DOT's Domestic Tourism Campaign Logo

And Here it is!

Fortunately for us, this is for the domestic tourism campaign. That means the use of colloquial Pilipino is only appropriate, in fact it's downright necessary for certain market segments.

What I can't wrap my head around is the design. Domestic campaign or otherwise, this design is not that appealing. Check the comments under the Yahoo article. A number of our countrymen find it too juvenile. A couple of people called it dated, appropriate for the 80s. According to some online papers this is supposed to be from Perceptions, Inc. which is, according to Perception's website:

Bus Rapid Transit 2

The BRT may be coming to the Philippines sooner than we think. In September 2010, the government of Cebu said they planned to undertake a BRT project with the help of the World Bank. In November 2010 Ayala Land announced a planned redevelopment of Makati which includes the implementation of a BRT system. Studies on the BRT have been around since 2005 and as far back as 2007, there have been talks about implementing such a transport solution in the country.

The Bus Rapid Transit System as a Traffic Solution

I think a lot of columnists bought a copy of Newsweek's Royal Wedding Commemorative. At the back of that issue is a mention of the bus-based rapid transit system. The BRT is similar in concept to train based systems in that both are mass transport systems with their own dedicated route and space.

White Space for Water Ways

I encountered the term white space after reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. White Space is a security concept that essentially means room for action. White Space is any condition that allows a person more time to react to a situation. White Space thus includes keeping crowds away from VIPs or cops standing behind a stopped driver instead of beside the driver-side window.

This concept should be included in our design paradigms for managing public spaces. Part of our enforcement problem is the lack of space to detect and deter wrongdoing. Poorly lit areas and twisty alleyways provide cover for criminals. A lack of convenient pedestrian walkways encourage jaywalking. Residences directly abutting streams and rivers encourage pollution.

GSIS goes local

GSIS has PHP32 B in offshore investments. They have recently announced plans to move those funds to local vehicles paying special attention to companies in priority sectors. The setors mentioned included energy, power, telecoms, retail. I'm not exactly sure what they mean by the consumer sector but that's included as well. If they mean consumer goods like food, beverages and clothing it means the GISIS is looking at nearly everything.

I'd like to assume that the GSIS will choose investments prudently instead of engaging in a misguided show of nationalism.

Fight vs Malnutrition

I find it apalling that the incidence of malnutrition in this country should be so high. We have several local plants containing numerous nutrients that it should be easy to gain access to them.

Take the malunggay. This plant grows well in the country, tolerating most local soil and weather conditions. It propagates quickly. It packs a lot of vitamins and minerals in its leaves and fruits. A whole tree can grow from one branch. Cut branches quickly regenerate. We had a few trees in our garden and we tried to incorporate it into our diet. Despite the frequent cuttings, the tree still grew too fast. Eventually we had to cut them down to size or the top branches would be too high to reach. Within a few days, new shoots emerged from the cut trunk.

Politicians without Pork

This is a list of Politicians who did not avail of their discretionary funds aka the pork barrel. I am writing this down for posterity. The article came from the Phiilippine Star 7 May 2010. Just in case it becomes an issue in the future we can have a reference as to how some people behaved when they were in power.

In total these people gave up P1.6Bn

Criminals In Plain Sight

Three members of the nefarious Abbu Sayyaf  were arrested recently. What's shocking is the circumstances of the arrests. One of them was working as a security officer in at a high end condo Taguig. I can assume that would be somewhwere in Fort Bonifacio: global city. You know, that city being touted as the next CBD. The same one where the International School is located..

The other one was equally interesting. He was on a date at a mall. It was a pretty large mall too - Robinsons Mall in Manila. there werer further reports he even owned a money changing business.

The last one was competing in a motocross competition in Isabela.

Live Sharks Are Worth More

Palau declared its terrotorial waters as a shark sanctuary and for good reason. The Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Uniiversity of Western Australia estimates that one thrasher shark is worth $2m throughout its lifetime. That's tourist revenue  for the country of Palau. (National Geographic Article)

That's a huge tourist draw. Plus the shark is a self generating resource so long as we let them breed. It's like people visiting a tree in your back yard and generating two million dollars over 20 or so years. And they make more of themselves!

I want to spread the word because we have similar resources, the most well known being the Donsol Whale Sharks. That resource needs to be protected from ignorance and greed:

Osama bin Laden dead

Last night I got word that US forces killed Osama bin Laden. We watched the televised speech given by US President Obama and the resulting reaction. Crowds gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue and Ground Zero to celebrate. Details trickled in but we decided to skip them, opting to hear more concise reports later in the week.

Hopefully, all that jubilation won't blind people to the fact that very violent groups continue to organize and will continue to find ways to disrupt our lives. In short, bin Laden's death is not the end of the problem. Other people may take his place in al qaeda. Other will create their own groups.

Obviously we can't get at the roots of all the things which incite these people. However, we should pay attention to those that we can get to. Political and economic problems are the root of the insurgencies in this country. Just because insurgents have a different point of view does not mean their complaints are invalid. If those are addressed and they still insist on violence then it should be obvious their goals lie elsewhere.

Budget Deficit down 80%

This is significant. Past performance had us believing that the deficit was an unkillable beast. We rejoiced at improvements of 10% to 20%. While some PHP10.0 billion is substantial it's a far cry from 80 billion pesos. Lets check that again: 80 is greater than 10.

Considering the performance, I wonder how the P-Noy team managed when other administrations did not. Some point to the increase in revenues from the BIR, but that's about 1 billion in improvement leaving 79 billion to account for. Customs seems to account for a similar amount. Could it have been the zero based budget policy?

Simply put, zero based budgeting means all budget items get reviewed not just incremental increases. Programs that did not deliver had their funding cut. Check the Wikipedia definition of zero based budgeting. It may seem minor but I suspect it has a psychological impact. Program proponents must show results thus encouraging them to become efficient or at least effective. Corruption has a diminished impact. Even the corrupt have a  reason to serve well - if they don't they lose their kickbacks. 

It would be useful if we could see where the deficit improvements came from. Then we can concentrate on these targets. Citing another efficiency theory, the Pareto Principle, most results come from only a fraction of our activities. This is sometimes called the 80/20 Principle. Studying the recent results could be a gold mine of efficiency information. It may be one of the few chances we'll get in a long while.

Porsches and Champagne

P-Noy keeps getting flak because of his penchant for fast cars. Everyone's favorite is, of course, the Porsche. It;s pretty obvious why. The Porsche is iconic; everyone knows what it is and that it is expensive. It makes a great target.

Reconsideriing the subject, I realized that letting the president have one isn't as bad as it sounds. Don't believe me? Then get ready for a ride.

First off, P-Noy's Porsche was bought with his own money. He's rich and so is the family try as he might to hide that. Next, that Porsche was bought second hand from a local. Assuming the papers are in order some taxes and fees would have been paid to bring it over. That's money for the country. The people handling its transportation get paid as well. That's employment. Some of the maintenance would likely be done here as well. I'm sure they wouldn't ship that car overseas for an oil change and a tank of gas. I can add that local spending has a multiplier effect on the economy especially when that money gets invested locally.

Compare that to the president having dinner in the US. The money spent would have come from taxes. That tax money does not return to the country unless the restaurant sources a lot of ingredients from the Philippines. Last, I checked though, we don't produce French wine. If the restaurant staff were mostly Filipinos maybe some of them would have sent money home.

So the Porsche doesn't sound so bad. We just need to make sure the president and his allies don't eat out too much.

Nuclear Energy in the Philippines

Proponents of nuclear energy say the power source could save us from high energy prices. It produces the most energy for the fixed and variable costs and requires less land to put up. Detractors fear a nuclear meltdown thanks to incompetence and inefficiency thanks to corruption.

Senator Miriam Santiago wants us to reexamine our nuclear policy. Despite my opposition to the use of nuclear energy, I think this would be a good idea. If anything, I'm convinced it will be a reminder of why we shouldn't pursue this technology.

What I fear is that we have only demonstrated marginal ability in handling the operations of the country. Are we prepared for a regional responsibility? I say nuclear energy is not just about us because a large incident will affect our neighbors. Even something that gets into the local waters will spread to affect wildlife in South East Asia. If we're not afraid for ourselves then maybe we should have some consideration for our neighbors.

What I'd like to see before we start playing with nuclear energy are government agencies and infrastructure that reach an acceptable level of efficiency. 

We can start with really simple things like jaywalking and littering. Then we can move on to larger things like implementing safety procedures on construction sites. How about being less selective in enforcing the building code? Maybe one day we can be efficient enough to handle our garbage problems and prevent the pollution of rivers, overfishing in lakes and illegal logging. Maybe we can have efficient planning and communication so rescuers actually have rubber rafts during a storm and police have an idea of how to handle hostage situations. Are you getting the picture now?

Just because someone would benefit from a car and is capable of buying a car doesn't automatically mean he should be driving one.

Radiation Prank Texts

On March 14,2011 there was a text message making the rounds that claimed radiation from Japan would reach the Philippines by 4pm. I checked the supposed source of the information, the BBC, and found no mention of a massive radiation leak. The Nuclear Research Institute and the International Energy Commission also did not have any warnings. The text was a prank.

It's times like these that I'm glad we don't have a nuclear power plant in the country. I can imagine the panic when a text like this would mention a national nuclear plant. Given the trouble Japan's having over the endangered nuclear plants, I think we should seriously reconsider our ideas. We can barely respond properly when storms and motor accidents strike. Remember Ondoy? Nobody had rubber rafts despite the fact it rains yearly. How about the settlers on the banks of rivers that often flood. Or the incident where dam authorities released water and forgot to tell local governments. Can you imagine that comedy of errors in a nuclear incident?

We're Number 1!... for most expensive electricity

The Philippines now has the most expensive electricity in Asia. As reported in the local papers, independent think tank International Energy Consultants said energy in the country cost an average of 18.1 US cents. By comparison Japan's electricity costs 17.9 cents. Further, household consumers pay the most, averaging 10 pesos per kWh or about 25 US cents. They offer a multitude of explanations for this - paying too much for Malampaya gas, lack of government subsidies, privatization.


Whatever the reasons, obviously the situation is detrimental to the country. There are a lot of solutions we can pursue. The obvious ones - renegotiating Malampaya prices, government subsidies, reverse privatization - may cause even more problems. Once again it will demonstrate that the government does not think straight and will reverse its decisions whenever politically convenient. That fosters an environment of uncertainty. Uncertainty discourages long term investment whether the investment is international or local in origin.


Perhaps a better solution would be to encourage energy conservation and small scale production. That's in line with the thrust towards privatization and the encouragement of small scale industries. Remember, privatization was undertaken to avoid the inefficiencies of public governance, potential for graft and the growing debt burden. The idea of encouraging small scale enterprises was to provide jobs and harness the potential of small scale entrepreneurship.
If we marry the two and pass laws encouraging small scale energy production we'd be hitting more than two birds. Suppose we implemented net metering. People with solar panels can sell back their excess usage to the energy company. More residents will be encouraged to install panels not just to save money but to produce income by generating more energy. More energy, higher incomes, lower prices, cleaner power.

Suppose we give tax breaks to small scale renewable energy investments. Farmers will have an additional source of income. What if we gave subsidies to small scale power generation? Maybe people will develop areas with less fertile soil if it can be used for energy production. Perhaps more readily available energy will make marginal farms more profitable as well. Solar, for example, could be used to power irrigation pumps or small desalination plants. If anything, we should be spending more effort into this instead of just focusing on oil efficiency.
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AFP in Hot Water

Corruption in the Armed Forces. We've heard the whispers and rumors since the time of President Cory Aquino. One of the pet theories about the numerous coup attempts she weathered was that the corrupt members of the military were afraid she'd dismantle their schemes.

I'm actually surprised that our senators act like this is news.For one, given the history of our senators its obvious they'd know there were shenanigans. For another, The intelligence funds were always a source of suspicion especially during the time of President Gloria Arroyo. Given the above, mugging it for the media seems unnecessary. The citizens aren't that naive.

I'm just wondering if this will turn out to be another ZTE where the hearings proceeded with bombast then fizzled with little result. I'm hoping it won't turn out like the Garcia case where collusion is now suspected between the defense and prosecution.

Hostage Postscript

The report is out and people are facing criminal and administrative charges. What will become of it is anyone's guess. Of course the cynic in me says that charges have always been leveled but few have actually been punished. It seems that once the event becomes history, the charges die out along with the outrage.

Speaking of outrage, I was hoping China wouldn't be so charitable regarding the hostage taking. I figure, If the government doesn't want to listen to the citizens, maybe some indignation from a neighboring country will set it straight. Well that's not happening now that the Chinese ambassador said "lets move on". The good thing is that perhaps our OFWs in Hong Kong will feel a bit safer.

Looking at Outliers

I did a brief review of Outliers: the Story of Success for an NGO. That gave me a chance to reread and do research on the book.

A lot of critics poked at a lot of items in the book. Today, I'll look at one concept: the 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell says that once you reach a certain threshold of ability, practice and hard work will help make you more successful. Practice for 10,000 hours and you become exceptional. That sounds pretty obvious to me. Strangely, some people still took a jab.

One spoke of one of the NBA greats 6'10" tall Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. Hakeem did not play basketball until the age of 15. His debut was with the University of Huston at age 18 and from there made his way to the top. There was no way he could have clocked 10 thousand hours prior to this. The critic notes that height trumps experience with this man. This should serve as an example of how a Gladwellian anecdote explains little. Intrigued by this, I decided to go look up Hakeem the Dream on Wikipedia and the NBA [remember I prefer to use easily available stuff from the internet]:

NBA article on Hakeem Olajuwon

Wikipedia Entry for Hakeem Olajuwon

Apparently Hakeem is known for Blocking. As per the Wiki he made 3,830 career blocks—641 swats more than his closest competitor, Kareem abdul Jabbar. To what does he attribute this amazing skill? Soccer. He played soccer as a boy prior to discovering basketball. His position? Goalie:

"As a goalkeeper in soccer, your main objective is to defend the goal,” says Olajuwon of his soccer upbringing. “So that experience was of great benefit to me..."

What else is he known for? The Dream Shake, an aptly named maneuver that lets him slip past opponents. The origin of this maneuver:

Hakeem himself reveals “the dream shake Is one of my soccer moves which I translated to basketball”

Hakeem probably clocked a lot more hours as a "blocker and dodger" than as a "football player" or "basketball player". In his case two distinct sports gave him enough practice for the things that he became famous for. Different game similar skill sets. And note that he had a signature soccer move at a very young age. He was aware of his abilities and knew the best way to use them. Even then, Hakeem may not prove the 10k rule. We don't know when he started soccer, thus we don't know how much practice he got. However, it did prove that you can look deeper and see something more.

Carlos Garcia Update

Ever wonder what happened to ex General and plunder suspect Carlos Garcia? This month, we receive word that two of his sons have pleaded guilty to smuggling charges in the US courts. Seems they'd rather go to jail in the US than face extradition charges to the Philippines.

Here's the DZME News version in Tagalog

This is the EnglishVerison in Philippines Today

Got Water?

Recently, the country's been hit by low water supplies. Certain parts of the Metro are definitely under water rationing. Some lawmakers say that other parts of the nation are suffering a similar fate. Personally, I'd confirm those claims through a more reliable source. Yes, I don't consider politicians to be the most credible information source.

What's annoying is that, just like the Ondoy Fiasco, the water problem could have been mitigated. For one we apparently have a rainwater collection act which asks that collection wells be placed in local government units. Republic Act 6716 was approved in 1989 and its still not being fully implemented. Someone smart guys and gals actually had vision. Unfortunately, some other people decidedt they were just too busy to implement these airy-fairy ideas. Instead, "practical and concrete" projects were favored. Like rain repelling concrete basketball courts... and maybe overpriced street lights and road signs.

And while a lot of us are suffering from the shortage, I also wonder how many of us actually did our small part in saving water. Even little things like:

1. Not littering in public. A lot of the waste gets washed into the waterways.
2. Not polluting waterways. Why go the roundabout route when you can throw garbage directly into streams and rivers? Not helpful.
3. Not Living in areas near waterways. Because you will pollute them if you're too close.
4. Not Living in watersheds which are restricted areas. See number 3.
5. Not indiscriminately slashing and burning trees. Especially if you are living in a watershed.
6. Not supporting Illegal Loggers. Especially in a watershed.
7. Fighting officials who actually want to implement the right laws. You know these officials. They remove squatters from watersheds or stop people from polluting. They get called anti-poor.
8. Voting the wrong politicians. Some politicos want you to feel that environmentalism is a burgis issue. Environmental issues are not just for the middle and upper class. Case in point - in this water shortage, it's the poor who suffer the most.