The Benefits Of Living In Cebu

I'm currently reading the book "Reading Lolita In Tehran." This material is an eye opener for me ---- an intimate peek into the lives of people under a very repressive regime.

After knowing all the restrictions they have there, it made me appreciate more my life in Cebu. The first thing I did after putting the book down was to binge on two pints of coffee crumble and chocolate ice cream while watching school kids practicing their Sinulog festival dance (complete with colorful tribal costumes) at the neighborhood gymnasium. I read in the book that eating ice cream in public or ham and cheese sandwich was (is still?) forbidden in Iran --- so were wearing of colorful and skimpy attires, laughing in public or dancing with the opposite sex other than the brother or the husband. Gosh, these kids (male and female) dancing the Sinulog would have been jailed if they lived in that country!

I do appreciate my freedom to wear anything I want (my favorite shorts and t-shirt), eat anything I like in public or read any book I fancy, the ideal tropical climate of the island, my weekend beach life, the simple joys, my unhurried, stress-free existence. Wow, I have a lot to thank God and the Philippine government... ha...ha...ha.

Among The Best Asian Cities For Investment

Recently, Cebu has been recognized as among the cities in Asia that may attract more investments in the incoming years. In fact, Cebu has figured positively in past surveys on investments and tourism. (Cebu is turning out to be the kind of place where I want to retire.... he...he..he.. it should have scored higher in the Quality Of Life survey)

This year, the cities of Quezon and Davao have joined the Queen City of the South in the race for global excellemce.

This is good news for the Philippines. Other cities in the country have no more "excuses" not to excel. I'd really be very happy to have more Philippine cities improving economically and more people rising out of poverty. Having more trade or business in the area is to me the best solution to poverty ---- not dole-outs. Dole-outs only make the receiver weaker and more dependent on the donor as can be seen in the case of Africa. Anyway, experts have long been saying that financial poverty arises because of the poverty of the mind (a lot still have this wrong notion that being poor is the will of God).

It may be recalled that most Filipinos' favorite "reasons" for the country's poor economic performance in the past have been government corruption, lack of support from our politicians, adventurism of our senators and congressmen etc. The irony is that these same things didn't stop Indian businessmen from being successful in assisting their country to reach economic heights. India is now the number one BPO destination in the world.

With the American dollar getting weaker each passing month, many countries are expecting more companies in the USA to outsource their services to countries like India and the Philippines to trim down expenses. Other emerging BPO areas in the Philippines should prepare for this development. I want to see Dumaguete City on the next list of ideal BPO investment sites in the world--- they have the infrastructure and human resources.

I finished reading today an inspirational book "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari." It underscored the fact that the human mind is powerful enough to actualize thoughts. This is the same statement made by the popular book "The Secret." Maybe if we can all have this single thought of transforming the Philippines into an economic success, the situation of our people will improve. Let's stop all these negativity and crab mentality; these are not helping any of us, particularly the poor.

Let's adopt the "kaizen" mentality, the desire to continually improve ourselves. If each of us put all our energies in improving ourselves as well as the lives of others, we improve our society and eventually our country.

Reform To Survive The 21st Century

For Thomas Friedman, author of the book The World Is Flat, cheap, ubiquitous telecommunications have finally obliterated all impediments to international competition, and the dawning 'flat world' is a jungle pitting 'lions' and 'gazelles,' where the weak will fall farther behind.

The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, came to him after hearing an Indian software executive explain how the world's economic playing field was being leveled or equalized. What economists call ''barriers to entry'' are being destroyed. Today, an individual or company anywhere can collaborate or compete globally.

”Adaptable companies and entrepreneurs will be empowered. The service sector (telemarketing, accounting, computer programming, engineering and scientific research, etc.), will be further outsourced to the English-spoken abroad.”

In the 21^st century, hierarchies are being eroded and playing fields leveled as other countries and people rise in importance and ambition.

People in advanced countries will need to find ways to move up the value chain, to have special skills that create superior products for which they can charge extra.

Of course, there will still be countries who will be losers, out of step in an age of free markets, free trade and democratic politics.

What created the flat world? “Friedman stresses technological forces. Paradoxically, the dot-com bubble played a crucial role. Telecommunications companies given to them by investors and they used it to pursue incredibly ambitious plans to ''wire the world,'' laying fiber-optic cable across the ocean floors, connecting Bangalore, Bangkok and Beijing to the advanced industrial countries. This excess supply of connectivity meant that the costs of phone calls, Internet connections and data transmission declined dramatically -- so dramatically that many of the companies that laid these cables went bankrupt. But the deed was done, the world was wired.”

The next blow was the dot-com bust. “The stock market crash made companies everywhere cut spending. That meant they needed to look for ways to do what they were doing for less money. The solution: outsourcing.”

Another primary force driving the flat world is the shifting attitudes and policies of governments around the world. Governments are becoming more market-friendly, accepting that the best way to cure poverty is to aim for high-growth policies… aim for a robust, open economy and free market. This change, more than any other, has unleashed the energy of the private sector.

Forces that continue to “flatten” the world are moving fast and appear to be unstoppable. No one can switch off these forces except at great cost to his own economic well-being. As can be seen, countries that have tried to preserve their systems, jobs, culture or traditions by keeping the rest of the world out all stagnated.

Reform wholesale or retail … but countries and people need to change to fit into this new world.

Speaking of reform, I still haven’t received an update from the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) regarding the office application for a DSL Service. I told them that 30-45 days processing of application is excruciatingly long even for other countries. That’s days longer than applying for a business permit !!! Whoever said that government has too much red tape… its even longer applying for a PLDT DSL Service which is privately owned !

So the PLDT account officer mumbled something about transferring our account from Manila Head Office to their Cebu office and having to look for the right switch. I told them that I’d be glad to help them look for that switch. They thought I was kidding. I am serious about my offer. There has to be a way to cut-down the processing time for PLDT DSL applications …. if the company values its clients.