Maniolas

Every Christmas, it has been a tradition with us to prepare raisin-walnut Christmas jars for friends.  It’s been like that for years now, but this year, with all the jars and ribbons prepared by my wife Babes and laid out on the dining table ready for packing, there wasn’t a bag of walnuts to be had, even as we searched all over Metro Manila for this precious bag of nuts. We couldn’t believe it because there was always a glut of walnuts in past years, along with other goodies associated with Christmas that could be purchased from S&R, Binondo, Cash & Carry and other big supermarkets. We braved the traffic to China Town, believe me, and checked out the stores weekly, patiently waiting for the shipment “that was coming”.  The port congestion Ordinary citizens like us do not feel that this mammoth problem can impact our simple lives, but the cascading effect on our economy has been nothing less than brutal.  It started in February of 2014 as importers waited for their cargo to be released and exporters had to endure the delay of the vessels’ departure.  From both ends, many had to resort to air shipping, which was more than double or triple the price.  Some car manufacturers had to ship whole engines by air! The shippers could hardly move the empty containers from the ECD (Empty Containers Depot) to the vessels, and nine months later, things were just starting to ease up with the lifting of the truck Read More …

A person with a passion to excel will always outperform the 99 others who merely have interest to do the same. I have been in the leadership training business for so long. And while many people who went through the training would rate the session as high and describe it as: • Life-changing seminar • It drives me to improve • Can’t wait to go back to work and apply the lessons • Challenges me to become better Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Many of them do not actually build up the passion to do what they have learned even if they have the tools to do it. But there are very rare people who would take the learning investments seriously, put the principles they learned into practice and then one or two years later, they would send me Facebook messages happily telling me how they have been promoted and how well their performance have improved and their family relationships restored. What could possibly be the difference between the two groups of participants who attended the same program that was facilitated by the same person and yet produced two different results? Here’s how I see it. While one group of participants simply expressed the interest to improve, it is the other group who will carry the passion to make it happen. And when their efforts finally paid off, when they finally reached their success goals, those who merely expressed interest were left wondering why they never Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Domestic liquidity growth slid below 10 percent in November, reflecting the adjustments made by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in banks’ reserve requirement ratios and in the special deposit account (SDA) rate. M3 – the broadest measure of liquidity – expanded nine percent to P7.304 trillion in November from P6.7 trillion in the same month a year ago. The rate was a further deceleration from 15.4 percent in October and 16.2 percent recorded in September.  “Money supply continued to increase due largely to the sustained demand for credit,” the BSP said. Domestic claims went up 17.6 percent to P6.756 trillion in November due to the increase in loans extended to the private sector. The central bank noted bulk of the loans went to the real estate, renting, and business services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, financial intermediation, utilities, and transportation, storage and communication sectors. Public sector loans, meanwhile, climbed 14.6 percent to P1.857 trillion on a rise in investments in government securities. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 BSP data also showed net foreign assets increased two percent to P3.657 trillion in November. Banks’ net foreign assets rose as their assets grew at a faster pace compared to the expansion in their liabilities, while such of the BSP’s contracted versus a year ago on lower gross international reserves. The central bank earlier in the year raised the banks’ reserve requirements by 200 basis points and the SDA rate by 25 basis points to pull Read More …

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 will produce a guidebook on tourism development plans for local government units (LGU) in Cebu Province starting in February. DOT 7 Director Rowena Montecillo said the guidebook will serve as a tool to help LGUs craft their tourism plans. “The aim here is to help LGUs become DOT-independent in terms of making their own tourism plans because these plans should really be initiated by them. DOT’s intervention will come in the form of technical assistance that will suit the community,” said Montecillo. She said the guidebook will help educate and determine the function of local tourism officers and local chief executives in the development of their local tourism roadmaps. DOT 7 has increased its efforts in developing new tourism destinations in the countryside. Montecillo reported more LGUs in Cebu are now active in implementing their own tourism development plan, most of them as eco-tourism destinations. “More LGUs are now aware of the growth opportunities tourism can bring to their locality in terms of income and job generation.Those areas with high potential in tourism have been working closely with the DOT in terms of technical and marketing help,” said Montecillo. She said more LGUs need proper training in crafting their tourism development plan. “There are some who don’t know their tourism plans while others don’t know what to do with their tourism sites but they are starting to learn. We are hoping this guidebook will help them,” she said. Montecillo cited Malabuyoc as an example Read More …

CONSTRUCTION of a fifth terminal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is expected to start in 2016, the Transportation department said, with plans for a third runway now on hold on the advice of consultants studying the project.