Maniolas

By Paolo G. MontecilloPhilippine Daily Inquirer 1:02 am | Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 The Philippines may be due for another credit-rating upgrade in the coming months as the economy continues to exhibit the sustainability of its growth despite challenges inside the country and overseas. This potential vote of confidence in the Philippine economy would mean cheaper borrowing rates for the government that, in turn, would free up more resources to spend on vital infrastructure and social welfare projects. It would also result in lower interest rates for businesses and consumers, leading faster job creation and higher domestic spending to propel the economy further. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo this week said the country’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals might be enough to convince rating agencies to grant another upgrade. “They have seen our balance-of-payments and current account surpluses that have been around for the last 10 years,” Guinigundo said at a press conference yesterday. “Our debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio has gone down significantly. In the past, this was the main challenge of the Philippine economy. We were once described as the most heavily-indebted country in Asia,” he said. In the last 10 years, however, Guinigundo said the Philippines has achieved a significant turnaround to become one of the region’s few bright spots. Apart from enjoying one of the fastest growth rates in Asia—7.2 percent in 2013, beaten only by China’s 7.5 percent—debt levels both for the government and the private sector have gone down to more Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Leveraging extensive consumer research and industry-leading innovation, an all-Swedish partnership has focused on developing a solution that supports current and future connected car needs by combining Volvo’s driver behavior expertise and Ericsson’s consulting and systems integration know-how. “This partnership is another proof that Volvo is in the vanguard of innovation with a clear understanding of the importance of the car in an increasingly connected society,” said Lex Kerssemakers, SVP-Product Strategy and Vehicle Line Management, Volvo Cars. The Connected Vehicle Cloud is just the first step on a journey towards fully connected and integrated car and infrastructure services, and positions Volvo as a major player in the connected car arena. With the launch of Sensus Connect, Volvo reveals an updated on-board infotainment and navigation solutions. The cloud-based services allow drivers to find and pay for parking from their car, discover new restaurants at their destination, stream their favorite music seamlessly and much more. Sensus Connect also offers the first ever solution utilizing built-in connectivity supported by Pandora Internet Radio, which has more than 76 million active monthly listeners. “Technology should make your life easier. That’s why we listened carefully to our customers when creating Sensus Connect. It’s not about offering a thousand apps; it’s about giving you precisely what you need, before you even knew you needed it,” says David Holecek, Connectivity Brand Manager at Volvo. The brand new in-car experience includes a novel take on all aspects of travelling. Tens of thousands of radio stations can now Read More …

TURN AROUND BRIGHT EYES: THE RITUALS OF LOVE & KARAOKE By Rob Sheffield 223 pages Rolling Stone’ writer Rob Sheffield takes a personal journey through the karaoke joints of America. Nick Hornby has a lot to answer for, mostly for writing High Fidelity, which is the go-to guide for male musical obsessions. Hornby pulled it off, because he was funny, and most guys could relate to categorizing their records under certain emotions, or remembering what songs they fell in love to, or lost their virginity to, or making obnoxious musical lists that nobody cares about. Thanks to Hornby, we have Chuck Klosterman, and a generation of Spin and Rolling Stone writers who embrace their musical fixations like they’re precious little baby chicks that need to be fussed over at every opportunity. We get long essays where song lyrics are inserted in clever ways, or Bowie tunes are parsed for their scientific validity. Rob Sheffield is one of those writers, and while his best-seller Talking to Girls About Duran Duran left me a little cold (possibly because I think most ‘80s music is overrated), he has constructed a memoir from a subject near and dear to Filipinos: karaoke. Turn Around Bright Eyes (even the title is brilliant, referencing the No. 1 karaoke song in the universe, the one by Bonnie Tyler that totally eclipses all others) follows Sheffield along his personal journey through the karaoke joints of America. He rambles from New York to Florida, California to Nevada. He does mention Read More …

Two Fridays ago, I picked up the first brand new car that I have ever personally bought in 18 years. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but it is no weirder than a pilot saying that it’s the first time he has ever bought an airline ticket. In our line of work, there’s just no need to. And that’s both a good and a bad thing. To be honest, I was worried that after so many years having all these incredible test drives delivered to my house, I have become desensitized. But when the moment arrived, nothing could have been further from the truth. Like a love-sick teenager, I even stayed up that night staring at my new ride through the dining room window and wrote a mushy blog about the whole experience. Seriously. Like I don’t have enough deadlines already. If you want to hear what the 9-year old version of me sounds like in 600 words, just go to my website. Quick, before I gather my composure and pull it down. In a perfect world, everyone would experience the joy of owning a brand new car at least once in their life. But no world is perfect––we live in the perfect example of that. But while not everyone may get to experience the joy of driving out of a dealership with the plastic still on the seats and visors, wondering what is a reasonable time frame to leave them on, I just recently stumbled across the next best Read More …

Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:22 am | Friday, February 28th, 2014 Philippine stocks on Thursday set a new record for the year as sentiments stayed positive. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 0.51 percent, or 32.19 points, to 6,354.79. Also, the broader all-shares index was up by 0.37 percent, or 14.14 points, to 3,332.40. Subindices ended mixed, with financial, services as well as mining and oil, closing in the red. The industrial, holding firms, and property subcounters ended positive. “With only a day left in February trade, the market is still obviously in the hands of the bulls,” Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in a report Thursday. Data from the PSE showed that a total of 3.42 billion shares, valued at P7.76 billion, changed hands. There were 90 advancers against 68 decliners, while 44 stocks were unchanged. Universal Robina Corp. led the list of most actively traded stocks as it gained 2.19 percent to P140 a share. It was followed by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (-0.52 percent to P2,684), Megaworld Corp. (+1.22 percent to P4.15), Ayala Land Inc. (+4.29 percent to P29.20), and International Container Terminal ( -1.98 percent to P99 per share).  Miguel R. Camus Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Short URL: http://business.inquirer.net/?p=165000 Tags: Business , stocks Factual Read More …