Maniolas

The featured women entrepreneurs are Vivian Sarabia, Corazon Ong, Elizabeth Lahoz, Evelyn Yap, Mary Joy Abaquin, Mylene Abiva, Delby Bragais, Stella Sy, Michelle Reyes, Florence Ko, Donna Jiao, Myrna Yao, Gianna Montinola, Catherine Delantar, Jean Uvero, Josie See, Tess Ngan Tian, Willen Ma, Cathy Turvill, Anya Lim, Ines Fernandez, Anne Gonzalez, Rebecca Bucad, Rossana Llenado, Roxanne Farillas, Yoling Sevilla, Rowie Matti, Michelle Fontelera, Sherill Quintana, Jasmin Basuil, and Dulzzi Gutierrez with Presidential Adviser Joey Concepcion, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Vice President Leni Robredo. March is women’s month, but it is not too late to celebrate the success of women entrepreneurs! Last Tuesday, Go Negosyo launched the special edition of the Go Negosyo: Inspiring Stories of Women Entrepreneurs. The first edition of the book was published in 2009 and has become one of the bestsellers in book stores. For the special edition, we have 25 new stories of champion ‘womenpreneurs’. Their stories are additional inspirations to the aspiring entrepreneurs who need encouragement to pursue their goals and dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. We were joined by more than 300 entrepreneurs, partner organizations, and government officials. Sen. Bam Aquino, Sen. Miguel Zubiri and Sen. Sonny Angara graced the launch. DOST Secretary Boy dela Peña joined us as well. Sec. Mon Lopez, of course, joined us despite his busy schedule. On the same day of the book launch, we had a simultaneous Mentor Me Roll Out in Cavite and Tacloban. Despite the heavy load for the team, we are glad we are Read More …

It would seem President Duterte has finally realized the importance of our relationship with the United States, judging from his most recent statement reiterating that he does not want American troops to get out of Mindanao. The President admitted, we need the United States as an important ally especially with regard to our problem with China over the disputed maritime territories in the South China Sea especially since “we do not have armaments” and “not enough firepower” – knowing fully well that war with China is definitely not an option either way. Many “practical” and “patriotic” Filipinos heaved a sigh of relief with the development, saying we have to be pragmatic and set aside our so-called emotional, nationalistic feelings about our alliance with the United States. While it may be a good move to explore new ties with other countries like China or Russia and follow an independent foreign policy, we should not do so at the expense of old friends like the US. Our ties have been too deep that even our country’s educational system is patterned after the American model. We have a democratic style of government very similar to the United States, and foremost of which is that we have a very deep people-to-people connection as seen in the more than four million Filipinos living in the United States. Our sources within the military expressed shock at the earlier pronouncements of the President when he said he wanted the Americans to leave Mindanao. In fact, Defense Secretary Read More …

In its Philippine economic update for September, the World Bank said with an average capacity utilization rate of 84 percent as of July, Philippine factories are already operating near full capacity. However, the capacity utilization rate barely moved since 2012. Wikimedia Commons MANILA, Philippines – The manufacturing sector remains on a strong growth trajectory but has barely increased capacity limits, the World Bank said in a report. In its Philippine economic update for September, the multilateral lending institution said with an average capacity utilization rate of 84 percent as of July, Philippine factories are already operating near full capacity. However, the capacity utilization rate barely moved since 2012. In July, 11 out of 20 major industries operated at capacity rates of 80 percent and above. These were basic metals, petroleum products, non-metallic mineral products, machinery except electrical, food manufacturing, electrical machinery, chemical products, paper and paper products, rubber and plastic products, wood and wood products and printing. “Unless businesses actively invest in expanding production capacities, capacity constraints may limit growth prospects in the near future,” World Bank said. The manufacturing sector grew 10 percent in July mainly due to the expansion in the production of basic metals, transport equipment, rubber and plastic products, machinery, wood and wood products and tobacco products. Factory output, as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPi), rose 10.1 percent in July 2016, significantly faster than the growth rate of 0.1 percent in the same month last year. Production value, as measured by the Value of Read More …