely negative for an economy addicted to credit growth. We had an unprecedented global economic boom. A global bust is likely to happen."

ON THE $700-B BAILOUT PACKAGE: "If (Federal Reserve chair Ben) Bernanke wants, he will print money. You just throw money in system. Buy up the bond market and real estate mortgages. You create inflation....The bailout package won't address the real problem, which is too much debt. The debt bubble has already burst."

ON THE U.S. RECESSION: "A U.S recession is not bad. Americans will eat 5% less, obesity goes down."

THE IMPACT ON ASIA: "Where it hurts, will be the people who produce for the U.S. economy (Asia).... Decoupling will not likely to occur. There is a correlation in asset markets. If the S&P drops, most markets will go down. If S&P is up, markets are up. If the U.S. goes into a recession, China and India's growth will probably slow down to 3%. But coming from a fast growth to a slowdown, it will feel like a recession [in these countries]."

WHY ASIAN BANKS ARE BETTER: "Asian banks are in much better shape than U.S. banks. I suspect this is because most Asian bankers are just too stupid to understand structured products. Compared to U.S. banks, Asian banks are rock solid. Even Philippine banks, because they've invested domestically."

IMPACT ON THE PHILIPPINES: “Only a Filipino will believe that the Philippines will be immune from a global slump. Of course it will affect the Philippine economy as already reflected in the decline in share prices already. The Philippine market has been down 60% from its peak in '97. It's not terribly expensive. But before a new bull market emerges, a lot of base building will happen."

WHERE TO INVEST:

• Real Estate: In resource rich emerging countries
Avoid real estate in financial centres

• Healthcare: Pharmaceutical, hospital management companies

• Local Brands: May displace some international brands

• Commodities: Volatile, but uptrend intact. Corrections of 50% are common.
Caution about industrial commodities is warranted

• Tourism: Hotels, casinos, airports, beach resorts. Potential problem is oversupply.

• Financial Services: Banks, insurance companies, brokers in emerging economies

• Infrastructure: Bottlenecks everywhere. Potential problem could be cancellations

• Plantations and Farmland: Indonesia, Malaysia, Latin America, Ukraine

• Japan: Very depressed, banks look interesting

• New Regions: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia

• Africa as a play on Asia

• Gold and Silver

(Click here for another story from the investment conference.)

Stay calm

IN case you guys are still shaking your heads, trying to figure out what all the fuss is about, yes we are now caught up in a global financial flummox because of the interconnectedness of the world today. No doubt, we here in da Pinas will be affected, but we can only cross our fingers that our banks are strong enough to withstand the shocks.

As a depositor, I am staying put. I am keeping my money in our banks and praying that they have not been "irrationally exuberant" in their credit transactions and investments. No sense in withdrawing our monies and stashing 'em in Switzerland (or worse, in your piggy banks at home) because it will just add pressure on the banks, and exacerbate the delicate situation they are in.

I have friends who are already feeling the hit because the value of their investments in mutual funds and UITFs (unit investment trust funds) have dropped dramatically. I have advised them to stay with those funds because right now, all their losses are on paper. Unless they decide to liquidate their investments, of course. Just breathe and hang on to the belief that those investments are gonna stabilize and move up as soon as the financial world settles down. (As I have been saying since last year, stick w/ the safer deposit instruments like time deposits and 5-years tax-free accounts.)

I am pinning my hopes on the pronouncements of Bangko Sentral Gov. Amado Tetangco Jr. that the Philippine financial system is healthy.

And so read on:

Why AIG matters
or why the Fed decided not to let the insurance company fail like Lehman Brothers

WASHINGTON—After World War II, a far-flung insurance company in China run by an American businessman took a risky bet insuring that about 20 boats filled with Americans would make it back to the United States.

From those distant beginnings grew American International Group (AIG), which became one of the biggest insurance companies in the world, under the leadership of Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.

With more than $1 trillion in assets, AIG is bigger than Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers or the former Bear Stearns.

AIG’s subsidiaries sell life, auto, property, workers’ compensation, kidnapping and ransom and many other types of insurance. The company offers retirement plans such as annuities. Its financial markets subsidiary services include investment banks, pension funds, governments and other institutional investors, and AIG manages portfolios of stocks, bonds and real estate. The company is the nation’s largest leaser of aircraft.

Among the activities it ventured into: buying mortgage-related securities and offering other firms an exotic type of insurance to cover losses from investments tied to mortgages.

That proved to be a problem. (Click here for the rest.)

BTW, do you know AIG's corporate slogan? Tic, toc, tic, toc...sirit na? "The strength to be there." (araykow!)
* * * *
Also check out the editorial of BusinessMirror today: (As Michael Douglas' character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street said: "It's all about the bucks, kid. The rest is conversation." Indeed.)

Tale as old as time

BY this time, the breathtakingly simple way—“hubris and greed at work”—by which this week’s disaster on Wall Street has been dismissed is now a tune long worn.

And yet, as simple as it may seem, it forms the thread within each of the key lessons that may be derived, as some form of morbid consolation, from this crisis.

What is one to make of a spectacle where no less than the titans of New York’s financial empire are falling by the wayside, their pedigree notwithstanding: investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch, and now, the insurance giant AIG or American International Group? The full stories behind their debacles won’t be told yet as details keep unfolding while the markets swoon. But from the broad sketches of what went on, it is clear that the crisis combines the timeless tale of human folly, the failures of regulators and a system that brought so much wealth to millions around the world but is now its own worst enemy. (Click here for the rest.)

And now I leave you with these thoughts from the master of greed himself, Gordon Gekko:



(Note: Photo of AIG building is from the cover of its 2007 annual report available on its web site .)

Pwede ba'ng mag-react?

Foreign businessmen told 'behave or get out' of Philippines
Agence France-Presse/PDI
First Posted 17:45:00 06/06/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Foreign businessmen were warned Friday to "get out" of the Philippines if they don't like how business is done here after overseas commerce groups questioned proposed changes to electricity law.

Representatives from six foreign chambers of commerce were called to the Senate to explain why they wrote a joint letter to President Gloria Arroyo last month over reforms to the power sector.

"To them I say the hell with you, get out of this country. Enough is enough," a visibly angry Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said, after addressing the heads of the business groups. (Click here for the rest.)

ANG kapal!

Truly, madly, deeply...the nerve of this has-been senator to tell foreign businesses to get out of the Philippines. If they leave, will your JAKA save the economy? E ang dami nyo na ngang utang di mabayaran e! Nauubos na ang mga puno sa kagagawa nyo ng posporo noh? Di pa matapos-tapos ang Splendido golf and country club project n'yo? Why kaya? You couldn't get any foreign businessmen to invest in that project? I don't blame them.

When have the foreign business groups not been vocal about government policies? Under each President we have had, they've given their two cents worth. Suggestion lang pow! E kung ayaw nyo, h'wag nyo! Every President has always also consulted foreign business groups for certain policy concerns, or for advice on economic matters. So what's eating JPE? Now, these groups feel strongly about the proposed EPIRA changes, and are speaking up. Last time I looked, we're still a democracy and we listen to all points of view. No one is forcing the government/the presidentita to follow what they ask. All they want is to be heard.

So that scolding by JPE is totally uncalled for. Very undiplomatic behavior from a supposed distinguished member of the Senate. Pwede ba, mag-retire na ang mga senile at mga buang (you know who you are) jan sa Senado! Wala naman kayong ginawa kundi mag-ingay ng wala sa lugar e. It's politicians like you who keep this country backward!

That bee is gonna sting

Sign of the times: Jollibee hiking
prices on soaring costs

By Dennis Estopace
Reporter, BusinessMirror
May 14, 2008

NOW you know times are really hard. The iconic fast food that offers “distinctly Filipino” spaghetti and fried chicken has been bitten by the inflation bug.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the country’s largest fastfood operator, would be hiking prices “any time soon,” chief executive Tony Tan Caktiong told the BusinessMirror.

However, Tan Caktiong said he doesn’t expect such increase to impact sales. (Read on at Jollibee.)

OH crap, now we're in real trouble! Various economists from different banks are already projecting a 9% inflation rate this year. With this announcement from Jollibee, that makes the inflation projection even more credible. After all, about 50 percent the consumer price index (which is the basis of the inflation rate) is composed of food, beverages and tobacco items.

Jollibee's products have become an index of sorts for the country in terms of food prices. Its burgers, spaghetti, and fries are standard fare especially for the lower middle income market. (I personally like the nacho fries.) These are the clerks, the sales ladies, tellers, patrolling cops, and janitors, etc. who comprise the bulk the of country's working force.

These folks don't even earn enough to pay for all their needs, an uptick in food prices will just burden them further. (What's more, transport groups are agitating for higher fares.) With Jollibee raising its prices, I am pretty sure other food staples like canned sardines and instant noodles will soon follow. It's bad enough we have a rice crisis and surging electric bills.

I can't imagine how we Pinoys can take more of this.

* * * *

ON the other hand, a higher inflation rate spells good news to depositors as this usually means, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) will need to increase its overnight rates to sop up the extra liquidity in the market.

This also means the rate on government securities like Treasury Bills and Bonds will go up. Depositors will be sure to check with their banker the latest rates for special deposit accounts and investment instruments.

Already I got a call from my bank which is offering 8.5% interest per annum on its Tier 2 notes. (Earlier this year, the notes were only offered at 7%.) Of course, the catch is, you have to hold on to this basically unsecured debt for 5 years and the interest is paid out every six months. But it's a good deal especially if it's a strong solid bank. Also try to look ask your bank if it offers 5-year tax-free accounts. These special accounts normally accept deposits as low as P50,000. Interest is paid every month but like the Tier 2 notes, you must keep your money in the account for five years.

And btw, just in case you've bought into the whole economic miracle that is RP crap promoted by the presidentita, a high inflation rate is one of the signs the economy is heading for the dumps.

The boys will just love this!

MY story on the opening of Hooters at The Fort, as published in the BusinessMirror, Nov. 6, 2007.

Dang you boys are lucky! When are we girls going to get any fun restaurants like this? I'm in the mood for some gorgeous half-naked hunky male servers!

EXCLUSIVE:
Coming soon at The Fort: Hooters

HOOTERS, the American restaurant made famous by its buxomy beautiful babes, will be opening its first outlet in the Philippines at The Fort entertainment strip in Taguig City.

This was confirmed by Kaz Endo, managing director and partner of Paradise Wings LLC., a Guam-based company which owns the Hooters franchise for Guam and Asia, including the Philippines.

In an e-mail to BusinessMirror, Endo said construction is ongoing at the restaurant, which will open its doors to the public by February 2008. “The Philippines, in particular Metro Manila, is a multinational city. Quality brands from around the world can be found here. Hooters, an American casual-dining themed restaurant, has many fans around the world, and with its expansion around the globe [e.g. China, Japan, South Korea, Dubai, Tel Aviv, etc.], it was only natural that this solid brand of over 30 years eventually found its way into the Philippines market.”

While he didn’t say how much his group is investing in the first outlet, Endo noted that the Atlanta-based parent firm and franchisor, Hooters of America Inc., requires a minimum of $1 million (roughly P43.7 million) of available funding per store. “The first store opening has taken about two years to plan and put together. We took our time because we wanted to enter the market correctly—not just bulldoze our way in. An aggressive expansion will be determined greatly by the [positive] response of the market. With this said, we intend on opening at a minimum two to three restaurants in and around select major city areas.”

Endo’s other partners in Paradise Wings are Guam-based businessmen Brian Y. Suhr and Michael S. Hahm, president/chief executive officer, and executive vice president, respectively of South Pacific Petroleum Corp.; and a Los Angeles-based lawyer named Charles Isgar. There is also a reported Asian partner, but for the Philippines, Endo did not name the group’s local partner.

The restaurant at The Fort will approximately measure 400 square meters, with a 150-seating capacity. It will also employ about 30 to 40 part-time and full-time staff. “This number exponentially grows as we expand. So in short, with the success of Hooters, so comes more job opportunities for managers, cooks and of course servers!” Endo said.

While the restaurant is most famous for its Hooters Girls, immortalized in a number of American films, TV shows, magazines, and calendars, Endo said their group is not hiring waitstaff based on looks alone. “No doubt, the Hooters Girls are the restaurant’s ambassador of goodwill and service. As pretty as they are, these are hardworking waitresses who make sure that customers of all gender and age are happy with our service. With an average of 70 percent of all sales coming from food sales—Hooters is still a restaurant, not a bar! We are being very selective with choosing who gets to be a Hooters Girl. They have to have a great personality, smarts as well as beauty. . . . all within a ‘girl-next-door’ package.”

He said Hooters at The Fort will look like any Hooters outlet in the U.S. and around the world, with the interiors dressed in pinewood to give a log cabin feel. It will also have on display products of American nostalgia and sports gear, aside from the usual gigantic TV sets strategically placed throughout the restaurant, “making it a perfect place to watch live sports (soccer, basketball, etc). It’s a casual dining atmosphere, so basically it’s a no-nonsense place where everyone is welcome.”

It will also carry the same menu as the U.S. and international including the restaurant’s famous chicken wings. “But for those looking for lighter fare, Hooters offers great appetizers, salads, soups and sandwiches. For something more hearty, [guests can] try our great burgers, chili or pasta dishes. Of course [we also have] Alaskan King crabs, grouper fish sandwich, and fresh oysters which are always great alternatives during the Lenten season or when you crave seafood,” Endo added.

While no particular market is being targeted by his group, Endo said Hooters normally attracts a young crowd, both male and female, followed by families and older adults. “Statistically, men tend to make up 55 percent of our customer base, followed by 35-percent female, and 10-percent family. An average [meal tab] will be approximately P500. A, B and upper C markets can afford our menu, and in particular those who like American concepts, we hope will give us a try.”

According to Endo, Paradise Wings will be opening the other Hooters restaurants itself instead of franchising these out to other interested parties. But the company will probably seek “investment partnerships” when aggressive demand for the restaurants picks up. “Hooters, as simple as the concept appears, is a very controlled environment; therefore, any operator/partner will have to go through extensive service-quality training and will be carefully selected,” he explained.

The company is also considering other locations in Asia such as Thailand, Bali and Vietnam.

The first Hooters opened on October 4, 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. According to its web site, the privately held Hooters of America Inc. operates and is franchisor of 435 Hooters restaurants in 44 states and 23 international locations such as Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, England, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Venezuela.

Requirements for a Hooters franchisee include the ability to develop three to five restaurants within one’s territory, a restaurant location with at least 100,000-150,000 people within a five mile radius, $2 million in liquid assets, at least five years as a multiunit restaurant owner/operator.

A franchisee has to pay a franchise fee of $75,000 per location and an “option fee” of $15,000 for each additional restaurant option within a territory. Initial investment is between $800,000 and $1.5 million for each restaurant.

(Photo of Hooters Girl from HOA web site.)

Mr. Arroyo met, did not intimidate Joey de Venecia—lawyer

MANILA, Philippines – Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo confirmed through his lawyer on Wednesday that he met Jose "Joey" de Venecia III in a "purely chance encounter" at a golf clubhouse but denied ordering him to "back off" from the national broadband network (NBN) deal.

Jesus Santos, lawyer and spokesperson of the President's husband, said Mr. Arroyo did meet De Venecia III in mid-March but his version of the story differed greatly from that of Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr.'s son.

For one, Arroyo denied berating de Venecia and ordering him to pull out of the national broadband deal in favor of the eventual winner, China’s ZTE Corp., allegedly upon brokering by Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. (More at Inquirer. Photo from AP/BBC)

A tangled web of lies you weave, First Gentleman. And I suppose there were waiters around who could corroborate your statement? Ang tagal nyo na nga pinag-isipan, ang tanga pa din ng sagot nyo?! Gee, Homer is that you?

Third ambassadors’ tour brings in 650 Fil-Am tourists, foreign investors

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
BusinessMirror, July 27, 2007

THE Third Ambassadors’/Consuls’ General Tour of the Philippines brought in not just eager Filipino-American tourists but also foreign businessmen looking at possible areas of investment in the country.

About 650 Fil-Ams, including a significant number of Caucasian– Americans and Canadians, were in the country from July 14 to 20, attending business and investment briefings, treated to sumptuous dinners and lunches of Philippine dishes, brought to several shopping trips, as well as entertained in various resorts and tourist destinations outside of Metro Manila.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Philippine Ambassador to Washington, D.C. Willy Gaa said the demand for slots in this year’s tour was overwhelming.

“So far [the tour group] has really been increasing in numbers since its start three years ago. And this year we even had to put a cap on the number of applicants for the tour. [The biggest increase came from] California, specifically, Los Angeles.... We, in fact, had more on the waiting list. We had problems with the accommodations already,” Gaa said.

In previous tours, only the Makati Shangri-La Hotel was booked for the participants, but this year, even the Peninsula Manila hosted a number of the delegations.

A number of the participants were first-time balikbayans, according to Gaa, with their Americanized children in tow, while there were some who had joined a previous tour.

Investment possibilities

Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes noted the growing number of American/Canadian tourists who have joined this year’s tour but also have business interests in mind.

He said that of the 68 members of the Canadian delegation, “10 of them are businessmen. They’re here for the tour first, but after, they have meetings set up with their counterparts. They’re going to look into investment possibilities, ranging from manpower recruitment to mining.”

Canada, where about 400,000 Filipinos live and work, is a major investor in mining around the world. Brillantes declined to name the investors pending closure of their deals with local businessmen.

Megaworld Corp., a property development company owned by Andrew Tan, apparently reaped the most benefit from the tour this year with the balikbayans sinking in their hard-earned dollars into several condominium units.

Angela Cortes, senior sales director of Megaworld, disclosed that the company received many inquiries into its township development called McKinley Hill, a 50-hectare property in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

She said she was optimistic she would close P50 million in sales by the tour’s end, as several of the Fil-Am buyers already “signed up for three units in Tuscany Private Estates and seven in Stamford Residences.”

She said a number of the buyers were ready to pay her “in dollars [cash]…. With the response we got from them [the balikbayans], we hope to hit the P100-million [sales target for the tour]. We expect more inquiries after their busy tour here.”

The Philippine Ambassadors’/Consuls’ General Tour is a brainchild of Albert del Rosario, conceived during his stint as ambassador to Washington, D.C. It was designed to encourage more Fil-Ams to visit their home country and spread the word on its business and travel opportunities.

The annual tour, begun in 2005, is a joint effort by the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Tourism, and Trade and Industry (DTI).

Participants from the US mainland paid at least $1,949 for a basic tour package from July 12 to 17, which included roundtrip airfare, four-night hotel stay (twin-share), three meals a day, including a special lunch and visit to Malacañan Palace, as well as city and day tours.

From July 17 to 20, optional tours to major provincial destinations were made available to the participants at an additional cost, ranging from $349 per person, twin sharing, to $764 per person.

The visit to Malacañang on July 16, and the photo opportunity with President Arroyo, proved to be the tour’s highlight. “I’ve visited the Philippines a number of times,” said one long-time Fil-Am resident of New Jersey, who requested anonymity, “but this is the first time I’ve ever been to Malacañang!” She said she hoped to have her eldest daughter enroll in a local private university by next year.

Even Dr. James Stadler, medical director of the Guam Memorial Hospital, who joined the tour with his Fil-Am wife, Virginia—a nurse and member of the Guam Symphony—described the visit as a “once–in–a–lifetime experience” to meet President Arroyo.

(President Arroyo greets Filipino-Americans visiting the Malacañan Palace as part of the Third Ambassadors/Consuls General Tour of the Philippines from July 14-20. Photo by Rhoy Cobilla)


But GMA disappoints

However, there were a few who had joined the previous tours, like Eloise Baza, president of the Guam Chamber of Commerce, who were disappointed and wondered “why the President did not give any speech.” No official explanation was given for this, but a DFA source told BusinessMirror that “it is now the President’s official policy to give only one speech a day.” At noon that day, the President had already spoken before participants of the 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Expo at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

In the previous tours, President Arroyo had managed to whip the tour participants into frenzied clapping as she outlined the accomplishments of her administration and encouraged them to invest in the country. Last year, she even pushed the Fil-Ams to support her campaign for Charter change.

This time, the President merely exchanged a few pleasantries with some members of each tour delegation as she sat throughout the souvenir photo-taking with Executive Secreatry Eduardo Ermita, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, and Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila.

Before the photo opportunity with the President at the Rizal Hall, the tour participants viewed the various historical items on display at the Palace museum and then had a lunch of native Filipino dishes catered by Via Mare at the Heroes’ Hall.

Baubles, bangles and beads

On July 14, the DTI urged the tour participants to invest in the Philippine countryside during a business briefing at the Forbes Town Center, a major business/residential development of Megaworld and the Bonifacio West Development Corp. at The Fort in Taguig.

During the same briefing, Bing Limjoco, president of the Philippine Franchise Association, spoke of the opportunities in investing in local franchises. She also noted the success and continuing expansion of Jollibee Foods Corp. because of franchising, edging out the US-based McDonald’s Corp. in the local fast-food business.

The tour group was also treated to a discussion of the local jewelry industry by Cecilia Ramos, owner of Ricel’s Jewelry and chairwoman of the Meycauayan Jewelry Industry Association Inc. Meycauayan, Bulacan, is envisioned to become the center of world-class fine jewelry in the Philippines, she said. Bulacan has long been known as the site of the country’s best manufacturers of gold jewelry, exporting millions of dollars worth of products to the world market.

Even before Ramos’s speech, however, many tour participants were observed checking out the gold and silver jewelry for sale at the ground floor of the Forbes Town Center. Nancy, a Honolulu-based Fil-Am, expressed particular interest in buying some pieces on exhibit. According to Ramos, the price of Philippine gold jewelry is 30- percent to 60-percent lower than those made in other countries like the US, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

In the evening of the same day, the tour group feasted on dishes from the Mindanao region during a welcome dinner hosted by the Department of Tourism at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. A fashion show was also held featuring the Muslim-inspired creations of veteran Filipino designer Toni Galang, whose clientele include Fil-Ams on Guam and the mainland US. He is well-known for his intricately designed wedding gowns. The tour participants also lapped up Muslim accessories on display at the hotel.

‘Something new each year’

On July 15, the different delegations separated for day tours to Corregidor, an island off Manila Bay, which became the headquarters of the Allied forces in the Pacific and the temporary seat of the Philippine Commonwealth during World War II; Villa Escudero, a resort featuring man-made waterfalls amid a vast coconut plantation; and Tagaytay to get a glimpse of the world-famous Taal Volcano.

Businessman Frank Shimizu, president of Ambros Inc., the wholesale distributor of Budweiser, as well as Bristol Myers, Kimberly Clark and Mead Johnson products in Guam and the Northern Marianas, said, “It’s my first time [to join the tour] and it won’t be my last. . . . We went to Corregidor and it was an eye-opener. Anybody who wants to learn about World War II, I recommend that they go see Corregidor.” Shimizu was in town with his wife Fermina, the aunt of Guam’s First Lady Joann Camacho.

The most enthusiastic among tour participants appeared to be Atty. Alexander Modaber, the US Public Defender for Guam, who had joined the two previous Ambassadors/Consuls General Tour. Of his third tour, Modaber said: “They’ve added something new and each time is a new experience…. Everybody had a great opportunity when they had different trips to the various regions in the Philippines. So it’s a tremendous opportunity to see the Philippines, to see the culture and to see the things outside of Manila. Of course, what’s amazing, too, is you get to go to the museums and just learn so much. There’s always something new to see. You can always take something out of it.”

Aside from the visit to the Palace museum, the participants also toured the National Museum for Philippine artwork, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Money Museum for its coin collection, and the Metropolitan Museum for its precolonial gold exhibit.

Originally from Las Vegas, Modaber said he’s looking for investment opportunities in local condominiums “and eventually retire in the Philippines.”

The tour group was also brought to major shopping destinations in the metropolis, such as the Mall of Asia of the SM Group along Roxas Blvd., and Tiendesitas, a bazaar in Pasig City.

Monday bitching... Gordon Gekko and the Ayala malls

YES, yes, I know it's Tuesday already. I was just too preoccupied to write yesterday so apologies to all. But 'Monday bitching' seems to be a good title for my weekly bursts of outrage so I shall keep it no matter what day I write.

Anyway, I was reading the news today and got my blood pressure elevated again. I mean the nerve of this government to keep on announcing that it would be opening NAIA-3 to the public at some date and whenever that date approaches, they have a million and one excuses why the grand event would not push through! Of course everything will fall apart. The frigging structure's been standing there unused for the longest time! Anobayan!

(Inside the NAIA-3...the terminal that never was. Photo from www.skyscrapercity.com)

I am probably one of the few journalists who was able to tour NAIA-3 a few months before its scheduled opening and from what I remember, it was really designed well (I'm talking here about the interiors not the structural integrity, of course). Everything was almost ready for its use and there was just some discussions with PAL and other airlines about moving in. But of course the grubby, greedy hands of the GMA administration just had to intervene so they could make some money off the project proponenents (Fraport AG and Piatco). I am pretty sure if GMA and her henchmen, you know who you are, didn't stick their noses into the project, we would all be comfortably travelling from one of the best and most spacious terminals in the country right now. Sure, the deal may have been fraught with corruption, show me one deal this government made that's above board, but the point is,despite Piatco's Chengs supposedly not having enough capital to undertake the project, the terminal was built and finished.

It's funny how GMA chose to stuck with the decisions of her henchmen which unfortunately, cost the Philippines' standing in the investment community. Who would bother to invest in the Philippines if their projects won't be safe with a change in administration. To this day, if you ask foreign businessmen, they will tell you that the biggest problem of the Philippines is its changing of rules midstream. So now you have a case in the international courts against the presidentita's government for taking over NAIA-3 without paying for it. (It wasn't a national security issue so what presidentita's henchmen did was actually un-Constitutional.) Investors don't want to touch the Philippines with a 200-foot pole. And what do you know, to this day, the presidentita has yet to be invited by the German government for a visit because for all intents and purposes, she is persona non grata for having scuttled a business investment by one of that country's largest companies.

I am not making any excuses for corruption. As many will attest, I even joined a campaign to prevent the presidentita from implementing an incinerator project being pushed by her henchmen. However, I don't think we can undo corrupt projects already sealed and delivered. What the presidentita's henchmen should preoccupy themselves with is stopping such acts from being committed, for projects yet to be awarded and implemented. Set the example themselves by only approving 'clean' projects, and keeping their greedy hands in their pockets instead of dipping into other people's.

Greed may have made America, as Gordon Gekko proclaimed in the film Wall Street, but it will be the undoing of the Philippines.
***
A columnist today wrote of how the Ayala mall management is again re-evaluating its security measures after a few overeager security personnel apparently pounced on a woman shopper who they thought was soliciting for, ahem, customers. Of course the woman declared she was innocent and refused to cooperate with them after she was brought to the security office. Well the next day, the Ayala mall management received a call from a "furious" CNN News anchor whose wife apparently the security personnel had mistakenly apprehended. Apologies were made and graciously received.

Well, you guys know how I feel about the Ayala malls. Their security personnel are either inefficient, or just overzealous. Why can't they just be competent? Ayala Land Inc., which operates the malls, is one of the most profitable property firms in the country (they proudly proclaimed a P3.9-billion net income in 2006), so my question is, why can't it hire really top-notch security firms whose security guards are well-trained to keep snatchers and thieves out of the malls, or at least be able to apprehend them, and are really able to accurately profile hookers?!? I have yet to hear of any complaints of this sort from similar upscale malls like Podium or the Powerplant. If these malls can keep their customers safe, why can't Ayala?
***
(Kainggit naman si Dr. Belo! Does anyone besides me think that Hank Azaria is a hottie? Photo from www.carouselpinoy.com)

The most ridiculous item of the past week: Dr. Vicki Belo vouching for the faithfulness of James Yap to Kris Aquino. I regularly have a facial at Belo Medical along Tomas Morato. In fact, I share the same facialist with Purefoods' Mr. Tender and Juicy. I have never seen Dr. Belo at that branch, so I don't know how she can vouch for James being a good boy there, or anywhere for that matter. Unless he's been spending 24 hours of his life with the good doctor. Or she has closed circuit cameras installed in those rooms! Oooh...shades of Big Brother!

And yes, the rooms are pretty conducive to doing more than just the nasty. Doors of treatment rooms are kept closed to prevent intrusions from the outside. I'm sure they lock it. I mean c'mon, if people can have sex in the rest rooms of airplanes, doing it in a clinic treatment room is no problem at all.

I think Dr. Belo has gone overdrive just to protect Mr. Tender and Juicy from the lashing he is getting from his critics she is willing to use herself as cover. (I wonder why she's doing that. It's not as if it's James who helped boost her clinic's revenues, but Kris.) Now she is telling everyone that a former employee is bent on destroying her and is the source of the chismis. Whether it's true or not that this former Belo employee is out to get the good Doktora, the point is, no one believes Mr. Tender and Juicy's denials of an affair, neither does Kris and Boy Abunda, so why should we believe Dr. Belo?

Great things are happening at Clark! (3)

Clark airport to be No. 1 gateway by 2010
MA. STELLA F. ARNALDO, GMANews.TV
02/21/2007 | 10:29 PM

CLARK, PAMPANGA - Clark International Airport Corp (CIAC)will spend P18.5 billion to make the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) a world-class logistics hub and prepare it to become the Philippines’ premier international gateway by 2010.

CIAC president and chief executive officer Victor Jose I. Luciano said construction would take three years, beginning late 2007.

By 2010, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila will have reached full capacity and international flights will be transferred to DMIA.

Of the P18.5 billion, P13.56 billion will be used for civil and architectural works, P125.54 million for navigational systems, P55.96 million for a meteorological facility, P704.82 million for airport lighting, P3.99 billion for airport utilities and P75.62 million for airport maintenance equipment.

As part of civil and architectural works, CIAC will build a larger passenger terminal (Terminal 2) next to the existing terminal for P2 billion.

(More at GMA News TV.)

Great things are happening at Clark! (2)

Clark airport expansion to cost P160M
MA. STELLA F. ARNALDO, GMANews.TV
02/20/2007 | 08:37 PM

CLARK, PAMPANGA – With the increasing influx of tourists into this special economic zone, the government will begin expanding the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport this year. The initial phase of the expansion is projected to cost P160 million.

Victor Jose I. Luciano, president and chief executive officer of the Clark International Airport Corp. said of the total cost, P68 million will be for the rehabilitation and expansion of the DMIA passenger terminal I alone. The rest of the amount will be for the purchase of modern equipment such as X-ray machines, baggage conveyor belts, etc.

Announcement of the rebidding schedule for the passenger terminal I will be made “before the end of February," he told GMANews.TV.

In the first bidding held last January 27, the winning bidder was not able to meet certain important requirements of the CIAC causing the government agency to declare the bidding a failure. He declined to reveal further details of the failed bidding.

This time, Luciano expressed confidence that the rebidding “will not fail as there are many bidders…. So far we have 10 (interested bidders) and they have good track records."

(More at GMANews TV. Photo of Chicos Luciano by Tetep Marasigan)

Great things are happening at Clark!

Clark sees investments worth P20B in 2007

STELLA ARNALDO, GMANews.TV
02/19/2007 | 07:54 PM

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – The Clark Development Corp. expects P20 billion in investments this year following what the state-run corporation sees is the imminent restoration of the economic zone’s status as a free port.

CDC president and chief executive officer Levy Laus told reporters over the weekend that he was “extremely jubilant" over Congress’ endorsement of Clark’s special status because it restores incentives and makes it at par with the Subic Freeport.

Last February 1, a bicameral conference committee ratified the reconciled version of separate bills filed in the Senate and the House of Representatives converting the 4,400-hectare special economic zone into a free port.

The ratified version also restores investment incentives and duty-free privileges to its locators, as provided under Republic Act 7227 or the Bases Conversion Development Act of 1992. (More at GMA News TV. Photo of Levy Laus by Tetep Marasigan)